Play Me Some Mountain Music
It was such an action packed day yesterday that I didn’t have a chance to post an update. I’ll try to fill you in on some of the details. Mountain Day begins with a wake up call by the head counselors. Yesterday’s wakeup held a special treat. One of the gentlemen on our maintenance crew serves our community on the North Lookout Mountain Volunteer Fire Dept. Gene was able to bring one of the fire trucks. Decked out in costume, the head counselors hopped on the fire truck. Riding through camp with sirens blaring, the head counselors eagerly woke up each cabin area.
Campers streamed out of cabins decked out in costume. Word spreads quickly that it might be Mountain Day. So they are ready. Sometimes a costume is preplanned and put together, mostly it’s an inside out shirt with shorts on head and sunglasses, or something of the like. A few favorites from yesterday included a tiny Chubaka, a giant dinosaur, and a huge mask of a crying baby!
Country band Alabama is the music of choice for Mountain Day (the hometown boys hail from just down the mountain in Fort Payne, AL and still reside in the area). Dixieland Delight and Mountain Music swirled through the air as we enjoyed our pancakes with chocolate chips and blueberries.
Our Team Sports staff brought us a full morning of Olympic competition, tribe vs. tribe. Field events, tug of war, and some relays kept us busy all morning. And yes, there was music there too. That’s the beautiful thing about being unplugged for a time period. It makes you appreciate so much more. A little recorded music on Mountain Day gets us all excited.
Lunch could not have come sooner. Mrs. Gail’s Mountain Day special: BBQ chicken awaited us. Served with green beans, mashed potatoes, salad, and strawberry shortcake, we feasted.
In the afternoon Richard cooked up special activities including the third annual playing of Alabama Gold Rush. It’s a hybrid between capture the flag, tag, and an egg hunt played throughout most of camp. The boys love it!
The best part of the whole day (and maybe the term) came at sundown. The Alpine County Fair. With snowcones, cotton candy, and ice cream I probably need not say much more. But there’s so much more.
Currency at the fair is dried pinto beans for games and a limited number of tickets for food items. Loaded with an envelope full of beans, boys are turned loose in the gym and field to play fair type games to their heart’s content.
Today we’ve been back to our normal activity routine, enjoying all that camp has to offer for just a few more days. We did get hit with a thunderstorm late morning, pulling us away from our final activity of the morning. The rain hasn’t slowed us down. Many boys have told me that some of their favorite times are the impromptu games and cabin times had during a “rain delay”.
For lunch today meat loaf, fried okra, and mashed potatoes graced our tables, along with the delicious offerings on the salad bar. I love Gail’s fried okra so much - I can get into trouble real quick! And she served a crowd favorite for dessert - homemade banana pudding.
This evening Carter and I have hosted the 2nd year Chiefs at our home at camp, with their counselors. J.D. Uglum, their head counselor, and I cooked out ribeye steaks. Paired with some veggies, rolls, and chocolate pie for dessert we enjoyed a lovely evening with these last year campers. After dinner I asked them to share some of their favorite memories from their years at camp. Some were hilarious tales, others more endearing. I think they would have gone on sharing all night if they didn’t have other things to do. It’s truly always one of the highlights of the term for me.
Thanks for reading and good night for now, Glenn
