1995 Program Staff Member Pays a Visit To Camp ASCCA
Camp ASCCA is such a fun and exciting place that it usually ends up leaving a lasting impression on its staff members. One of these staff members, Amy Fletcher Alford, loves her memories of the summer she spent here so much that she brought her two girls here last week to show them around.
…”it was awesome, I loved every minute of it”…
Amy is from Prattville, AL, and she was a member of the Program Staff in 1995. Her job here at Camp ASCCA was to run the Demo Farm. Like so many of our other staff members, she found out about Camp ASCCA from a trip she took here for college credit. She loved Camp so much that she and a friend decided to work here.
The demo farm position was the last vacant program staff position, and Amy was a huge animal lover. She was perfect for the job. It looks like her love for animals has been passed on to her two daughters, Whiddon and Clark, because when I asked them their favorite part of camp, they named some of our animals.
Amy likes to come back to camp because of the many memories she has here and to see how much it has grown. When asked about her summer here Amy said “it was awesome, I loved every minute of it.”
She loved it so much she encourages all of the teachers she works with to tell their students about Camp ASCCA. Amy even has hopes that her two daughters will come and work at camp one day. She wants them to experience the great times she had at Camp ASCCA.
You can click on the video below to see Amy talk about camp and meet Whiddon and Clark!
Did you know that Camp ASCCA is in Facebook? If you are too, please go on over and “Friend” Camp ASCCA and join the Camp ASCCA Facebook group, too.
Friendships Continue to Form at Camp ASCCA
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For one camper at the Dadeville campus this friend just happened to be her counselor…
 t is not uncommon for campers to come to Camp ASSCA and meet a lifelong friend that they will keep in touch with even after their time at camp is over. For one camper at the Dadeville campus this friend just happened to be her counselor.
Camper Holly and her counselor Jessica met at camp last year but did not get to spend that much time together. Since that meeting they have been writing each other letters in anticipation of this year’s time at camp.
This year Jessica is Holly’s counselor and Holly could not be more excited. She finally gets a chance to know her pen pal in person and not through a piece of paper. Jessica said it was not until Holly came to camp this summer that they realized they lived fairly close. The girls plan to still swap letters after camp is over but would like to hang out some too.
You can see Jessica and Holly tell their story about the first time they met on this video below!
To try and build our Facebook visibility, let’s leave this in the posts for awhile. We want to be able to reach a lot of teens, tweens and college students. Facebook is one of the best places to do that.
Did you know that Camp ASCCA is in Facebook? If you are too, please go on over and “Friend” Camp ASCCA and join the Camp ASCCA Facebook group, too.
Billy Browdy :: Former Counselor and Seasonal Staff
Over the years, ASCCA has had many incarnations of staff positions. The most familiar, and the most important, is the counselor position. It is the foundation of all we do at ASCCA.
Billy Browdy is an example of that special employee. A big, sweet and kind lovable bear of a man, Billy worked at ASCCA in the late 1990’s. Danielle spoke with Billy during the ASCCA 30th Reunion celebration last week. Here is his story.
The video below is 2:00 long.
The first administrator and nurse at Camp ASCCA
Last week’s reunion turned out to be a bigger success than we imagined. Many of the alumni that visited were from the first summer Camp ASCCA opened.
Two of those visitors were the first administrator and nurse, Bert and Kris Emmons. Robert French interviewed them while I was inside looking at old pictures of the camp before and while it was being built.
The video below is of Bert and Kris and 9:22 long and 16.8 MB.
Lyle Massey: Former Counselor
Lyle Massey and her husband were here for last week’s 30th Anniversary
Celebration here at Camp ASCCA. She was one of many former counselors or staff members that returned. I was able to speak with her about her experiences here at camp a few years ago.
The following podcast is 1:16 minutes and 1.16MB. The picture to the right is of Lyle.
Former nurse and mom of a current counselor
E arlier this week, I interviewed Josh Smith. Tonight I interviewed his mother. Jacquelin Smith Giddens worked at Camp ASCCA as a nurse at two different times.
I loved how she kept talking about how proud she is of her son. When I first introduced myself and explained that I knew her son, she started bragging about him. I could tell that she loved what Josh was doing here.
I talked to her about her times at camp, as well as coming back to camp tonight. The following video is 2:03 minutes and 3.44MB.
Meet Dorothy Collier
Even though Dorothy Collier was a guest tonight at the 30th Anniversary Celebration, Camp ASCCA is more like a home to her. She lived here at camp from 1984 until 2004. She is the wife of Tom Collier, who still works here part time.
I had the opportunity to speak with Dorothy about her time at camp and about seeing old, familiar faces once again. The following video is 1:52 and 3.06MB.
Original staff member: Judy Williams
She’s never really left, but we let her come back as an alumni anyways.
