Final Competition

Glenn Breazeale | Jul. 30, 2016

Today (Saturday) and Monday are the last two days of regularly scheduled activities for the term (and the summer). The battle between Cherokee and Mohawk is heating up as many activities participate in tournaments to award points.

Mountain Biking hosts the Tour de Alpine for it’s participants, a challenging trek through Alpine trails to see who the top 3 finishers are by time in each age group. The tennis courts are tense each hour as Alpine Open matches cycle through in different age groups. A seeded, single elimination bracket will eventually culminate in a champ for each age group.

Not all activities are quite so competitive. Wilderness has built small boats out of sticks and other materials. For this last period they are racing them down at the river. It’s more about the camaraderie and fun of seeing if the boat will float and hold up than it is winning!

The Alpine Masters is ongoing at Disc sports to see who the champs will be on our homemade 18 hole course that rambles throughout camp. Winner gets to don a green jacket for a photo op on the last night!

Tonight the boys who have chosen to be in Glee Club will get to sing for our friends at Camp Desoto. First the ladies will sing some of their camp songs for us. Campers who have never heard the girls sing usually have wide eyes as they hear over 200 female voices in unison. It is always impressive.

I know our boys will not be outdone! They have worked so hard under the direction of Matt McCall and many other of our musicians on staff. Matt is going to be a junior at UNC - Chapel Hill and grew up here as a camper. He has blended fun and technique all term long into the practices and I know the boys will respond tonight.

Our Trash Can Band activity, led by David Newman and Elam Miller, will have a chance to show their skills off tonight. Also our 1st Year Chiefs (rising 9th graders) have prepared a step show to present to the ladies. It is always met with cheers and screams. The 2nd year chiefs (rising 10th graders) have rewritten a tune with Alpine lyrics to Rick Astley’s “Never Gonna Give You Up”. I love that they went back to some old school 80’s for their choice. And perhaps my favorite of the evening, the Hunters (rising 3rd and 4th grades) singing “It’s Alright to be Little Bitty”, by Alan Jackson. It always brings the house down!

For breakfast we enjoyed hot oatmeal with brown sugar, buttered toast, scrambled eggs, and the breakfast bar. Saturday lunch brought roast beef and gravy, mashed potatoes, green peas, and rolls, plus the salad bar.

Tomorrow we’ll bask in all the slower Sunday traditions for one last time. We’ve had some rain today, much needed. Thankfully it has come at good times and we have not missed any activities. The weather has been delightfully cool and breezy the last few days for end of July. We are grateful.

Thanks for reading and enjoy the rest of your weekend!

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.