Hey, Summer Campers!

You know who else had a great time at summer camp? Everybody’s favorite Country Music star, Mr. Zac Brown of the Zac Brown Band. While never a camper himself, he’s played quite a role in the summer camp community. Starting out as a camp counselor at Camp Mikell and Camp Glisson in Georgia, Zac began to see why summer camp was so good for kids.

“To me, there is nothing more worthwhile than helping kids,” says Zac. “I grew up working with kids while on staff at summer camps and remember how they were impacted during their visits.” This insight is what led Zac to founding his own summer camp, Camp Southern Ground.

Zac was born and raised in Cumming, Georgia. When hearing how big of a family he has, you get the sense that he didn’t ever REALLY miss out on the whole summer camp experience when he was little. After all, with 11 siblings, his entire childhood must have felt like a year round “summer” camp!

He’s been into music his entire life. When he was only seven-years-old, he’d already learned to play classical guitar! This led to his solo gigs around town when he was a teenager. He’d cover pop music and country songs. It was also somewhere between his high school and college years that he volunteered as a counselor for summer camps.

After his college years at the University of West Georgia, Zac got the band going. With five studio albums and ten hit singles that saw Number One on the Country Music Billboard charts, Zac Brown Band has toured all around the country and played a slot on the Bonnaroo Music Festival in 2009 and 2010.

Zac Brown saw the importance of summer camp! What will you see in it?

- John

Hey, Campers!

A couple weeks ago in March, I talked about things you can do to handle a bully if one is targeting you. But even so, sometimes the victims of a bully can use a helping hand. Today I have some helpful ideas of what you can do if you see someone who’s being bullied.

If you see someone being bullied, put yourself in their shoes. Wouldn’t you want someone else to come along and put an end to it? It may seem like a difficult position to be in (and it certainly does take courage), but stopping a bully can be as simple as putting your arm around the victim and walking away with him or her; there’s no need to get physically forceful with the bully.

Standing up for a bully’s victim can sometimes be enough in itself to get a bully to back off. Seeing that their target has friends that care about him or her can be an embarrassing moment for a bully and may prevent them from causing another occurrence.

If the bullying does, however, continue you can help your new friend by brainstorming possible solutions for the problem. If the two of you can think of nothing, go to an adult. Some kids may not want to tell an adult because they don’t want to tattle. It’s helpful to support your friend in letting an adult know about the issue.

If you can’t get your friend to go along with it, you can always go to an adult yourself and explain the issue. They’ll know what to do.

You should let your friend know that they can always count on you for help should they meet any other problems with a bully. But move on after that. If the bullying is over, there’s no need to talk about it anymore. Be sure to let them come to you if they need your help again.

It may not be the easiest path, but it definitely feels good to help a fellow camper in need, as everyone should have the opportunity to have a GREAT summer! Till next time, Campers.

Here is a video that we loved and thought you would too.

Hey, Spring-Timers!

As we make our way around the sun, our part of the planet starts meeting that blinding bright ball a little more head-on each day resulting in longer days and warmer weather. In turn, the leftover snow from winter starts to disappear—well, almost disappear…Okay, so it’s not like it’s magic or anything. We all know what happens to snow after it gets a little warmer outside—it turns into water!

So here’s the point. Spring weather may inspire a good cleaning indoors, but really, there’s nothing CLEAN about this season at all. What a wet, sloppy, muddy mess! Now that we’ve ventured a good two weeks into our 2014 spring season we are witnessing the slow retreat of this past winter unfolding before our eyes, and—BOY—is it wet!

On top of all this melting snow, typical April will bring lots of showers as well. Be prepared with all the rain gear you need at Everything Summer Camp. We have jackets, pants, suits, and boots all back in stock!

 Currently, there are eight rain jackets in our Columbia collection, the Chromatech Youth Jacket, the Girl’s Wet Reflect, the Wind Racer II for girls, the Women’s Arcadia Rain Jacket, the Men’s Watertight, the Splash Maker in youth sizes, the Girl’s TechniKolor jacket, and Boy’s Trail Patroller Hybrid. Just because it’s raining doesn’t mean you can’t be out and about!

If all you need is a good pair of rain pants, we have the Regen Rain Pant for Men from Columbia.