Judy Williams was a counselor the first year Camp ASCCA opened in 1976 and has been back so many times that she doesn’t know how many.
I met her earlier in the summer when she came to visit and she went to Mobile with us to pick up the Mobile Rotary campers this past Saturday.
I interviewed Judy about Camp ASCCA and why she just can’t seem to leave. The video is 4:34 long and 7.65 MB.
A former counselor and board member
O ne of the former staff members that I had the opportunity to meet today is Jeff Matherne. He worked as a counselor from 1990 to 1992. He came back as a board member from 2000 to 2005. He has seen many different sides of camp during his years of involvement here.
Jeff and I were sat down and talked about his experiences here at Camp ASCCA through the years. The following interview is 1:35 minutes and 2.59MB.
Reunited after 29 years
T oday is the 30th Anniversary Celebration here at Camp ASCCA. I have already had the opportunity to speak with several former counselors and staff members. Most of the people I met this afternoon were the first staff at camp. I was able to look through each of their pictures from the late 1970s. It was neat to see how far this campus has come and how many more campers and programs there are today.
As I was looking through one lady’s photo album, I noticed a girl that looked like a camper here with Mobile Rotary this week. It was her. The photo album belonged to Becky Davis Gibson. And the camper was Tammy Shipe. Tammy has been coming to camp for 29 years now and her first counselor here was Becky. I thought that it would be neat to see Tammy’s face when Becky showed her the picture of the two of them together back then.
I was able to capture on video Tammy looking at the old picture and talking to Becky about their days together. The picture to the right was taken this afternoon of the two of them. I will work at scanning the picture from 1977 of the two of them. The following video is 4:02 minutes and 6.68MB.
Tomorrow’s the BIG day!
It’s finally arrived! The Camp ASCCA Reunion is tomorrow.
And because the day is finally here, I wanted to get an idea of what exactly we should expect, so I went to the person who started this whole thing, Tom Collier.
The podcast below is of Tom Collier 1.38 MB and is 1:30 long.
Alumni prove it: Love happens at ASCCA
This week alumni from the past 30 years of camp have been dropping in for a visit. They are seeing campers who were here when they were counselors, telling
good stories and reliving the ‘good old days.’
Tim and Donette Mullinex are two ASCCA alums who met here at camp. Donette was a counselor here in ‘77-85 and Tim in ‘80-85. They worked here for two summers even though they were married.
On Monday they visited us and two campers who are from their same home town, Jackson, Ala.
The picture to the right is of the Mullinex family and Matt Grafton and Ricky Passmore.
All this week other alumni from past years will be stopping by camp to relive the Camp ASCCA days. Keep checking our journal for more stories about and, hopefully, from the alumni themselves.
Share Your Camp ASCCA History and Memories Through Photos
Share your photos from Camp ASCCA. You know, the ones you have packed away from all those years ago (or last year?).
Flickr is a free photo hosting community where people share and join communities, or groups. Camp ASCCA has a group called Camp ASCCA History and you can share your photos in that group by joining Flickr, uploading your photos and joining our group.
Here is how you can get your photos in the ASCCA History group. First, sign up for a Flickr account. Or, if you already have one, sign into your account.
Then, in the top menu you will see “Groups” … choose that and scroll down to “Search for a group” …. search for “Camp ASCCA History” (or follow that link) and once you are there you will see a link (it is on the right) saying “Join this group.”
After you have joined the group, go back to your account and go to the photo you want to share. At the top of that photo you will see a string of buttons. One says “Send to Group” and it will drop down the groups you belong to. Just click the “Camp ASCCA History” link and it will add the photo.
I hope you will take us up on this. We’d love to be able to share these photos with all those that can attend our reunion on July 13th and all those that cannot make the reunion. Hey, write to us, too. We’d just love to hear from you even if you can’t visit ASCCA. Go to the contact form and drop us a note. Thanks!
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Show Off Your Camp ASCCA Photos :: Share With Us, Please
Camp ASCCA (unofficial) Photographer Badge
Originally uploaded by Camp ASCCA.
So, we are using Flickr a great deal. Now, we’ve created a group for the 30th Anniversary Reunion of Camp ASCCA. Click the image to the right and visit the Camp ASCCA History group in Flickr.
Surely, of the 1,500 or so counselors and program staff, someone has a Flickr account, too. Right? Even more likely, how about the thousands upon thousands of campers - children, adults, parents and volunteers that have visited camp. I know that you must be out there - somewhere. Well, we want you to share your old photos of camp.
Also, if you don’t have a Flickr account, you can get one for free. (Details on free accounts.) Then you can post your photos and share. We can have a community. Once you have the account, just join the “Camp ASCCA History” group. It is easy.
So, please use your Flickr account - or make a new one. Please share your photos of Camp ASCCA’s history - your history. After all, you are all the people that make Camp ASCCA what it is … fun.
