Morning Watch Sleepwalker
Yesterday morning as I was walking to my office around 7AM I hear a loud voice that I recognize as Ware Colson, the Hunter (boys completing 1st-3rd grades) head counselor off in the distance. It was coming from the area that I know to be the gathering spot for the Hunters Morning Watch. More about what Morning Watch is in a minute. Ware says, “guys, Glenn is still asleep this morning and we have to wake him up with a loud chant”. Right about that time I rounded the corner to be directly in sight, some 50 yards in distance. Multiple boys pointed right at me and screamed, “no he’s not, he’s right there!”. Ware turned around, laughed hysterically, and then without hesitation, says, “yes, but he’s sleepwalking so we still need to wake him up.” Immediately I put my arms out in front of me, half closed my eyes and began walking in circles until the boys could rouse me with a big chant. The boys cheered and I thanked them for making sure I made it to the office on time!
Morning Watch is the first item on our agenda each morning, Monday through Saturday, after wake up. It spans the history of camp as far as I know. When my father in law, Dick O’Ferrall, started camp he was very intentional to create a Christian camp. He had loved his camp experiences growing up but wanted a more faith based program. Now as he would tell it, he soon discovered that the secret to a Christian camp is the staff you hire. And that has remained our core tenet to this day. It’s just as important for boys to see the faith of their counselors in action as it is to hear about their faith. Still, Dick wanted to start and end each day in God’s word. Enter Morning Watch.
What has evolved over the years is a combination of fun, silly “wake up” songs (and sometimes chants to wake someone up!), a few hymns, and a short devotional message from God’s word delivered by one of the head counselors for each age group. A great conversation starter after camp would be to ask boys what they talked about at morning watch this summer. And get them to teach you some of the wake up songs!
I’d love to tell you a bit about each of our head counselors who lead each cabin area. They are an impressive group and really set the tone for camp and allow the counselors to do their jobs well. As mentioned, Ware leads our hunter age group and this is his third summer at camp. He will be a senior at Samford this fall, born and raised in Jacksonville, FL. Whit Anderson is a recent graduate of Mississippi State and grew up with us as a camper, coming from Jackson, MS. This is also his third summer on staff. He leads our Trapper age group (completed 4th grade). Whit plans to take a gap year before entering medical school the following fall. Sam Mefford is a second year staffer from Indianapolis, IN who is heading into his senior year at University of Tennessee. He serves as the Scout head (completed 5th). Sam has plans for dental school after graduation and currently serves as the president of the Student Ambassadors at UTK.
Our Warrior age group (completed 6th) is led by Jeffrey Jordan from Jackson, MS. Jeffrey is a graduate of Ole Miss and will matriculate at Stanford Law School this fall. Jeb Salter hails from Lookout Mountain, GA and is a proud Georgia Bulldog! He’ll be a senior this fall and is a finance major in the Terry College of Business. Jeb works with our Braves (completed 7th grade).
Shepherding our Chief 1 (completed 8th) age group is Eli Edwards. Eli is originally from Tupelo, MS but has been living in Nashville, working and completing school online (though he’s a die hard Rebels fan). We are so excited that Eli is joining our staff full time, year round in the fall helping recruit staff and run programs during the school year. Sadly leaving us after a 2 year stint in the same position is Nate McLaughlin. Nate is an Auburn graduate and has served as the Chief 2 head counselor for the last few summers, this one included. We will miss Nate so much but are excited for him as he pursues his plans to attend medical school. He will be a caring and competent doctor.
We’ve enjoyed a full day of activities today, not a drop of rain in sight. I know many of you love to hear what we are eating. This morning our tables were jam packed with platters and bowls of grits, scrambled eggs, sausage patties, fluffy buttermilk biscuits, jelly and orange juice. Our breakfast bar is always open with fruit, cereal, granola, and yogurt.
At lunch a crowd favorite graced our tables - chicken fingers with Mrs. Gail’s famous Shazam sauce, butter beans (or do you call them lima beans???), and mashed potatoes, along with rolls and a green salad. And the kitchen boys brought out the longstanding and loved cheesecake for dessert. By the way, we eat family style at camp, served by our hard working high school kitchen boys, all of whom are former campers.
Supper held pulled pork BBQ sandwiches, baked beans, french fries, and pickle spears. I’m a huge BBQ fan so this is one of my favorite meals!
As I finish this up, all of your campers are headed back to cabins or already in bed (for some of our younger boys). We end each night with a brief cabin devotional led by one of the counselors in each cabin. It’s also often a great time for boys to reflect on the day and share highs and lows with their cabinmates and counselors.
Thanks for reading and good night for now, Glenn
