Sundays at Alpine

Sundays at Alpine feel very different than the other 6 days.  Most any other day of the week if you ask a camper what day it is they will probably reply “I have no idea?”.  We first know it’s Sunday because we roll over about 7 expecting Reveille only to notice that all is still quiet.  An extra hour of sleep comes in handy after a busy week of activity.

When we are on the road in the offseason talking to current and former campers we often ask them what traditions they remember best about camp.  Sundays are almost always brought up in the first 2 or 3 favorites.  And specifically pancakes on Sunday morning.  Mrs. Crow’s pancakes, and now her daughter Mrs. Gail’s, are known throughout the Southeast by men and boys alike.  At our house during the school year, it is tradition that I fix our girls pancakes on Saturday morning.  Very early on they let me know that, though they enjoyed mine, Mrs. Gail’s were better.  I was not offended.

Sunday morning also lends time to an extra special “white glove” cabin inspection, also much needed after the busyness of the week.  Somewhere in mid morning a bell rings and the entire camp lines up single file, clad in white Alpine shirts and any variety of white short.  A second bell calls us to silence and we process into church one by one.  Today we also found time before and after church for each boy to get an individual picture as well as each cabin a picture.  These will come home as keepsakes to remember the fun times of the summer.

Ben Shaw is our camp minister this summer, charged with leading our worship services among several other duties.  He is an ordained pastor who works with an on campus ministry at University of Southern Mississippi called Reformed University Fellowship.  We hire a camp minister for the express purpose of ministering to the needs of our staff.  Counselors have a high calling - and Ben is available to them for Bible study, conversation, encouragement, etc.  He also ably leads our worship.

After church we head to the dining hall.  Baked chicken, green beans, rice and homemade gravy, pears, and rolls await us.  But most importantly, Moosetracks for dessert.  Moosetracks hold a special place in the hearts of many an Alpine camper.  Mayfield Dairy’s most popular flavor, it combines vanilla ice cream with chocolate fudge chunks and tiny peanut butter cups (vanilla is offered for boys with allergies).

Sunday afternoon brings time to run around and play some games by age group.  We reunite at the end of the afternoon on the Team Sports field where Malcolm cuts up cold, juicy watermelons.  Is there anything better on a  summer afternoon?

Sunday night holds a vespers service for each cabin area, led by a different counselor each week, similar to the morning watches held each morning.  We hope campers learn about the Bible in the devotionals and services held throughout the term.  But we know they will not remember a lot of what is specifically said.  I remember very few specifics of what was said by my counselors when I was a camper.  What I do remember, and what we hope these campers remember, is that a very cool, fun college age guy opened the Bible with them each night.  That’s what I want for my girls.  I want them to see it’s not just something that Carter and I do with them, or some other mom or dad teaching their Sunday school class.  I want them to see that the same counselor who has been playing games with them all day, the same one they look up to and want to be just like, that this counselor is willing to spend time with them talking about and reading the Bible.  It is a normal part of life.

So it’s been a great Sunday on Lookout Mountain.  Weather has been amazing today, by the way.  Rain around us all day but not a drop at camp.

These next few days will be a whirlwind of activity, for the boys and all of us.  I’ll try to do some brief posts, but, if not, we look forward to seeing many of you Wednesday morning.  We’ll be sending out an email tomorrow with more details about Wednesday morning pickup.

Thanks for reading,

Glenn