Monday Musings

Glenn Breazeale | Jun. 24, 2019

I’ve just returned from a drive uptop to one of our ponds where our Brave age group (rising 8th grade) is hanging out tonight. The setting is peaceful with a grove of trees, the sun going down, and the calm water of the pond. They’ve built a fire beside the water and are roasting hot dogs for dinner. In a few minutes they’ll enjoy s’mores around the campfire. Groups were scattered around the pond, some sitting in hammocks, others playing spike ball or throwing a frisbee.

A number of these same Braves cycled this afternoon on our inaugural Mountain Biking trip at Desoto State Park. JD Uglum, head counselor, full time staff member, and avid biker led this group of buys. The trip was open to any Brave taking Mountain Biking as an activity. They traversed 7 or 8 miles of bike trails at the Park. Guys I spoke with said it was a highlight of their term!

At the same time this afternoon, Cabin 4 on the Mountain (Warriors, rising 7th) bussed to another area in the State Park for an afternoon of rapelling. Once again our guide friends from Higher Ground led this trip, chaperoned as well by one of their counselors. Cabin 3 made the trek this morning and each Warrior cabin will have their turn in the coming days.

This afternoon we also pushed pause on our regular activities for what we call “Block Periods”. Richard assigns each age group activities for the afternoon as an age group. For example, the Chiefs held a trivia night on the Ridge, a bit more academic than the usual assignments. Most younger boys played games around camp like Jedi Ball and Ultimate Kickball.

Richard Cox, our program director, said at dinner, “I feel like this has been the most fun day in camp yet”. I agree. Not to mention the weather has been out of this world. The forecast called for 80% rain today. All of the storm fronts have missed us south and north. What we got instead was overcast skies and cool breezes most of the day.

I also have to mention our dances Saturday night with Camp Desoto! We loaded three buses about 5:30 in the afternoon with our Hunters, Trappers, and Scouts (3rd - 6th). And they’ve never smelled and looked so nice!! Really and truly, they dressed like gentlemen and enjoyed an evening at Desoto picnicking and line dancing the night away. Meanwhile, Desoto’s older gals joined us at Alpine for dinner and dancing. A fine time was had by all! And now the letters are flying out of here to PO Box 432, Mentone, AL!

So much is happening as we enter into our last full week of camp. I look forward to reporting back soon on Mountain Day, final competitions, and a few more special trips upcoming. 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.