Friendships and Fun

Glenn Breazeale | Jul. 22, 2024

The beauty of a 25 day term, the gift you’ve given your boys, is the time it allows for feeling settled in and living in community. Boys can hardly remember when they got here by now. This just feels like where they live, not a short week long stop (we are certainly not opposed to shorter camps, there are many good reasons to have them!). This length allows for an amount of independence and depth of friendship and community that feels very real and normal.

I’m reading Jonathan Haidt’s new book, The Anxious Generation, this summer. I have long admired his research and writing and this book coalesces so much good data in a very user friendly way, I highly recommend. His main premise is how we have under protected our children in the digital world. I was pleasantly surprised to find how much time he spends on another thesis: that we have over protected our kids in the real world. I probably don’t believe everything he says and you may not either. But hopefully we can agree that boys need a chance to run and play and take risks and develop independence away from us as parents at times. So thank you for giving them this gift!

I write all of that because I was reminded of this gift this afternoon just before dinner. I had agreed to play pitch and catch with one of our Hunter campers and his counselor after his shower. We gathered on the Team Sports Field with about 30 minutes to play before being called to dinner. At first it was just us. As boys of all ages finished their required shower, the field and surrounding areas filled in. Two different groups played pickup basketball in the gym, half court rules. Some boys threw the frisbee in the middle of the field. Campers claimed the tennis courts for a quick set. Some younger guys played in the sand of the volleyball pit (yes, right after showers, that’s the beauty of camp). Many foursomes, or larger, played through the 15th hole of the frisbee golf course that runs along the road just below the field. And many older campers joined us on the field shagging balls for our young friend, which delighted him.

The bell rang out calling us to dinner. As we approached still more groups played in the “Canyon Game Area”. 4-Square, an old school playground game from my growing up, is still immensely popular at camp, especially at this term. Pairs of boys battled in Tetherball, waiting until the last minute to run into dinner. Gladiator ball, Alpine’s version of Ga-Ga ball, was going strong just above the Tetherball courts.

It’s fairly well known that we have a pretty routine schedule. Boys and counselors thrive with a good routine. And there’s freedom within the boundaries. After cabin inspection each morning boys usually have a few minutes of free play before heading off to first period. Same goes for Store period. Grab your drink and candy and enjoy a few minutes playing or talking with buddies. By the way, if you’re curious what free time looks like for the older boys it’s usually “hanging out”, literally, in hammocks around the cabins. Boys and counselors alike swing and “chill”. It may look like it’s just pure laziness. What is really happening is casual conversations and community, laughter and swapping of stories. Counselors join in often and get to casually weigh in on various topics. It’s for them what might be for us adults one of those special lingering meals with dear friends, sharing stories and laughter over fine food and drinks. The kind you never want to end.

We have been blessed with wonderful weather today and over the weekend. Lots of clouds and intermittent periods of rain have drastically cooled our Mountain down. And provided much needed refreshment to our river! Highs have been in the low 80’s, well below average for July. The great part is that we really haven’t missed any activities due to the rain. It dodged us all day today. We had a few showers over the weekend but nothing severe and mostly light enough for us to carry on.

This morning for breakfast we energized for the day on scrambled eggs, hot grits, sausage patties and large buttermilk biscuits. Sliced roast beef, steamed broccoli with cheese sauce, mashed potatoes, yeast rolls, and a green salad refreshed us midday. This evening we dined on heaping plates of lasagna, buttered toast, and a green salad.

This term may be nearing the 4th quarter but we have many exciting special events,activity competitions, and end of camp traditions upcoming. I’ll look forward to bringing you some of the excitement later in the week.

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.