Hey, Camp Fans!

Your camp stories were great! I had a great time reading through them all and now I’m excited to share them with all our readers online and post each submission right here on the Blog! I’ve finished announcing our ten lucky winners who took larger prizes and we’ve now moved on to the rest of your submissions.

The following entry is from Sam P. who wrote in to tell us about his camp experience at Camp Seneca Lake. Sam is one of the grandkids of whom Carol H. wrote about in her contest entry. Here is Sam’s submission:

Hello, my name is Sam P. and I'm 12 years old. I just returned from my third summer at Camp Seneca Lake. Last summer I was not able to go to camp and I was saddened and disheartened. However, this summer I got my chance to be in oldest Cayuga and I had the time of my life! Cayuga is the name of my village. The boys in my village are entering grades 4 - 7. Next summer I will be in Mohawk village.

At camp I got the chance to participate in two Mass programs (camp wide competitions with 4 teams), one Color War (red versus blue, I was on red and red won), and C-day (Cayuga Day). Before COVID we took off campus trips on C-day. One year I went to Corning Museum of Glass and Watkins Glen State Park. This year we stayed on campus and had tournaments, played fun games, and ate pizza and ice cream.

All of these activities were incredibly fun! I also just enjoyed hanging out in the village with my friends. In the end, I am so grateful that I was able to experience this amazing summer and have the time of my life.

Wonderful, Sam! Thanks for sending us this piece about your summer in the Cayuga village of Camp Seneca Lake! You make it sound like a blast there. I hope your team did well in the Color War. The field trips from years past sound pretty fun, but who can say no to pizza and ice cream?! Glad you had such a fun time, Sam. I hope you have even more fun next year in Mohawk! For anybody else interested in Camp Seneca Lake, you can give it a closer look by clicking here and, as always, thanks for reading!

- John

Hey, Camp Folks!

It’s never too early to start thinking about where you’re going to attend camp for next year’s summer season! And, here at Everything Summer Camp, we’re always singing the praises of nearly 300 summer camps with whom we’ve formed a great relationship. Today we’re shining our spotlight over to North Carolina to highlight Skyland Camp for Girls.

Off in the mountains of Western North Carolina, more than a hundred years back, a small girls camp got its start in 1917. The story of Skyland Camp begins several years back when Susan Courtney Harris (known to Skyland campers as ‘Granny’) brought her five kids from the fiery Floridian heat of Jacksonville to the cool climes of the Great Smoky Mountains on vacation.

So taken with the property, Susan began leasing it in 1917 and launched Skyland Camp for Girls. But in Skyland’s fourth season, Susan learned her beloved property would be auctioned off. Susan took it upon herself to join the bidding and shout out, “I’ll give you $3000 for the whole kit and caboodle!” And she got it.

Fun and good times abound at Skyland Camp. They offer great, traditional summer camp activities such as Archery, Arts & Crafts, Culinary Arts, Hiking, Horseback Riding, Musical Theatre, Nature Walks, Swimming, Tennis, Tubing, Volleyball, Whitewater Rafting, and more!

Skyland’s ‘Main Lodge’ keeps eight guestrooms, a large sleeping porch, a library and office, health services, kitchen, as well as the dining rooms. The Main Lodge is actually the hotel that Granny to her kids too back in 1917! How cool is that?!

Over the years, cabins were added as well as a number of amenities for camp activities. All campers sleep in screened-in porches to give it a treehouse kind of feel and allows them to listen to the birds as they wake up or maybe some light rain as they fall asleep. And they can look and watch the fireflies outside.

Check out what a magical time you can give your daughter when you send her to Skyland Camp for Girls! Visit their website by clicking right here and, as always, thanks for reading, Camp Fans!

- John

Hey, Camp Fans!

Your camp stories were great for the ‘Share Your Camp Story’ Contest here at Everything Summer Camp! It was such fun reading through them all. Now I’m eager to share them with our online community and post each submission right here on the Blog!

I’ve finished announcing our ten lucky winners who took larger prizes and now I’m sharing the rest of your submissions. The following post is from Dominick B. who wrote in to tell us about his camp experience at Camp Mondamin. Here’s his submission:

This was my first time going to sleep away camp and I had the best time of my life! I was supposed to go last summer, but COVID had other plans. My mom let me pick out the design of my trunk and I was so excited to help pack all my supplies! My trunk is awesome and held up well. I have collected stickers to decorate it. I plan on using this trunk through college. I want to be a camp counselor when I’m older!

I looked through all the trunk designs and we even watched a video of how sturdy the trunks are made by your company! I really liked the lightning bolt design. I got a trunk storage shelf to hold my personal items. I would like to buy another shelf if I win this contest!  I would also like to buy a crazy creek chair or get one for my birthday.

