Hey, Camp Fans!

Your camp stories for the Everything Summer Camp ‘Share Your Camp Story’ Contest were all so great! I had such a fun time reading through them all and now I’m excited to be sharing them with all our readers here on the Blog! Since I’ve finished announcing our ten lucky winners who took larger prizes, I’ve moved on to the rest of your submissions and we’re posting each submission one by one!

The following post is from Odie D., who traveled all the way from Ireland to work in the kitchen at Camp Zeke this summer. Check out the fun he had in his submission right here:

“My Camp story

Hi! My name is Odie D. and I worked at Camp Zeke in Pennsylvania, and this is my Camp story! I worked in Camp Zeke for 10 weeks and I was a member of the kitchen staff. It was hard work but all of the kitchen staff became really good friends over the 10 weeks we were together, I am still in touch with everyone now! I also learned many skills, such as cooking meals, preparing vegetables, and cleaning the kitchen, I feel like a proper chef now!

At the camp there was a mascot called Zeagle the eagle and every once in a while a staff member can go around the camp dressed as Zeagle and wave, play, or dance with the kids. I asked the camps owner and he said I was allowed to be Zeagle for a day! It was a lot of fun, I even played a game of basketball in the costume!

The camp organized many trips for us, but my favorite was definitely cliff diving! It was a scary experience for me since I’m afraid of heights—I’m really glad I did it and I’ll never forget it, but I don’t think I will ever do it again! I also got a cool picture, I uploaded it to a photo contest with the agency I was working for and got second place, they gave me a t-shirt as a prize!

I’m from Ireland and this was my first time in the USA, but I loved every second of it. I’m really thankful to Camp Zeke for giving me the opportunity to come here, and I’m also thankful to them for the memories and friends I was able to make here. It was only 10 weeks but I can’t imagine I will forget this experience for the rest of my life.”

Awesome, Odie! Or should I say, Zeagle?! Your summer sounds like it was one for the books! Nice work pushing yourself outside your comfort zone, traveling to the United States for the first time, working at a summer camp, and facing your fear of heights. I’m with you. Once is enough for an experience like that. Now you can say you’ve done it and you never have to again! Haha! Thanks for sharing your story with us, Odie.

For everyone else, you can give Camp Zeke a closer look. Check it out for yourself by clicking here and, as always, thanks for reading!

- John

Hey, Camp Folks!

Here at Everything Summer Camp, we’re always singing the praises of nearly 300 summer camps with whom we’ve formed a great relationship. That’s why today I’m shining our camp spotlight in the gorgeous state of Maine to feature Camp Timanous—just a short ways from the Atlantic Ocean.

Summer days at Camp Timanous are spent outside on the beautiful shores of Panther Pond, nestled among tall pine trees. At Camp Timanous, boys are given the chance to have new experiences and acquire independence. Timanous campers find friendships and positivity among their peers.

Steeped in tradition that goes back to 1886, Camp Timanous has stood the test of time, helping to cultivate their campers’ potential in mind, body, and spirit. Founders Luther and Charlotte Gulick launched their children’s camp in Gales Ferry, Connecticut originally. The Gulicks came to be known as pioneers in youth education as they showed the positive results camping delivered for children.

The camp remained under Gulick ownership until 1955 when the camp was sold to Johnny Suitor who had been with the camp for the previous 46 years working his way from a young camp counselor in 1936 to the camp director! Johnny and his wife Marti directed the camp for more than three decades until 2018 when Garth Altenburg stepped up as the latest and current director.

He’s maintained the essence of the Gulick’s philosophy of using camp to further our youth in mind, body, and spirit. Camp Timanous boys 8 to 15 go on camping trips to awesome places across Maine. And, of course, there’s tons of fun right at Camp Timanous with awesome activities such as Archery and Riflery, Canoeing, Kayaking, and Paddleboarding, Climbing Wall, Handicrafts and Woodworking, Nature and Exploring the Outdoors, Sailing, Sports (Basketball, Soccer, Tennis, and more), Waterskiing, Swimming, and plenty more.

Get a closer look when you check out their website by clicking right here and, as always, thanks for reading. Happy Camping!

Hey, Camp Folks!

Rocketry aficionados are all in to plan, construct, and launch model rockets sky-high as it delivers an explosively good time, watching your work blast off into the deep blue! But it’s not all countdowns and exciting thrills! Rocketry requires focus, creativity, and sharp problem-solving skills.

Rocketry covers a variety of disciplines, including math and physics, and helps students to reach STEM educational objectives (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) at middle school and high school level. Let’s dive into a few major ways people exercise their brains with Rocketry.

