Hey, Camp Families!

Summer’s on its way! And as the season approaches, the question must soon be answered—what camp will you be attending? Take a look at the summer camps we’ve previously featured on the Everything Summer Camp Blog and enjoy reading about another one today! We’re shining our summer camp spotlight over to the easternmost state of the country: Maine.

Situated on 50 acres of Maine woodland, Med-O-Lark is immersed in natural surroundings of the peaceful Maine woods. Here, campers are treated to a setting that’s ripe for uplifting their mind and their spirit. Camp Med-O-Lark is located on a pleasant lakefront property where you’ll find a historic farm and a magical village that’s truly like nowhere you’ve ever been before.

Since 1946, campers have been enjoying summer fun at Med-O-Lark. They have Circus Activities like Juggling, Trapeze, and Tightrope. They have Fine Arts like Ceramics, Painting, Woodcarving, Stained Glass, and more. You can learn culinary skills and make a pizza or a cinnamon roll. They offer Performing Arts like Dance, Music, and Theater. You can participate in plenty of sports like Archery, Mountain Biking, Soccer, Tennis, Volleyball, Fencing, Horseback Riding, and so much more! Lastly, waterfront activities are abundant in the crystal clear, three mile Med-O- Lark lake!

The beautiful wood cabins accommodate the campers as well as a couple cabin leaders. They offer comfortable bunk beds, separate-stall hot water showers, toilets, and sinks. They have closed faced dresser drawers to hold campers’ clothing and personal items. The cabins are hooked up with electricity and are maintained with great care each year.

With a gorgeous campus and great facilities that complement the natural beauty surrounding the camp, give Camp Med-O-Lark a closer look for yourself. Take a look at their website when you click right here and maybe you’ll find yourself there one day for your own summer camp stay. Till next time, Camp Fans. As always, thanks for reading and happy camping!

- John

Hey, Pool Sharks!

Not the JAWS kind of shark—I’m talking about individuals who are unbeatable at the game of Billiards or Pool. We learned in a previous Blog post that, like Table Tennis, Pool originated from a popular lawn game called Billiards which was very similar to Croquet. The game was moved indoors and shrunk down to a wooden table with a green cloth to simulate the lawn.

A unique sport, Pool is great at helping us grow in terms of expanding your patience and focus and increasing your natural understanding of geometric angles, dimension, and basic laws of physics. It’s also beneficial in building up your confidence as you develop your skills of the game…making your shots feels really good. Getting better at pool will build your confidence on and off the table.

True masters at the game of Pool are capable of some stunningly impressive shots that range from awesome to unbelievable. Let’s take a look a few of the most notable pool records currently held:

Fastest in the West
Some people are more skilled than others. Any idea how long it might take you to put all the balls in the pockets? In the fall of 2002, Dave Pearson from the UK drained two consecutive tables of 15 pool balls in 1 min 22 sec.

Consistency
Some players are so good they never miss (or very rarely, anyway). Just several years back in 2019, an American pool player named John Schmidt defeated the longstanding record run of 526 balls pocketed without a miss. It belonged to one of the most famous players of all, Willie Mosconi, for the past 65 years. John Schmidt surpassed Mosconi’s record by a hundred balls exactly, setting the new record of 626 balls sank without a miss. 

The Rocketman
Though, I’m unfamiliar with the game, Ronnie ‘The Rocket’ O’Sullivan from England performed an astonishing game of Snooker in 1997, clearing the table in record time: 5 minutes and 20 seconds. Whether you understand the rules or not, watch this video and prepare to be astonished for the next five minutes.

If you have access to a pool table, I highly recommended trying your hand at this classic sport. Who knows?! Maybe you’ll break a record! Have a great time! As always, thanks for reading and happy camping!

- John

Hey, Art Fans!

Art is our Handyman and Maintenance guy at Everything Summer Camp. His position is a little difficult to hang a name on as his jobs range from repairing and maintaining equipment around the factory to electrical work to mowing the grass on company property.

I’ve previously posted on the Blog about how Art has enjoyed providing Everything Summer Camp with his services for the last ten years. Today we’re talking about what Art enjoys outside of work—specifically what kind of camp activities he’d like to participate in nowadays.

Without much hesitation, Art gave me two activities that he still loves and tries to get out for with some regularity: Trapshooting and Hunting/Hunter Safety.

Talkin’ Trap
Art’s been shooting trap since he was a strapping 19-year-old. All these years, he’s been developing his skills involved in the sport: patience, watchfulness, readiness, focus, leading accuracy, and more. Click here to read a post I wrote a while back about Trapshooting. You can read another post about a couple of the best Trap Shooters in Trapshooting history when you click right here.

