First Term Opens Under Sunny Skies

I have just walked across the road from the gym to my home after listening to the singing of 300+ boys singing camp Glee Club songs at the top of their lungs after supper. First Term has officially begun! We were delighted to welcome campers from all over the Southeast and beyond this morning under powder blue skies with a gentle breeze for our 66th summer of camping on Lookout Mountain. Every single camper arrived this morning by vehicle, family or friends. Thank you for your patience as we welcomed and oriented so many excited campers.

When I camped here in the late 80’s my parents actually put me on a plane from Jackson, MS to Birmingham, AL (anybody else remember the days of nonstop flights between those spots?). From Birmingham I loaded a bus with boys from all over the South who had flown or been dropped off at the airport. In those days most of us arrived by bus. When my dad was a camper at Alpine in the 60’s he actually boarded a train in McComb, MS, riding all night with his friends until the conductor announced for Valley Head, AL. There they boarded the back of old cattle trucks for the bumpy ride up Lookout Mountain.

So much has changed since that first summer in 1959, or my first summer in 1987. And yet so much at Alpine has not changed. We still ate homemade chicken and dumplings for lunch today as our opening meal, and jello for dessert (the ladies in the kitchen say it helps calm nervous stomachs). Boys still sleep in open air cabins falling asleep to the sounds of crickets and maybe even Little River if your cabin is in just the right spot. College age guys still give up their summer to guide and encourage and create fun for younger boys. They are the secret sauce. They are Alpine each summer to the campers. Alpine stays the same in so many ways. But the personalities and stories and gifts and talents of the staff each summer provide the nuances and inside jokes and new games that make each summer unique. And so our 66th summer of camping begins.

As I type this I can hear the cheers and screams of your boys finishing their day playing games on the field and in the gym across from me. I’m Glenn Breazeale. My wife, Carter, and I are the Directors. We live in the heart of camp, here all the time in the summer, the mom and dad of camp as we told your campers today.

We had an informative and welcoming first meeting in the gym just before lunch. We discussed some “family rules”, based on the idea that as a Christian camp we want to show love to all, even if they are different than us. Alpine is not a place where we make fun of others or put others down to make ourselves feel better. It’s also not a place where we keep secrets and we speak up if something makes us uncomfortable. Or if we’re sick or hurt. And especially if we’re feeling a bit homesick on these first few days. That is VERY normal because we all miss something from home. Our hope in having this meeting is to put boys at ease and let them know that all of us, including their counselors, are here to care for them.

This morning after you left we accomplished a few necessary stops before lunch. Cabins dropped into the Lodge for lice checks and a health screen by our camp doctor, Dr. Dodd Shumate. Dr. Shumate is a pediatrician in Chattanooga, a camp mom, and a good friend. We are so grateful for she and our three nurses,Mary Brook, Ashley, and Rebecca, for taking such good care of our campers.

Our two camp photographers, Ford and Weston, set up shop in front of our beautiful oak leaf hydrangeas for cabin photos. Those, along with many other candid shots from Opening Day, will be posted tomorrow midday.The kitchen served a healthy snack of crackers, apples, and bananas late morning, a welcome holdover until the lunch bell rung.

Tomorrow we will kick off activites after our morning routine. We find boys thrive if we get them active quickly and create a good structure. Every day starts at 7 with a devotional and singing time we call Morning Watch, followed by breakfast in the Dining Hall. Then we’ll stop off at cabins for a cleanup and inspection from our head counselors (incentive: winning cabin in each age group goes to Store period first). Next we’ll be off to our first activities of the term. Boys signed up for their 10 activities this afternoon (plus all boys take Team Sports with their age group). I’ll look forward to telling you more about some of our activities and camp traditions like Morning Watch throughout the term.

Thanks for reading and good night for now, Glenn