I really loved camp and made some good friends. I decided to get into mountain biking and I was able to work my way up to a 3 day overnight trip to the Tsali mountain biking area. I also learned how to sail, kayak, and canoe. I was able to use all the new camping gear I bought, too! Thank you,

Dom 

Thanks so much for this great entry, Dominick! It sounds like you might love your trunk and Everything Summer Camp even more than camp itself—but I’m sure that’s not the case. We’re thrilled to hear how well your gear worked out for you and how much you love your trunk! That’s great that you got to do your first summer at overnight camp (albeit one year later than planned). Camp Mondamin has a knack for showing campers the best time of their lives! Hope you enjoy more Mountain Biking this fall! Glad you had such a good time!

If anybody else is interested in Camp Mondamin, you can give it a closer look by clicking here and, as always, thanks for reading!

- John

Hey, Hornists!

Some folks are naturally drawn to percussion while others are drawn to strings. Some people are gifted with a wonderful voice. And others are born to play the horn! Learning an instrument is hard work, but some instruments can be tougher to learn than others. Playing a horn requires a muscle that most folks don’t use regularly. Horns require long hours of daily practice and building lung power.

There are many different kinds of horns you can choose to pick up. Whatever feels most like your style is the right pick! There’s the trumpet, the trombone, the French horn, the tuba, the saxophone, the baritone, the cornet, and even more. But for each one, there are four critical things that great horn players have that you need to develop and practice.

Going the Distance
If you’re going to play a horn instrument, you gotta have strength and endurance. How do you develop that? Mouth muscle workout! Simply practice getting your lips into the best position for a nice clear note. Play that note over and over, repositioning your lips each time. Mastering the application of your mouth to the mouthpiece of your instrument is known as embouchure.

Tone-tastic
Achieving a great tone is a matter of a number of factors all hitting in unison, but a great point to practice on is pitch placement and pitch bending. Bending a note is a way for players to hear the point in the bend that the tone sounds clearest. The point that sounds best is where the note should always be played.

You can change your pitch by opening your throat, giving your jaw a slight forward motion, and relaxing your embouchure.

Blow on the Range
Strength wasn’t just for your mouth exercises! It takes great strength to play the really high notes just as much as it does the really low notes. Develop your skillsby practicing your high notes as well as the low ones.  

A Good Sense of Music
If you’re interesting in playing a horn instrument, you probably already have a love for music, but listening to the greats and discovering your own musical preference is what it’s all about! The better understanding you have when it

comes to listening to music will come through in your understanding of playing music as well!

Of course, even the great horn players throughout history have always struggled to be truly great in all four of these areas. Everyone will have different strengths and different weaknesses. You’ll likely never master each of these points, but to develop your skills, these areas help to build a strong musician! Enjoy making music! And, as always, thanks for reading!

- John

What’s up, Camp Fans?!

We received some quality camp stories for our ‘Share Your Camp Story’ Contest at Everything summer Camp. You knocked it out of the park this year, campers; these stories are fantastic! I’m eager to share them with our online community and post each submission right here on the Blog!

Now that I’ve finished announcing our ten lucky winners who took larger prizes, I’m sharing the rest of your submissions. All entrants win a $20 gift certificate to our online store simply for participating. The following post is from Olivia P. who wrote in to tell us about her stay at Camp DeSoto. Check out her submission right here:

This year I went to camp DeSoto. It was so fun! I definitely want to go back next year but anyways I’m going to tell you about my grade’s trip day. Our grade went swimming at DeSoto falls. It was really beautiful. On the way there, we sang songs on the bus. Once we got to this random parking lot in the middle of nowhere, we met our guides and from there it was about a 30 minute hike to the falls. We put on our life jackets and jumped in. We did not expect it to be cold, well, we kind of did but not THAT cold. After a few minutes you couldn’t really feel the cold because your body just kind of goes numb. I kept scaring my friend and it was so funny. A kind of unwritten rule for trip day is that your grade makes up a song/parody. Our parody was to “Mamma Mia” and I don’t remember many of the words I just remember that we just sang about how cold it was! I also remember that we saw a canoe on the hike there that was wrecked and stranded from a long time ago and we asked the tour guide if anyone was on it. She said no. We were all relieved and slightly disappointed. At the end of the day, it was a really fun trip and I’m excited to go rappelling next year!

Great submission, Olivia! I love sing-along bus rides, but the Mamma Mia parody all about how cold the water was at DeSoto Falls sounds even better! Glad to hear you already have your sights set on next year and an exhilarating rappel ride! Camp DeSoto sounds really cool. If anyone else would like to check it out closer, you can do so by clicking right here. As always, thanks for reading!

- John