Hey there, Everything Summer Camp Aficionados!

For today’s Blog post we’re going back to our guy in the Shipping Department. Taking on the chief role in Receiving and other assistive duties, Derek has brought his great attitude and excellent work ethic to Everything Summer Camp for the last five years.

Last year I posted about Derek’s job. I told you about how he picks, packs, and prints orders along with handling most of Everything Summer Camp’s incoming freight. Whether the shipments be camping gear, equipment for all of our personalized products, or simply supplies for our office, it goes through Derek’s hands first.

Today, however, I want to give you a better idea of what life looks like for Derek when he isn’t at work. A close-knit little family, Derek lives with his sister and brother-in-law (which happens to be Ryan, the Manager of our Shipping Department).

Originally from Boyceville, Wisconsin, Derek moved here, to Boyd, when he heard about a job at Everything Summer Camp. Since then, he’s really grown to love the job as well as the town. And, only 60 miles from home, Derek returns home often enough to see his family and his parents’ dogs, a Yellow Lab and a Springer Spaniel.

As for fun, Derek’s family has a cabin up north in Bessemer—just past the Wisconsin border in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Derek and his family typically makes it up once a year, but the best vacation he’s ever been on was the one he made to Europe about eight years ago.

Through a Student Ambassador Program, he smiles to say it. “I went to France, Italy, and Malta.” Malta is an island in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, directly below Italy. “It was the time of my life,” he says without hesitation. “It was beautiful!”

In closing, Camp Fans, keep it in mind–the next time you get an order from Everything Summer Camp, it very well could have been Derek who packed it for you!

Until next time, Campers!

- John

Hey, History Fans!

Today is Amelia Earhart’s birthday; what better day to honor this adventurous American icon by discussing her life and the accomplishments that she made during a time when women typically weren’t as expressive and daring as she was.

For someone whose life is so well-documented, her death is shrouded in mystery. However, while the mystery of her disappearance is what gathers so much attention, her life was very interesting.

Amelia was born in 1897. She was full of life, a captivating person, and beautiful. She is portrayed in the bulk of her biographies as a tomboy in her younger days. Like usual children, Amelia and her younger sister, Pidge, would collect moths, toads, and katydids (also known as the Green Leaf Bug) as they would frequently go out on adventuresome hikes.

Amelia did a lot of the usual childhood things, but also did some things that most children wouldn’t dare…

Once when she was 7-years-old, Amelia (with the help of her uncle) made her own little home-style roller coaster. She fastened a ramp to the roof of her father’s toolshed and took it for a ride in a little wooden box. She crashed, broke the box, bruised her lip, and tore her dress. She didn’t once think to cry about it, though. Instead, she called to her sister, “Oh, Pidge. It’s just like flying!”

There was another side to Amelia than this spirited tomboy, though. She was a thinker as well as a writer. She enjoyed motivating people too. She once wrote, “The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity.”

With this rationale, Amelia became the first female aviator to cross the Atlantic Ocean alone. Three years later she crossed the Pacific on her own as well. Then she flew coast to coast across the United States. She helped to form the 99’s (an international organization of women pilots).

After all these accomplishments and many more, Amelia strived for one more. In 1937, she and her navigator tried to fly across the entire earth—heading east from Miami. She nearly made it the entire way around the planet, but disappeared over the central Pacific Ocean.

While myths and legends are still passed around today, the Crash and Sink Theory is the most widely accepted that the Electra (Amelia’s plane) ran out of fuel and crashed in the Pacific.

The world could learn a thing or two from Ms. Earhart, so don’t stop here. Look further into her life for your own fun and inspiration! And thanks for reading.

- John

Hey, Camp Fans!

It’s National Hot Dog Day. Standing tall alongside burgers and apple pie, hot dogs are one of the most iconic of American foods. Whether you’re having a simple cookout with the family or taking a trip out to the ballpark to catch a ballgame—hot dogs are an essential part of summer!

Wieners, Franks, Foot Longs, Dogs—no matter what you call them, they’re delicious! They’re traditionally served on a bun with ketchup and mustard on top, but the fun doesn’t have to end there. Like its cousin, the burger, there’s a whole slew of condiments you can use to dress up the hotdog.

Sprinkle some diced onion on there, decorate it with some tasty relish (hot giardiniera if you’re daring enough), then load it all with one more layer of chili! Now THAT’S a hotdog!

Hotdogs don’t NEED to go inside a bun either. You can get a corndog—a hotdog with a cornmeal coating, deep-fried, and served on a stick. Otherwise, cut some hotdogs into bite-sized pieces and put them in your Mac n’ Cheese—it’s great!

