Hey, Campers!

Ready to hear about another rockin’ celebrity who started out going to summer camp (just like you) before they became a famous star? Today, singer/songwriter Adam Levine, joins Anne Hathaway, Zooey Deschanel, and James Franco on Everything Summer Camp’s blog posts of celebrities in summer camp.   

Along with Ms. Deschanel, Adam too attended Camp French Woods Festival of Performing Arts in his childhood. Located on a private lake called Sand Pond in the western area of the Catskill Mountains, just outside Hancock, New York, French Woods is a performing arts summer camp. Founded in 1970 (nine years before Adam was born), it is now owned by Mr. Ron Schaefer.

If you have interest in the performing arts, French Woods is a camp for you to check out. They offer programs in dance, magic, visual arts, skateboarding, sport and horseback riding, and—two of Adam’s favorites—theatre and music!

Sometime after camp in his later teens, Adam, with a friend of his started up an indie pop band together. They called it Kara’s Flowers. Adam featured as the band’s lead guitarist and vocalist. The band only put out a single album that flopped. Consequently, they split up.

But time heals all and the members of the band ended up getting the group back together along with an additional fifth member. They named themselves Maroon 5.

With great success in the United States, Adam, with the band at his side, has been awarded three Grammies, two Billboard Music Awards, two American Music Awards, one at the MTV Video Music Awards, and one at the World Music Awards.

In his early thirties, Adam started working as one of the four coaches on the hit television series, The Voice on NBC. Today, he continues to do the things he loves.

Where will summer camp take you? And, as always, thanks for reading.

- John

Append Your Camper’s Health Form...

It’s not as bad as your income tax form, but most summer camp health forms are pretty detailed. Beyond the basic demographics, there’s immunization and illness history, allergies, medications, permission to treat, and data from your son or daughter’s most recent physical. And now I’m suggestion you add a sheet of information? That’s right. You know your child better than anyone. Indeed, there are things about him or her that have taken you (and maybe a pediatrician, nurse, or psychiatrist) years to figure out. Without your help, your child’s surrogate caregivers—his counselors or cabin leaders—don’t stand a chance at figuring all that out in just a few weeks.

“But wait,” you protest, “I don’t want my child to be labeled. I don’t want him known throughout camp as The ADD Kid or The IEP Kid or The Prozac Kid.” These are valid concerns. If the camp’s staff isn’t properly trained on parameters of confidentiality and child development, there’s a chance the information you provide on the health form will be disrespected, over-shared, or communicated out of context. Thankfully, more and more staff receive proper training on handling children’s private health information. If the camp doesn’t tell you how they’ll treat confidential information, be sure to ask.

Once assured the camp will respect your son or daughter’s privacy, your next objection might be, “Isn’t camp a purely recreational experience? Why would my child need to continue taking medication at a place that’s just about fun?” The simplest answer to that question is: If the medication is helpful in one setting, it’s likely to be helpful in another. Yes, camp is fun, but it’s also socially, emotionally, behaviorally, and cognitively demanding. In good ways. Camp is a powerful accelerator of positive youth development. And that development is a byproduct of all kinds of healthy risks and challenges, each of which depend on young people’s social, emotional, behavioral, and cognitive functioning.

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that children not take medication holidays while at camp. However, if you’re considering that option, be sure to discuss it with your child’s prescribing physician and your camp. Keeping camp in the dark about recent medication changes is both unethical and unfair—to your child, her new caregivers, and the camp’s health care team.

So you see, it’s important to complete the camp’s health form honestly and thoroughly. Simply put, your candor and completeness put the camp staff in the best possible position to care for your child. But the health form is generic; your child is a custom entity. For that reason, I urge you to type a paragraph or two describing your son or daughter. Share details about his or her temperament, routines, personal strengths and weaknesses, and social, learning, and coping styles.

The more camp staff understand about what makes your child tick, the better they can meet your child’s needs…and the better experience your child is likely to have. Camp health care professionals and front-line staff are tremendously grateful to read parents’ insightful reflections on the nature of their child. It’s the perfect prerequisite to putting your child in nature.

Enjoy the summer!

Dr. Christopher Thurber

For additional parent resources, visit: SummerCampHandbook.com

If you’re no rookie to summer camp, then you already know that every camp wants everything to be labeled. This way each and every item that gets brought to camp goes home with the kid that brought it. It also helps camps that provide a laundry service to make sure the right clothing goes to the right camper.