You can also find the Thrunderlight and Jakuta rain jackets from Red Ledge as well as the Red Ledge Rainstopper Rainsuit. Hood included, this youth-sized rainsuit will cover you completely aside from your hands, your feet, and your face; or stay dry with the classic vinyl poncho (available in youth sizes).

When keeping your feet dry, you can’t go wrong with Washington Shoe’s ‘fire chief style’ boots. They’re made from 100% waterproof, natural rubber. Or you can do your splashin’ in cool and sturdy Kamik rainboots. Both are great choices!

So make sure you keep dry this spring so that April showers bring May flowers for you and not a common cold. Happy Spring, everyone!

Hey, Camp Fans!

We here at Everything Summer Camp work with the best of the best and we want everyone to know it. So here’s some praise we have to give to the awesome lady, Holly Thaggard, who founded the truly amazing sunscreen known as Supergoop!!

When a close friend of hers was diagnosed with melanoma, it really got to Holly. She couldn’t believe that someone as youthful and healthful as her friend (only in her late 20’s) would be able to get skin cancer! While unfortunate for her friend, it both frightened and motivated Holly to look into the matter.

She discovered that skin cancer is the number one type of cancer in the United States as well as the fact that the vast majority of aging signs are all consequences of the sun. “After learning that skin cancer is… primarily preventable, I found my calling,” says Holly. “I was determined to create superior sun protection products while promoting a healthier, UV-protected lifestyle through education.”

Holly set out with the goal to raise awareness of sun damage to skin and developed Supergoop! along the way. With an incredibly broad spectrum, Supergoop! sunscreens protect against not only UVA but also UVB rays. It delivers a backup of antioxidants as well which neutralize the effects of the harsh sun.

Unlike any other sunscreen (and despite the product name), Supergoop! never gets goopy. Lightweight, the formula always applies with ease. Supergoop! ACTUALLY feels good to wear and is free of all controversial and potentially harmful ingredients.

As the three daughters of Supergoop!’s product representative are all summer campers, they wouldn’t dream of leaving their Supergoop! at home. It was this realization that sparked a relationship between Supergoop! and us here at Everything Summer Camp.

Our hat’s off to Holly and her magnificent, cancer-preventing, anti-aging formula, Supergoop!! Thank you for making the sun our safe friend again!

Hey, Water Lovers!

Everything Summer Camp has you covered this summer for your fun in the water. Splash it up with Speedo’s great water apparel and accessories. Everything Summer Camp has recently added products from this leading swimwear brand! Check it out!

We’ve added three one-piece swimsuits—the Sport Splice, the Summer Love Keyhole, and the Graphic Graffiti Keyhole. These colorful swimsuits are made of 80% nylon and the rest is Xtra Life LYCRA fiber. This stuff is made to be up to 10 times stronger than your typical spandex. Xtra Life LYCRA also provides long term protection against sagging and bagging.

These suits offer great movability and prevent wedgies so you can swim in comfort. Along with the three swimsuits, we’ve also added the Speedo Girl’s Short. Made of 100% Micro Poly, it offers comparable comfort and movability to the swimsuits. Swim in style this summer with any one of these great selections from Speedo.

Aside from swimsuits and shorts, we’ve also added new water shoes to our Speedo swimwear collection. Introducing the Surfwalker Pro—available in Women’s 2.0 as well as kids sizes. It’s been called the ultimate water shoe and so lightweight that it redefines the aqua sock!

This water shoe is made of durable, four-way stretch upper. It’s fully-breathable, keeps debris out, and keeps the inside cool as long as you need it to. The Surfwalker’s exoskeleton keeps your foot in place without collecting heat, unlike most other aqua socks.

These water shoes manage water like a Pro! They’ve got characteristics of flow dispersion to offer full traction in wet conditions without skipping a beat. Surfwalker Pro from Speedo is clearly the water shoe for you!

Last to our collection of swimwear and accessories but not least is the Kid’s Aqua Quest. If you’re passionate about exploring the water, this cool set from Speedo lets you go deeper than ever! Made for young swimmers, this three-piece set includes a lens mask with adjustable strap, a silicone mouth piece, as well as flippers. Whether you’re snorkeling or just going for a relaxing swim, the Kid’s Aqua Quest set is a blast!

Have fun in the water this summer, Swimmers!