Second Term Off and Running

Greetings from Alpine where we have just completed our first full day of activities in our Second Term of camp! My name is Glenn Breazeale, director along with my wife Carter, for 21 summers now. I’ve been around Alpine longer than that, having spent my first month on Lookout Mountain in 1987 as a 10 year old in Rising Fawn (still a cabin today, though rebuilt!). Camp has been in my blood longer than that. My dad, Don, camped at Alpine for 4 summers in the 1960’s. Yesterday marked our 67th opening of Second Term, dating back to 1959. Carter’s connection runs way deeper. Her dad, Dick O’Ferrall (Mr. O), bought part of this property in 1959 as a 24 year old with a dream of creating Alpine Camp for Boys. At the time the property was used as a small girls camp. He later married Alice and they had two girls, the younger being Carter. We now have two girls of our own, 20 year old twins.

That first summer there were probably around 50 boys camping this term. Yesterday we welcomed over 300. And yet, many of the same traditions endure this summer that began way back then. And we are now welcoming many third generation campers to this beautiful spot on Little River that the Lord has given us to steward. One thing that has not changed is the mantra Mr. O repeated thousands of times over decades, “it’s the counselors that make Alpine. We could have camp in a parking lot if we have the right counselors.”

Yesterday after you left we took care of many necessary items to get camp off on the right foot: lice checks, swim checks, tours of camp, and a meeting with Carter and me in the gym. In that meeting we reminded them that it’s perfectly normal to be a bit homesick these first few days - it means there’s something at home to miss - which is a good thing! I told them the almost always cure is to talk with their counselor about it. Talking always helps over bottling in emotions. If you get a homesick letter in the mail remember it is several days old and likely not indicative of the current mood of your camper. Be positive in your response and emphasize how boring home is and how much you want him to be at camp. If you get a second letter feel free to contact us and we can check on him.

We talked about health and safety. Again we emphasized the importance of speaking up if something is bothering you physically. We can only help if we know about it! We reviewed boundaries and discussed ways to keep us all safe. I make it very clear that there are no secrets at Alpine and to speak up immediately if someone is doing or saying something that you know is inappropriate. We want to create a culture here that is uplifting and encouraging and where boys are free to be themselves.

I also introduced some of our key admin staff so that the boys know who to talk to if they can’t or don’t want to talk with a counselor. I’d love to introduce you to a few of our guys as well. They are impressive young men and we are grateful to have them leading each age group. We have 7 head counselors who supervise each age group at camp. They are fun and mature and set the tone for camp.

Ware Colson leads our Hunter age group (boys who have just completed 2nd and 3rd grades) and this is his third summer at camp. He will be a senior at Samford this fall, born and raised in Jacksonville, FL. He hopes to be a teacher or social worker or possibly pursue full time ministry. 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.

I look forward to sharing a few other staff bios over the term. Another item parents always love to hear about is what the boys are eating. Mrs. Gail, our head cook of many years never disappoints. By the way, Gail is only our 2nd head cook in 68 years. Our first? Her mother. Tonight she served a camper favorite, spaghetti noodles with her homemade meat sauce. Breakfast this morning was another fan favorite - French toast with bacon! At every breakfast we offer a cold breakfast bar of yogurt, granola, cereals, and fruit. And always at lunch, Uncrustable PB&J sandwiches are available for boys who might not prefer what is served. We use Uncrustables because they are contained in a plastic wrapper, safer for our peanut allergies.

I will plan to bring you updates every few days on the goings on of camp life. And hopefully you’ve been able to login, with the instructions we emailed yesterday, to view our daily photos.

A word about the daily photo upload - our goal is to give you a glimpse into each day at camp. A window into our world that tells a bit of the story of each day. The goal is not necessarily to capture every camper every day. We really want boys to feel unplugged while here and that includes not feeling like there are cameras in their face all day every day. So we only have one, sometimes two, cameras roaming around camp. On Sunday Lane Taylor, a professional photographer from Chattanooga, will join us to take cabin and individual photos of your boys in their Alpine Sunday whites. You’ll receive those at the end of the term.

Thanks for reading and good night for now, Glenn