Get your cool and colorful name labels at Everything Summer Camp. We spent the entire off season developing our Iron-On Clothing Name Labels as well as our Stick-On EVERYTHING Name Labels (formerly called Waterproof Name Labels). This year our labels are cooler and more colorful than ever!   

Our Iron-On Clothing Name Labels and Stick-On Name Labels now come in a plethora of vibrant colors and patterned backgrounds. These labels are fun and energetic. They’re shiny. They’re new.

These labels will look great on your camp clothes and gear. Made right here in our own facility, they're printed on a vinyl material as opposed to our old (yet still available) product—printed polyester. The vinyl material means the new name labels are much quicker and easier to iron onto your clothes.

Our old Waterproof Name Labels were admittedly a little on the boring side.  The new Stick-On Name Labels (also printed here in our facility) are still waterproof and printed on a glossy, durable material but they are far from boring.  These name labels come in the same color options and backgrounds that are available for the name labels for clothes. Arrive at camp right. Arrive labeled. Till next time!

- John

Red Pine Camp was founded by Richard and Helen Wittenkamp in 1937. Mr. Wittenkamp, the District Forester for the Wisconsin Conservation Department, bought the Red Pine land from two brothers who ran a fishing camp on the property. The following summer, the first twelve campers arrived and “Mr. and Mrs. Dubs,” as they were fondly called, devoted their lives to building Red Pine and establishing the traditions and values that still form the foundation of camp life. In 1953, their daughter, Sarah Wittenkamp Rolley, joined the staff. Sarah and Irene Boudreaux became directors after the Wittenkamps retired in 1976, and served Red Pine for 53 years. In 1995, Sarah’s daughter Robin and her husband Jim Thies began the third generation of family operation.

In 2007, after 70 successful years of family ownership and operation, a group of alumnae expressed interest in owning the camp. With their encouragement, Red Pine was purchased by the Pleasant T. Rowland Foundation of Madison, WI. Ms. Rowland is an alumna of Red Pine. She is a noted educator, author of children’s reading and language arts textbooks and the creator and founder of American Girl®, the popular collection of books and dolls.

Red Pine Camp is a traditional residential summer camp in Wisconsin’s Northwoods for girls ages 7-16. Serving 120 girls, campers may join us for the entire 8-week summer season or choose from one of our 4-week sessions. Red Pine also offers a 2 week introductory program for those 1st time campers, 5th grade or below. Red Pine is the only privately owned property on Clear Lake, a spring-fed 1200 acre lake acclaimed by many to be the clearest and cleanest lake in northern Wisconsin. Tall pines and magnificent maples, oaks, and birches are a part of this magical setting.  Red Pine Camp is American Camping Association, ACA, accredited.

Thanks for reading, Camp Folks!

Hey, Camp Fans!

You are in for a surprise when you hear about what new product we started carrying at Everything Summer Camp!

Quick question—what’s better than any other chair at summer camp?

Answer: Crazy Creek’s AirChair™ Plus.

Why? Because it’s more than just a chair (hence the Plus). The AirChair™ Plus doubles as a full-length mattress pad when you need to catch some Z’s. Just unzip the shell and pull out the attached pad extension.

Crazy Creek’s really outdone themselves this time. The AirChair™ is just as portable as their original camp chair but twice as practical! It’s versatile, sit/sleep combo and easy roll-up transportation makes the AirChair™ perfect for camping out. Bring it with you wherever you go, pull it out to sit, and lay it flat at night to catch some comfortable Z’s.

Having a camping mattress can help you get much better sleep when you’re under the stars. It’s made with a rugged 210D coated Ripstop nylon outer shell that will save you from dealing with a wet ground. It also has an inner shell of comfortable 70D coated Ripstop nylon. It’s very durable and virtually unbreakable.

This chair’s got air for cushioning in its dual-chamber air pad so you can adjust the firmness of your seat as you please. You’ll be the most comfortable one sitting around the camp fire and get the best sleep when camping out.

As briefly mentioned above, this chair has very convenient straps attached that allow for you to roll up the entire chair compactly and easily! This chair couldn’t make carrying or transportation much easier on you.

The seat length is 21” by 22” along the back. Pulled out to use as an extended sleeping pad, it’s 20” by 70”. And even though it only weighs 2 lbs., 13 oz.—it can hold 250 lbs.

Who says camping can’t be comfortable? Do yourself a favor and get the Crazy Creek Air Chair for camp. Thanks for reading, Camp Fans!

- John