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Greetings, Alpine nation.
Although I’ve posted a few times on the blog, I feel I haven’t formally introduced myself. My name is Weldon Pless, and I recently began working here at Alpine full-time. I was a camper for 9 summers, worked in the kitchen for 2, and then worked on staff for 4. Needless to say, I’ve spent some quality time here at Alpine, but not as a full-time employee.
Peter Hurt also recently began a full-time job here, and he too is no stranger to camp. Peter grew up just down the road (his parents run Camp Desoto), and he’s spent his fair share of summers camping and counseling at Alpine. We like to tell people we’ve spent a combined 30+ summers on the mountain, just to make it sound a little more impressive.
At first, I think Peter and I both found the off-season work to be very different from camp during the summer. The obvious difference is the lack of people. A quick Google search will show that the population of Mentone is 478, a number that easily doubles when the camps are in session. It was so quiet in those first weeks after camp that I almost felt like I should whisper, like I might disturb Mentone if I spoke too loudly.
As the weeks passed, however, I realized something interesting: Camp never closes, it only disperses. Camp really is about the people, and when we open up the gates on closing day we’re not ending Alpine for the summer– we’re releasing it.
Part of our job with Alpine is to travel from town to town, getting the word out about camp. Through this, Peter and I have the unique opportunity of seeing Alpine all over the southeast. We see it when we visit the Tyner’s in Oxford, or the Gilbert’s in Nashville. We see it when we put on a slide show for a group of boys at Jackson Academy. We see it (begrudgingly) on LSU’s campus as our friend Tim Lindsey gives us his informative tour of Baton Rouge. The Alpine family is everywhere.
Peter and I are excited about the chance to be part of something so much bigger than ourselves, and we’re thankful for the Alpine family that welcomes us in each and every town. If Peter and I have 30+ summers, I think it’s safe to say that with the friends we make at camp, and the Alpine friends we’re meeting every day on the road we’ve got about 10,000+ summers. Thanks for making our job fun. It’s nice to meet you.
Weldon