Provides Hands-on Learning
You can’t go wrong with experiential learning. In fact, many people (myself included) learn best from DOING it themselves. Rocketry is certainly a hands-on kind of activity that has you actually draw out plans and build a functional model rocket.

Encourages Creativity
More often than not, we think of fine arts like Music, Dance, Visual Art, and Writing when we think of activities that call for creativity. Building model rockets, however, calls for just as much creativity as all the aforementioned “artistic” activities. Building something is an incredibly creative task. And then you paint it afterward too!

Develops Problem Solving Skills
Practicing Rocketry will regularly challenge your mind and help you find new ways to view and solve problems. Sometimes, there’s only one solution. Other times there are many. You’ll likely feel unsure throughout the construction and run into a problem or two. But simply taking a moment and assessing your situation will lead you to a solution. The more you do it, the better you’ll get!

Of course, Rocketry can be found as an available program at many summer camps across the country. Look into the activities your camp offers or find a Rocketry class near you to test out your skills and see how much you enjoy it. Have fun out there and, as always, thanks for reading!

- John

Hey, Camp Fans!

Your camp stories were great this year! It was lots of fun to read through them all and now I’m excited to share them with all our readers online! We’re posting each submission right here on the Blog! Since I’ve finished announcing our ten lucky winners who took larger prizes, I’ve moved on to the rest of the submissions we got.

The following post is from Dane B. who wrote in to tell us about summer days at Frost Valley YMCA summer camp in New York. Here it is:

“This was my first summer at sleep away camp. It was great. I loved it. I liked the activities, like French Rev, where we snuck through the forest after dark and tried not to get caught by flashlight beams. We did an overnight on a field with nothing but our sleeping bags. That was really fun because we made smores and ran around outside. We slept under the stars - I'd never seen the sky full of stars like that, there were thousands of them! And there was a really bright moon. On Sunday we got to sleep in until 9 and had a 10 o'clock brunch of waffles and ice cream. I loved the cabins because they were modern and had soft mattresses. It was my first time sleeping away from home and it was very fun. I also liked Minecraft theme day because we got to do all sorts of fun activities like have a trip to the Nether and fight with pool noodles and build forts in the woods before it was dark and mobs came out. So camp was very fun and I liked it. I want to go back next year.”

Really cool, Dane. Your night under the stars must have been a rather enchanting time. It’s certainly is a breathtaking sight when you aren’t used to a sky loaded with stars. I’m thrilled to hear that your first summer at a sleep away camp was such a success! Thanks for sharing these highlights with us, Dane! For everyone else, give Frost Valley YMCA a closer look. Check it out for yourself by clicking here and, as always, thanks for reading!

- John

Hey, Camp Fans!

We were delighted to see such a great response to our ‘Share Your Camp Story’ Contest here at Everything Summer Camp and now we’re eager to publish each one right here on the Blog! After our seven lucky winners, everyone else who submitted received a $20 gift certificate to our online store!

Today’s post is from Christina F., who was thrown a pretty giant curve ball with her daughter’s summer camp experience. Get ready for the plot twist:

“Have I got a camp story for you...

We spent an hour and a half in check-in because there was a lengthy COVID procedure to go through to make sure everyone was healthy--totally worth it, though. When we dropped our daughter off at her cabin at 4:30, she was so excited she left us without a backward glance, or a goodbye!

My husband I were relaxing at home five hours later when his cell phone rang with a number we didn't recognize and which we promptly ignored. The person calling left a voicemail, and when we checked it, we got some crushing news. The camp's site staff had taken COVID tests earlier that evening "out of an abundance of caution," and members of the staff had tested positive. The counselors and camp directors were fine, but there wouldn't be anyone to run the physical camp site. Everyone needed to come and pick up their campers as soon as possible.

And so we found ourselves back at the camp eight and half hours after drop off picking up our camper and two of her friends, along with other adults we knew picking up a total of five more friends who had all planned a week at camp together.

Fortunately, we were able to put together a day for the kids to tie dye their camp shirts, and another day for them to spend doing camp arts and crafts and singing camp songs, so they got to spend some camp time together.

Camp is a bonding experience no matter what happens, right?

Here's to next year!”

Oh boy! What a dud of a “camp trip”—the dropoff and pickup were the only “adventure”! Nice work giving your kids a day or two of campy kind of activities. Turns out summer camp is what you make it, I guess! And, yes, hopefully next year yields better results. Thanks for sharing your story, Christina—even if it was a dud. It’s a good story, anyway. As always, thanks for reading!

- John