Alpine Rookie Day

Saturday, June 22, 2013

You and your son are invited to come to Alpine Camp’s Rookie Day.  Your son will have an interactive tour with other prospective campers and have the opportunity to experience camp firsthand!  Parents will tour camp and visit with camp directors, Glenn and Carter Breazeale.  

There are limited spots so click here to fill out your registration form to reserve your spot!

Check in will be from 9:45-10:15 AM
Tours begin at 10:30 AM
Pick up at 3:00 PM
(all times CDT) 

 After touring camp and meeting with directors, parents will leave camp and can take time to enjoy the picturesque town of Mentone before picking up their son.

Visit our website to find directions to camp and information about accommodations in the area.

If you have friends or family that have a son who just completed kindergarten-6th grade, have never camped at Alpine, and would also be interested in Rookie Day, please click here to send us their information.  

www.alpinecamp.com

Please read these important guidelines before registering:

• Put your son’s name and the grade finishing on the form!
• Pick 5 top activity choices, listing in order of preference, and 3 alternate choices
• Schedules are processed on a first come, first serve basis.
• Some activities will fill very quickly – space is limited in activities based on camper/staff ratios designated by the American Camp Association.
• Some activities are only offered to certain grade levels (such as Trash Can Band, Bouldering, Climbing or Frisbee 101), so please check the grade requirements in the Junior Camp Activity List.

 Please complete the Junior Camp Activity Registration form by May 10, 2013.  If you have any questions, please call (256-634-4404), email monique@alpinecamp.com or check out the PARENT HANDBOOK.

In addition to the five daily activities, we offer numerous other activities each night during Twilight Games and Night Program.  We eagerly anticipate a great summer with your son!

January 14, 2013 – Monroe, LA – 5:30 PM CST
January 15, 2013 – Covington, LA – 4:30 PM CST
January 15, 2013 – Baton Rouge, LA – 7:30 PM CST
January 16, 2013 – Mobile, AL – 3:30 PM CST
January 28, 2013 – Oxford, MS – 3:30 PM CST
February 18, 2013 – Tupelo, MS – 5:30 PM CST
March 4, 2013 – Greenwood, MS – 3:30 PM CST
March 4, 2013 – Clarksdale, MS – 6:15 PM CST
March 5, 2013 – Starkville, MS – 6:00 PM CST

September 24, 2012 – Birmingham, AL – 6:30 PM CDT
September 25, 2012 – Memphis, TN – 4:00 PM & 7:00 PM CDT
October 18, 2012 – Lookout Mountain, TN – 6:30 PM EDT
October 23, 2012 – Nashville, TN – 5:30 PM CDT
October 24, 2012 – Franklin, TN – 5:30 PM CDT
October 29, 2012 – Dallas, TX – 7:30 PM CDT
November 1, 2012 – Huntsville, AL – 6:30 PM CDT
November 6, 2012 – Shreveport, LA – 6:00 PM CST
November 7, 2012 – Lafayette, LA – 6:30 PM CST
November 8, 2012 – Gulfport, MS – 5:00 PM CST
November 9, 2012 – New Orleans, LA – 4:00 PM CST
November 12, 2012 – Atlanta, GA – 6:00 PM EST
November 15, 2012 – Jackson, MS – 6:30 PM CST
November 19, 2012 – St. Francisville, LA – 5:30 PM CST
November 26, 2012 – Athens, GA – 6:00 PM EST

We will continue a long Alpine tradition of allowing boys to “Early Bird enroll” the day before camp closes, indicating they would like to return next summer.  As always this will be an indication to us and to you that they have had a blast at camp, and not binding. They will receive the 2013 Early Bird T-shirt!  You will make the final decision through Priority Registration.  

This year we have made a few changes to Priority Registration, for your convenience:

• We will have a registrar’s table in the big room of the Lodge (where you dropped off your medicine on Opening Day).  You may register for 2013 in the Lodge if this is more convenient for you and your family.  We know that some families will choose to enjoy their few hours on the Mountain out in camp visiting with campers, counselors and us and we think that is great!  It is not required that you visit the registrar’s table while you are here in order to reserve your spot 2013.  Our goal in adding this option is simply to add convenience.  In the past a number of parents have asked to Priority register for next summer while they were at camp.  Now you can!  This way you don’t have to worry with mailing something to us in the fall!
• Parents who choose not to visit the registrar’s table while you are here (or if your son is leaving on a bus) will receive an email on Closing Day with a link for Priority Registration to our 2013 Application.  Simply complete this application and choose your deposit method and you will have reserved your son’s spot.
• Priority registration for 2013 will remain open for our 2012 families until September 1.  We will be accepting new camper applications during this time and placing them in a waiting pool until September 1, to allow parents from all three sessions in 2012 ample time to reserve a place in any of our three sessions for 2013. After September 1 we will begin enrolling new applicants in the order in which they were received.

Our goal for priority registration is to recognize how much we value our 2012 camp families and give you first preference on 2013 spots, in any of our three terms.  We do encourage you to take advantage of our Priority registration as we have had strong interest from new camp families and already have a number of new applications.

