Sunday Feasting

I want to tell you about the meals on Sunday. The first two don’t change, at least not for as long as I’ve been around (over 25 summers including camper). What boys are eating is the most popular feature on the blog, hands down. So I’ll try to give you some glimpses into what we are eating on a daily basis.

Everyone who’s been to Alpine knows what will greet them upon arrival to the Dining Hall on a Sunday morning. Mrs. Gail’s homemade pancakes, hot off the griddle. Gail and her staff arrive extra early on Sunday mornings to allow enough time to flip all those pancakes (warming ovens do the trick for those first batches). I’ve never asked how many they flip on a typical Sunday morning. We are feeding over 350 this term including all counselors and staff. I eat 3 or 4 (more than I should as the ole metabolism doesn’t process them quite like it used to!). And I’m probably on the lower end for some of these growing boys. I bet they make close to 2000.

They are thin, not too sweet, with traces of almond flavor. She complements the carbs with sausage patties and canteloupe. Lunch is a baked chicken that is delicious with a crunchy crust and tender inside. And goes well with the rice and gravy, green beans (cooked in lots of good things to make it taste better), yeast rolls, and sliced pears.

There is something soothing about looking forward to these same meals each Sunday. It’s a visible and olfactory reminder of the celebration and rest of a Sunday at Alpine. The remainder of this post is excerpts from posts I’ve written in the past about the experience at an Alpine table.

Food at Alpine is a big deal.  When my father in law, Dick O’Ferrall started camp his father gave him one piece of advice.  His father, by the way, was Dr. Carter O’Ferrall (hence my wife’s name) a much loved physician in Jackson, MS who had delivered most of the boys who camped at Alpine those first few years.  So his advice was that no matter what else you do don’t skimp on the food.  Serve quality food that boys will eat.  And so that is our goal every summer.

There are 3 blessings, one for each meal, that we have been singing for as long as I’ve been at camp.  And I am pretty sure much farther back than that.  The last note of “Amen” is usually mixed with the beginning sound of 300 plus chairs pulling back as we take our seats, eager to pass what’s in front of us and catch the next bowl headed our way.

We place an emphasis on manners and service at the table.  Not a white table cloth, cotillion type manners.  More like: this is a community and we have to think about others type table manners.   When we’re hungry, food can bring out the most selfish sides in all of us, and I include myself and all the other staff in that category.  We actually spend a lot of time in Staff Training talking about it.  We are very intentional in how we treat the table experience.  It’s an intimate experience and boys take away a lot from their time in the Dining Hall.

We pass all the food around in one direction.  We each take a reasonable portion to make sure everyone at the table gets a little bit (this does not come so naturally when you’re hungry!  Sometimes our instinct is to pile as much on our plate as we can without regard to the others.) We wait until everyone at the table has been served until any of us takes the first bite.  It all seems sort of obvious as I write it but when you get 12 or 13 hungry males at a table it takes a practice and self discipline.

And of course there’s plenty of food and the high school boys on Work Crew are happy to come and refill our serving bowls and platters.

Thanks for reading and good night for now,

Glenn