But really—even if you don’t have a single condiment or a bun to put it on—hotdogs are still beyond enjoyable. And since they’re so independently satisfying, they make for the number one most convenient camping food. All you need to do is find yourself a skewer (any ol’ stick will do) and roast it by a campfire. It’s that easy and dinner is served!

It was the 13th Century when pork sausages (essentially hotdogs) were first made in Frankfurt, Germany (you can take a wild guess at how the name frankfurter came along). But encased sausage and other meats have been made since at least 700 B.C.—it’s mentioned in Homer’s ‘The Odyssey’.

From grill outs to hotdog stands to eating contests, Americans consume somewhere around 20 billion hotdogs a year! That’s A LOT!

We’ll certainly be having our share of hotdogs today thanks to our employee grill out! I can smell it already! Mmmm. Happy Hotdog Day to everyone from Everything Summer Camp!

Eat up, Dog Lovers. And thanks for reading!

- John

Hey, Daydreamers!

Where’s the best place to lie down or even catch a few Zzz’s in the middle of the day? Well, the living room sofa is often a popular place. There’s also the obvious and overdone bed. Comfy recliners and rockers can be great for this situation, but even they take a backseat to one simple contraption.

Today we celebrate the best place for a quick snooze: the hammock. Swaying in a summer breeze, hammocks typically deliver an incomparable level of luxury. Its simple design can be deceiving as it’s often surprising just how comfortable you are in a hammock. Today is National Hammock Day.

Tried and true, the hammock has been around for many centuries (about a thousand years, maybe more). Evidence suggests that the hammock was conceived and created in what is now Mexico. It was the Mayan civilization of the Yucatan Peninsula that invented this simple, swaying apparatus for sleep.

Never really intended for anything but sleep and relaxation, hammocks are thought to have been the Mayan’s sole sleeping structure. While the Mayan’s may have invented hammocks, they weren’t the only ones to enjoy them. It’s surprising to discover that—even back in those days—trade routes among native tribes were so far-reaching; they stretched from Central America to Brazil.

Hammocks quickly became, not just a popular trading item, but THE thing to sleep on. You wouldn’t dream of not owning a hammock back in those days. What would you sleep on?!

Nowadays, we typically sleep through the night on our beds. Even so, hammocks haven’t gone away. You’ll see them randomly set up between two trees in a yard or even in the bedroom of a really cool kid.

I fondly recollect the one tied up on the solarium of my friend’s apartment building. It was large enough that my friends and I would lie sideways so four of us could fit on it, swaying back and forth and staring up at the stars.

Hammocks are magical. So, if your yard is blessed with one—go appreciate it! If not, go make friends with someone who owns one or get one for yourself. In honor of National Hammock Day, Everything Summer Camp has started to carry these ingenious sleeping mechanisms. Get them now while they’re on sale and enjoy your Hammock Day. Thanks for reading.

- John

Hey, Food Lovers!

Today is a day dedicated entirely to indulging ourselves in delicious dinners, desserts, and other tasty treats that are absolutely UNhealthy for us! Today is National Junk Food Day. Whether it’s a sweet tooth that you’re looking to satisfy or a scrumptious salty snack, today is definitely the day to do it!

I don’t know about you but everyone here at Everything Summer Camp certainly gets a hankerin’ for sweet and salty treats from time to time!

Glorified, junk food certainly has a soft spot in everyone’s heart. Who can resist the call of a cool ice cream treat or the fiery desire of fast food French fries? We all know that, as far as nutritional value is concerned, junk food does absolutely nothing for us (and actually works against us); but despite our understanding, Junk Food—we still love you.

After all, would a trip to the theater be the same without your choice of popcorn, candy, or soda? Would a nightly snack be the same if it was just some stalks of celery? NO WAY, MAN! You want to walk on the wild side. You want something with some calories to it, something that’s got the potential to cause some cavities, right? I mean, what are you brushing your teeth for, anyway?

While it’s perfectly fine to indulge in junky foods from time to time, it’s important to keep these foods away from your everyday. The occasional unhealthy treat may be fun, but not so much a mouthful of cavities. Moderation is the beauty of junk food—not to mention the basic definition behind the word ‘treat’.

Just as a trip to the movies isn’t the same without junk food, junk food isn’t the same if you eat it every day. In fact, your moderation of junk food directly affects your appreciation of it. Absence makes the heart grow fonder and (in this case) the stomach grow hungrier. Treat yourself today and enjoy your junk food with moderation!

Thanks for reading.

- John