Happy Hunting
Art’s father was a hunter and he taught Art from a young age how to practice Hunter Safety. If you know Art, you know he’s a ‘safety first’ kind of guy, so you know his dad did a good job! Art’s a good teacher himself and has assuredly taught the basics of hunter safety to his son. Art’s hunted a little bit of everything…ducks and quail and other poultry are his go-to game choices. Check out yet another previously written Blog post that covers Hunter Safety—click right here.

Art is sure to continue having fun with these activities. Do you enjoy learning hunter safety, going trapshooting, and going hunting? Let us know in the comments. As always, thanks for reading, Camp Fans. And happy camping!

- John

Hey, Camp Families!

It’s essential to us at Everything Summer Camp that your camper be fully prepared for camp so they can get the most out of the experience. That’s why we carry some of the best names in the camping gear market. These popular brands instill confidence in our shoppers, ensuring a certain level of quality and craftsmanship.

You’ll want to be sure you acquire the proper skin care when you send your camper off for his or her summer stay! And for that reason, we brought the All Good sunscreen brand onboard with a wonderful variety of their sun protection products (and deodorant).

All Good likes to embrace their goofy side, but they get serious when it comes to their responsibility of friendliness to the environment along with the communities around them. Company founder, Caroline, has had this viewpoint since the very beginning.  

“In the same way that our products are good for the people,” noted on the All Good website, “It's important that our business is good for the community, our customers, our vendors, and the land from which they are sourced.”

All the way back in 1998 is when Caroline first designed an herbal garden based on medicinal aids such as headache relief as well as skin care. Early on she took note that certain plants would thrive in the company of other certain plants. She started creating potions and giving them as gifts to friends and family.

All Good got its official start soon after the great response it got from friends and family. Of course, back then it was called All Good Goop. Caroline sold her concoctions at farmers’ markets and other vending opportunities. Solo, she managed all of her All Good Goop business for roughly the coming seven years.

By 2006, however, Caroline saw her product grow big enough to necessitate her first official employee and things grew wildly from there. By 2009, All Good had made its way into 500 stores across the country!

The All Good headquarters reside in Morro Bay, California nearby their organic farm where they grow the herbs for the products. Nowadays, this women-owned company is a Certified B Corporation, also certified for Climate Neutral and Leaping Bunny methods (which means they’re environmentally-friendly and they don’t test on animals)  

Be sure to keep your skin protected from harmful sunrays throughout your summer fun. Check out our All Good selection as well as the rest of our sun care products when you click right here. As always, thanks for reading and happy camping!

- John

Hey, Campers!

One of the most important parts about a fun summer camp experience is forging great friendships. Camp is a prime place to meet lots of new people, develop your social skills, and have a ton of fun. It’s a perfect recipe for long-lasting friendships!

Making friends isn’t really hard work at all. But you do need to be open-minded. Everybody’s different by the way we look, dress, act, speak, etc. Making friends begins with respecting everyone at camp. You don’t need to become everyone’s best friend—you don’t even need to LIKE everyone at camp.

You do, however, need to get along with everyone. Being respectful of everyone at camp means treating them the way you want them to treat you. You should work with your cabin mates. Listen to your leader and pitch in. Always be a good sport whether you win or lose. Use good manners. And keep your things in order so you never add to a mess.

These are just a few examples of how to be respectful at camp. Can you think of more ways? Go ahead and share them by commenting to this Blog post.

While making friends isn’t hard work, it tends to come easier to some than it will for others. Here are some pointers you can look through to get some ideas for putting yourself out there in case you aren’t overly familiar with meeting new people.

What’s in a Name?
Introduce yourself by telling people your name. Walk up and say, “Hi, my name is_____” Hold out your hand and shake while you look your fellow camper in the eye and smile. Say, “pleased to meet you.” And maybe say something about yourself like what grade of school you’re in or where you’re from.

What’s There to Talk About?
Camp itself is something to talk about How did your new friend find the camp? What year of camp are they in? Did they travel far to be there? A C&N Camp Trunk is also a great conversation piece. In fact, bringing one of our awesome Designer Trunks could have kids coming up to YOU to say what a cool trunk you have.

Bring the Fun
Camp is all about having fun and that’s really the best way to make friends! Laughing and having fun is a great bonding experience. What’s a game you like to play? Think of something like a Frisbee or football and suggest a game of catch. Maybe it’s cards, or tag, a game of H-O-R-S-E, jumprope, etc. Bring it along and get the fun rollin’!

Camp is sure to be a blast. Go prepared to have a great time and meet lots of fun folks like yourself! Be confident, be yourself, and you’re sure to develop some great friendships at camp! Learn more about camp prep with the helpful guidebook 'The Summer Camp Handbook'. As always, thanks for reading and happy camping.

- John