Shield the Joyous

Glenn Breazeale | Jul. 05, 2025

Earlier this summer I gave all of our staff a book by a friend and former Alpine counselor, Chad Holley. The title of the book is “Shield the Joyous” and it’s a hilarious and poignant fictional story about young boys growing up and playing the the streets and woods surrounding their homes. So much of the narrative reminds me of boys playing at camp. The title is from a prayer attributed to St. Augustine, enshrined in the Book of Common Prayer.

“Keep watch, dear Lord, with those who work, or watch, or weep this night, and give your angels charge over those who sleep. Tend the sick, Lord Christ; give rest to the weary, bless the dying, soothe the suffering, pity the afflicted, shield the joyous; and all for your love’s sake. Amen”

That prayer seems appropriate this evening. Our hearts and our prayers go out to our friends at Camp Mystic and Heart O’ the Hills Camp and all of the other Texas camps affected by this horrific flood.

I love old, recorded prayers in times like these. Times when my heart and my head can’t seem to come up with words. We can speak the words that Christians have spoken to the Lord for ages past. This is the prayer we read this morning in our staff meetings with counselors (we do 2 back to back so that there are always counselors with the boys). Carter and I were able to share with the counselors about these events and spend time praying and singing together with them at our house. Counselors do have access to phones during off time but it is very limited.

Any camper with a sister or cousin at Mystic has been informed that they are safe, (praise God) at the request of their parents. We are going to do our best to shield our campers from the news stories at large and asked our counselors to be very intentional about not discussing these events out in camp. These boys are young and are in the happy bubble of Alpine for the month. One of the joys of camp is that you don’t really have to worry about what is going on out in the world for a time. We, and you, know that’s not sustainable forever, even for children. But it is part of the magic and innocence of camp. We get to “shield the joyous”. And it’s why all of our hearts are broken for our friends in Texas.

We celebrated a grand 4th of July yesterday. Boys entered the dining hall in any red, white, and blue they could find on their shelves. Patriotic tunes played on the sound system (we don’t often have music at meals so when we do it’s a treat). Mrs. Gail surprised us with a rare Friday pancake breakfast. Usually those are reserved for Sundays only! For lunch a classic, southern meal: fried catfish, MS farm raised, black eyed peas, creamed corn, and a green salad with diced tomatoes. At supper we dined on pulled pork BBQ, baked beans, tater tots, and cole slaw. Oh and dessert! At lunch she did a shortcake with sliced strawberries, blueberries, and whipped cream. After BBQ, warm chocolate chip cookies were delivered on large platters for each table. How American are those meals?! At night, Roderick planned special freedom themed night programs and we sang patriotic songs at Glee Club. To top it off we enjoyed a fireworks show out on the field.

This afternoon brought our first “Block Period” of the term. On block afternoons, regular activities are suspended and replaced with special age group games and cabin times. Some boys got to enjoy dips in the pool or river. Others played frisbee golf or Gladiator Ball (our version of Gaga ball). Many matches of tennis were played. We even broke out our hockey sticks to play floor hockey in the gym (don’t worry the hockey sticks have socks duck taped on the bottoms!)

Tonight, after a full first week of activity, all of camp is enjoying a movie on the big, inflatable screen in the gym. Well, almost all of camp. Our chiefs, the oldest campers, are uptop at the farm hosting the ladies from Camp Desoto for what we call the Senior Social. It’s a fun tradition dating back to the 80’s, complete with icebreaker games, pizza dinner, and even some singing. Later in the term we’ll have the All Camp Party for everyone to enjoy a bit of old timey line and square dancing. Believe it or not, the Senior Social is where Carter and I first met back in 1992 as campers!

Carter and I want to once again express our gratitude for allowing your boys to be here at camp this summer. Thanks for reading and good night, 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.