Square Dance and Sunday

Glenn Breazeale | Jun. 25, 2017

First, I hope you’ve all seen the video that we posted to the blog and Facebook page earlier today with highlights of the first two weeks of the term. We’ve hired a videographer this summer, Josh Caron, to produce a few videos. He is super talented and works for the Ole Miss sports media team during the school year. We are grateful to have him and hope you’ll enjoy his work.

So Friday and Saturday’s plans changed slightly since I last wrote. Friday afternoon’s forecast increasingly guaranteed rain and thunderstorms, specifically right around 5-8PM. We talked with the folks at Desoto and decided the prudent and more fun decision was to postpone the dance to Saturday night. Who wants to get all dressed up then be out in the rain all night!

It was a simple switch for us. We were grateful that Desoto could make it happen as they had a few more moving parts. Richard had scheduled movie night for Saturday. So we just flipped nights. Friday afternoon did bring lots of rain and a few scattered thunderstorms. Thankfully, nothing intense at all. We even fit in most of our afternoon activity plans before the rain. And Friday night was a perfect rainy evening to pile in the gym with sleeping bags or crazy creek chairs and watch an old classic, the Mighty Ducks.

On Saturday the rain moved out by early morning. A front behind it ushered in sunshine and cool temps. Last night was a perfect night to host a dance - cool and calm and bright. And the boys cleaned up nicely, aided by some extra shower time generously given by Richard. At about 5:45 the youngest 3 age groups (rising 3rd - 6th grades) loaded up on yellow school buses for the 10 minute trek across the mountain top. I was not on those buses but have been many times. I can most assuredly tell you that glee club songs like “Desoto Girl” and “The Mountain” rang out atop the mountain. I also feel confident in saying that as the buses made their final approach, hallowed Desoto gates in sight, that the buses went eerily silent. Girls. Real girls, not just in a song. And nerves. And then slowly, conversation, sibling hugs, and dinner, followed by square dancing.

Those same buses reloaded with campers from Desoto, making the return trip to Alpine to spend the evening with our older boys. The fajita buffet was enjoyed by all in our Dining Hall. And then we were off to the gym for a night of dancing. Midway through there’s a water break on the field adjacent the gym. My favorite moment of the night came towards the end of the water break. Desoto teaches choreographed line dances to many songs, but perhaps none more popular than Jai-Ho.

Our DJ for the evening, Assistant Director Ben Kenna, wryly smiled and blasted out the first few beats of Jai-Ho. Happy screams went up as girls sprinted back into the gym, making hand motions as they ran.

After a full evening we appreciated an extra hour of sleep this morning, the traditional Sunday morning 8:00 Reveille. And of course, pancakes for breakfast. In case you missed last week, check a few posts ago on the Blog for a full run down of a typical Sunday at camp. Today was very similar.

Thanks for reading and good night for now, Glenn

Glenn Breazeale
Glenn Breazeale

Like his own father, Glenn grew up as a camper at Alpine for six summers, coming from Jackson, MS each summer. He has served on staff at Alpine since 1997, working full time as Assistant Director from 2003 to 2005 and Director since 2006. Prior to that he gained experience serving in various capacities including cabin counselor, Head Counselor, Head of Project Adventure (Ropes course), Horseback instructor, and Program Director. Glenn’s love of camping and his desire to preserve the traditions of Alpine drew him back to camp to offer young boys the same opportunities he experienced. He met and fell in love with Carter during a Square Dance with Camp DeSoto.