Hey, Summer Camp Fans!

As modest as we remain at Everything Summer Camp, it’s hard not to talk about what excellence we show in terms of our concept, production, and customer service. Today I want to talk specifically about the no drop shipping policy we have here at Everything Summer Camp.

Why don’t we do Drop Shipping? Because Everything Summer Camp cares about you sending your kid to camp on time. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

First of all, let me explain what Drop Shipping even is. Drop shipping is when a retailer (unlike Everything Summer Camp) sells an item that they don’t produce or keep in stock. The retailer instead transfers the customer’s order and shipment details to another company that actually produces and/or ships the goods directly to that customer then.

So I would imagine then, that it makes you feel much better to know that there’s companies out there who you can trust who don’t Drop Ship and hand over your order to someone else to finish off the job. We respect our customers too much to do that to them.

Everything Summer Camp NEVER Drop Ships. When you place an order at Everything Summer Camp, we either have it in stock or we make it ourselves. Your business with us stays between us—we never involve a “middle man” to complete your order!

That’s how we know you’ll receive your full order on time—because we’re in charge of it. We take full responsibility over it. Many camp outfitters rely on other companies to fulfill your order—they don’t have full control. Why place your trust in multiple companies and have to wait for multiple packages?

Everything Summer Camp is your reliable one stop online shop for anything and everything you might need at camp this summer. Place an order with us and we will make sure you receive everything at the same time, on time.

Hey, Camp Aficionados!

Ya know, we think we’re pretty cool here at Everything Summer Camp. Not that we’ve got big heads or anything, but we are a one stop shop for everything you might want throughout your summer camp stay. However, as cool as we may be, we can’t take all the credit.

That’s why I like to post about other amazing companies whose products can be found here at Everything Summer Camp. Some of them have rich histories and amazing stories. Today, I’d like to tell you about another great company with whom we work—let’s hear three cheers for Three Cheers for Girls!

You can find great summer camp accessories from Three Cheers for Girls right here at Everything Summer Camp like their innovative Lap Desk and a Three Cheers Autograph Pillowcase.

The story of Three Cheers for Girls really sort of starts on Broadway where Cinthia Russiyan—the founder of Three Cheers for Girls—used to be a costume designer for such classic Broadway plays as Cats and Tap Dance Kid! That’s pretty impressive.

Cinthia and her husband, a former Broadway stage manager, started up a company called General Awards, Inc., which became rather successful in manufacturing medals and trophies. And by 1996, Cinthia started Three Cheers as an extension to General Awards.

Three Cheers was not Three Cheers for Girls just yet. It wasn’t until 2002 that the company shifted its focus to a narrower market. They noticed that their best-selling products were ones that said BFF and Friends Forever—that kind of stuff. Now Three Cheers for Girls is targeted toward 7 to 12-year-old girls as they seem to be the niche that’s most interested in those types of items.

Since 2002, Three Cheers for Girls has enjoyed the steady growth they see from helping younger girls embrace their creativity and self-expression.

Till next time, Camp Fans!

On Not Documenting Every Moment

I had a surreal moment last summer. I’d been attending camps for 39 years, working at the same camp for 30 years, and writing about camps for nearly 20 years when I finally got the chance to drop off my own son at camp. The summer of 2011 was Dacha’s first two-week stay at overnight camp. The moment I had been looking forward to since a decade before I even had children had finally arrived.

My camp director friends had made all kinds of predictions about that day. “Your kid’s gonna flip out,” some of them guessed, “because there’s been so much build-up to this moment.” “You’re gonna lose your junk,” others speculated, “because you’ll be over-analyzing every second of what Dacha does.” A few also suggested, “You and Dacha are going to be fine. It’s the cabin leader I’m worried about. It’s not every day that the author of The Summer Camp Handbook drops his son off at camp.” Sheesh.

In reality, none of that came true. Dacha was exited to be a camper, having grown up on the property but not having been allowed to participate in anything except waterfront activities. And I stepped through the entire day as if I’d done it a million times (which I kinda had, at least from the point of view of the cabin leader). Surprisingly (or perhaps not), we had remembered to pack everything. Heck, I didn’t even linger to chat up Dacha’s cabin leader. Why should I have? I trained the guy myself.

