Activity Routine

Glenn Breazeale | Jun. 04, 2025

The routine of camp is officially setting in. Even after only 2 full days of activities boys feel at home and like they’ve been here much longer. We pack in so much to a day that it helps boys move past those initial jitters. Boys thrive with a routine and schedule that pretty much stays the same each day (with the exception of some fun special events I can’t wait to report on later in the term). In fact, it’s also the thing that most of the college age counselors tell us they love the most about Alpine. You go to bed about the same time each night, wake up at a decent hour, and have a schedule set for you all day long.

So a bit about the schedule. Campers take 11 activities, having signed up for 10 on Monday afternoon. The 11th, Team Sports, is an automatic, divided by age group and parsed out through the schedule. A few activities are “double periods” meaning they meet for two periods in a row. A class period lasts just under an hour, with 3 each morning and 2 in the afternoon. You might be wondering how we schedule 11 periods in a rotation. It’s a bit of randomness amidst the routine. So yesterday we ran periods 1-5, today 6-10. Tomorrow morning we will start with period 11,1,2 in the morning, then 3&4 in the afternoon. And so on each day. One nice advantage of the snake schedule is you don’t always take the same class at the same time each day. So if you have waterfront as Period 1 that doesn’t mean you’ll have to take it each morning right after breakfast when it’s a bit chilly!

Richard Cox is our talented Program Director this term who organizes all this fun. 332 schedules, 11 periods each, 80+ activity staff and he handles it with grace and poise. Richard has roots in the Mississippi Delta, grew up all over, and currently resides in Birmingham, AL. He is a teacher at the Westminster School. We are so thankful to have him with us each summer.

And now what you’ve been waiting for, the meals today! Mrs. Gail and her crew pulled out all the stops today, serving 3 of my personal favorite meals. For breakfast each table held baskets of piled high, fluffy buttery biscuits accompanied by sausage patties, scrambled eggs, and grits. In our buffet room each morning granola, yogurt, cereals, apples and bananas are also available.

Lunch was most every boy’s favorite - chicken fingers and mashed potatoes with her famous Shazaam sauce. Butter beans and a green salad rounded out the table (but let’s not kid ourselves, the former was the draw for the boys). Shazaam is our version of pink chicken sauce and is beloved around here.

A BBQ supper awaited us this evening, pulled pork mixed in a sweet Alabama style BBQ sauce. French fries, baked beans, and chocolate chip cookies rounded out the offering.

Now I can hear your boys playing various games under the lights of the team sports field and roof of the gym, a sure sound that summer is in full swing here in Mentone. Our house sits just across from the field and it’s good to hear those happy voices back, under a beautiful starlit evening sky.

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.