Christmas in July

Glenn Breazeale | Jul. 16, 2024

We’ve enjoyed a busy start to our second full week of camp. Sunday afternoon Roderick cut 23 large watermelons, grown locally just up the hill by Mrs. Gail’s brother, Gary Crow. The Crows have supplied us with local produce since the beginning of Alpine in 1959. Sunday afternoons are also reserved for cabin time. Each cabin decides on a activity or a hike or game to play. It’s a little like family time that many of you might have on Sunday afternoons after church. This time of year the smart cabins collect water bottles full of ripe wild blackberries and blueberries during their cabin hikes. Mrs. Gail and her team will fix homemade muffins for these boys the next day!

Sunday evening is a slower time for what we call Vespers. It’s essentially an evening devotional, as the sun sets over the river canyon and the sky darkens. Carter and I had the joy of joining the Hunters (our youngest boys) Sunday evening. We sang a few well known worship songs like Be Thou My Vision and Amazing Grace. It’s quite a different scene from our Morning Watch devotionals that begin each day in each age group. Before Morning Watch devotional each morning the counselors help “wake up” with some different worship songs, a bit more upbeat. Ask your boys to teach your family “The Fruit of the Spirit” or “I Got My Feet Shod” when they get home. I had an endearing video texted to me recently from a First Term family whose three boys were teaching their entire extended family these songs on vacation!

After singing Sunday evening Carter and I read the Hunters a devotional from our favorite childhood story Bible, The Jesus Storybook Bible, by Sally Lloyd Jones. We cannot recommend this book high enough for family devotionals if you don’t already have it. Frankly, it could be used for personal adult devotionals at times. The story we read was actually from Luke 2, the story of Jesus’ birth. And the reason we chose that one is because this week we are celebrating Summer Christmas!

Today is Christmas Eve. We all get in the spirit by singing the 12 Days of Alpine Christmas at lunch today. And we jammed out in line tonight during our Taco Tuesday buffet to some popular Christmas tunes. And our Hunters enjoyed a special afternoon and evening of activities. Time was spent making homemade presents,each boy drawing the name of another. Daisy chain decorations were cut and stapled with construction paper to be placed on the Christmas tree. And my personal favorite, boys came to our house where Carter and counselors helped them decorate Christmas sugar cookies (that I may have sampled). Christmas eve is topped off with a reading of an Alpine version of “Twas the Night Before Christmas”

Tomorrow morning we are hoping to have a special visitor before breakfast! And he might bring some special treats for the whole camp to enjoy at breakfast. Stay tuned to the photos!

I should also mention that on Monday our Chief 2’s left for their pinnacle camp experience, a 3 day backpacking trip on the Appalachian Trail. They are ably led by their counselors and guides from our friends at Higher Ground in Rome, GA. They are carrying everything needed to live for three days and will eat, sleep, walk on the trail. The group is hiking in 4 distinct groups in order to comply with size limits of the Nantahala National Forest. Thursday they will walk out of the woods at the Nantahala Outdoor Center (some groups will be picked up by bus a bit farther away) and raft the river in inflatable kayaks. We look forward to hearing all about their adventures.

Thursday morning will bring 8 more chartered buses into camp right at first light for our boys to all venture out on excursions around the Southeast. I’ll give a full report when they return.

Lunch today was a fan favorite. Mounds of chicken fingers, spotted through the screen windows as we await the KB’s setting tables, get everyone in a good mood. Accompanying the chicken is Mrs. Gail and her mom’s famous Shazam sauce. It’s a pink chicken sauce, a bit sweet and a tad tangy. Oh and lima beans, mashed potatoes (Carter’s fav), yeast rolls, and a chopped green salad.

Merry Christmas 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.