But I did make one huge mistake. I busted out my flash video recorder and tried to capture the whole experience with megapixel fidelity. The result: I was a step removed from actually savoring the moment. I knew what was going on, but I was so intent on memorializing that half hour from main-lodge check-in to our final goodbye hug that I missed the experience of dropping my son off at camp. And watching the video is completely unsatisfactory. It’s like trying to enjoy a sunset on Skype.

I realize that only a few parents reading this month’s column are youth development professionals who will be dropping off their own flesh and blood at camp this summer. And even fewer of you reading this have written advice columns for parents about creating a successful camp experience for your children. But that doesn’t matter. We all have one thing in common: We love our children and we enjoy being part of their lives. ‘Nuf said.

For this reason, I urge you to keep your smart phone and all other electronics at home on opening day. I’ll allow you one posed photo with the counselor in front of the cabin, but that’s it. Honestly. Plan to spend opening day breathing in the fresh air, listening carefully to your son or daughter’s tone, observing the subtleties in his or her behavior, and interacting face-to-face, not through a lens. The emotional memory you will create that day by being present in the moment will be higher def than any flash video. On opening day, be a parent, not a producer.

Have a wonderful summer!

Dr. Christopher Thurber

Since 1916, Keystone Camp has encouraged and supported girls to become strong individuals. Teaching Keystone campers life-long skills and values in a fun and nurturing environment is the hallmark of the Keystone Camp experience. Keystone Camp for Girls strives to develop the total girl on an individual basis, offering excellent programs in horsemanship, daily horseback riding, tennis, land sports, water sports on two lakes, gymnastics, arts and crafts, dramatics, rock climbing and hiking in Pisgah National Forest.

Keystone Camp was established in the summer of 1916 by Miss Florence Ellis and Miss Fannie Holt, who brought a group of girls from Jacksonville, FL to Western North Carolina. By 1919, Keystone Camp found its permanent home on the current site in Brevard, North Carolina. Unfortunately, Florence Ellis died at an early age in 1926, but Fannie Holt continued to run Keystone until 1942. At that time, Catherine Ellis Ives, Florence’s niece, purchased Keystone from Fannie Holt and remained the director until 1961.

Catherine’s son, William (Bill) Maner Ives, assumed the position of director and ran the camp from 1961 until 1984. The current director, Page Ives Lemel, is Bill’s daughter and Florence Ellis’s great great niece.

Page became the fourth generation director in 1984 after her graduation from Duke University. Page grew up at Keystone and spent her summers as a camper, counselor, and Head Counselor before taking over the Director’s position. Her love of Keystone is contagious. Keystone is the oldest private summer camp still in existence in the Southeast.

If you are considering sending your daughter to camp, visit the Keystone Camp website for even more great information.

Have a great summer!

Hey, Camp Preppers!

At Everything Summer Camp we like to think that we do a pretty good job at making things as convenient as possible for you and your summer camp prepping. Well, now purchasing your camp gear from us is even easier than it was before!

Today I want to tell you about PayPal, new to our Web site, now you can use this payment method when you shop on our site. PayPal is a safe, secure, instant, and reusable, service that allows you to make payments and other money transfers through the World Wide Web. It’s perfectly safe and you don’t need to carry another plastic card around with you in order to use it.

Near the end of 2002, PayPal became a subsidiary owned completely by eBay. PayPal is simple enough as it works as an acquirer, performing processing for your payments that are going to online vendors as well as auction sites and other commercial users. Online money transfers are certainly a safe alternative to paying with paper money.

To prove its absolute safety and recognition, PayPal has been expanding broadly. They began with corporate headquarters in San Jose, California. They now work on a worldwide basis. The company now has major operations in five separate locations across the United States as well as locations in India, Ireland, Germany, Israel.

PayPal continues expanding today, offering online payment methods to online shoppers in more and more countries so that little kids just like you on the other side of the world can buy a camp trunk from Everything Summer Camp through PayPal so they can go to summer camp too.

Aren’t these amazing times that we live in? Let Everything Summer Camp make your camp planning easier. Let PayPal make your payment easy. Thanks for reading! Until next time, Camp Preppers!

- John