Fifty years, and counting

Fifty Years at Alpine Camp

Alpine Camp for Boys was founded in 1959 by Rufus Hyde and Richard “Dick” O’Ferrall, Jr. Mr. O, as folks know him at camp, has been at Alpine every summer since, over 50 years now. Dick and his wife, Alice, remain closely involved as the Directors Emeritus of Alpine Camp. Alpine has been and will always remain a family operation.

Catching the Vision

As a boy, Mr. O spent his summers high atop Lookout Mountain at another boys camp on Little River. He fell in love with camp and the Mountain during “some of the best days of my life”.

While studying at Ole Miss, Mr. O served as a counselor each summer and, having been raised in a strong Christian family, wanted to apply his faith to his summer job. He recognized the impact that summer camp could have in the lives of children and began to dream of opening a Christian summer camp. After college, Mr. O fulfilled a two–year commitment to the Navy in Athens, GA and Norfolk, VA, spending weekends on Lookout Mountain. He and a friend (and former Program Director) from his old camp, Coach Rufus Hyde, began to look for properties on the mountain.

Founding the Camp

In January of 1959, Coach Hyde and Mr. O purchased Alpine Lodge Camp for Girls and changed it to Alpine Camp for Boys in June of the same year. They operated two four week sessions with 52 campers the first session and 62 in the second.

At that time the property was very rugged – not a blade of grass in sight – and there were only 135 acres in the property with a capacity of 85 campers (today Alpine has 338 acres and a capacity of 250 campers). The property for the tennis courts, athletic field, gym, mountain and ridge cabin areas, and stables was acquired in the late 60’s.

Alpine's Legacy

Mr. O had always wanted Alpine to be a Christian camp, but over the course of the first summers, God began teaching him what that meant.

“Through a series of circumstances, God showed me that the only way Alpine could ever become a Christian camp would be if we hired all Christian counselors. I could understand the concept, but admittedly did not have the faith that we could ever assemble that many Christian counselors in one camp. Finally, the Lord said – Trust me!! Finally, I did!”

“There were days in March when we did not have a full staff and we were basically out of contacts, but we were not out of contact with Almighty God who faithfully has raised up a staff for us every summer.”
~ Mr. O

This is the continuing spirit of Alpine. 50 summers of fun on Lookout Mountain. 50 summers of friendships, many of which have lasted a lifetime. 50 summers of allowing boys to “grow in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man”. It is our hope and prayer that God will be faithful to this place for 50 more summers.