We are including our 2013 dates below, along with our rates and cancellation policies.  These also appear on the application and on the website under “Dates and Rates”.  Your registration deposit is fully refundable less a $100 processing fee through February 1, 2013, (a month later than in past years) should your summer plans change.

2013 Dates and Rates

• First Term: Saturday, June 1, 2013 – Wednesday, June 26, 2013 – $4,500.00
• Second Term: Saturday, June 29, 2013 – Wednesday, July 24, 2013 – $4,500.00
• Junior Camp: Saturday, July 27, 2013 – Tuesday, August 6, 2013 – $2,500.00

Payment Schedule and Cancellation Policy

• $600 due with application; refundable through February 1, 2013, (less a $100 processing fee)
• An additional $600 due February 1, 2013; refundable through May 1, 2013
• Remaining full balance due May 1, 2013
• No refunds on cancellations received after May 1, 2013
• There is no refund for late arrivals or early departures

Example:

“Your Son’s Name”
“Your Son’s Cabin”
Alpine Camp for Boys, Inc.
P.O. Box 297
Mentone, Alabama 35984

• Access your child’s forms that need to be completed for the summer under Forms and Documents
• Edit your billing information and make a payment using a credit or debit card under Financial Management
• Purchase camp stamps and edit your log in information under Your Account
• Email your camper, view camp photos, purchase camp photos, set up your credit card to purchase camp photos/camp stamps and set up your guest accounts under Online Community

Please take a few minutes to explore each of these categories so you are familiar with them prior to the start of camp.  If you need any help, please don’t hesitate to call the camp office – 256-634-4404.

All visitors must check in upon arrival in the camp office.  Visitors will be given an Alpine Camp sticker or lanyard to wear.  Camp gates will be closed and no visitors will be allowed between 9:00 PM and 7:00 AM CDT.

Our infirmary operates as a primary care clinic for the camp.  Your son’s health record is maintained there and should he need medical assistance we are well equipped to help him.  Our medical staff consists of one physician and three registered nurses.  This allows us to have two nurses on duty 24 hours a day.  In addition, 90% of our staff is instructed in American Red Cross First Aid and is CPR certified.  The infirmary is fully stocked with medical supplies to aid with everything from minor abrasions to more serious conditions.

If our medical staff feels a camper needs treatment that we cannot provide, we have excellent medical facilities a short distance away at DeKalb Regional Medical Center in Fort Payne, AL, or at T. C. Thompson Children’s Hospital in Chattanooga, TN.  We do not notify a parent when a camper is in our camp infirmary overnight for a minor ailment, but if your son should become seriously ill or suffer a major injury be assured we will notify you immediately.

Alpine counselors will be wearing dark green Alpine Camp shirts and khaki shorts so that you can recognize them easily.  Our staff will help parents load luggage on to the bus.  Campers may board the bus upon arrival and a counselor will take care of them from that point forward.  Please call the camp office if you have a travel delay or an illness on opening day (256-634-4404).  The charge for the bus in 2013 is $170.00 roundtrip or $85.00 one way. 

If your son is being met at the Birmingham, AL airport and traveling to camp by camp bus he will be greeted by a director and his cabin counselor once he arrives at camp and be taken immediately to meet the other boys in his cabin.

You will need to book your own flight reservations for your son(s).  Alpine Camp will provide chartered bus transportation to and from the Birmingham, AL airport.  The charge for the bus in 2013 is $170.00 roundtrip and $85.00 one way.

Campers flying into Birmingham need to schedule their flight to arrive between 8:00 AM CDT and 11:00 AM CDT on opening day.  Departures should be scheduled between 8:00 AM CDT and 11:00 AM CDT on closing day.  We will have staff members at the Birmingham, AL Airport meeting flights on opening day and delivering boys to their flights on closing day.

Please provide your son’s complete itinerary including airline, flight number, and time of arrival/departure, including all connecting flight information on the travel form and reconfirm all travel information a week before your son(s) comes to camp.  If your son is flying as an unaccompanied minor, please be sure and confirm his status with the airline and with camp.  We will need to make sure we have proper identification for your camper and our counselors available to the airline at the time of pick up/drop off.  If you have an e-ticket for your son(s) please forward a copy to Monique Fielder (summer@alpinecamp.com).  Campers may not arrive prior to opening day.

Alpine counselors will be wearing dark green Alpine Camp shirts and khaki shorts so that you can recognize them easily.  Our staff will help parents unload luggage from the bus.  Please call the camp office if you have a travel delay or an illness on closing day (256-634-4404).  The charge for the bus in 2013 is $170.00 roundtrip or $85.00 one way. 

Bus to Jackson, MS – Second Term ONLY: Depending on the level of interest, we will plan on sending 1 or 2 buses from Alpine to the Smith Wills Stadium parking lot in Jackson, MS on Closing Day of Second Term.  The cost of the bus trip in 2013 is $190.00 per camper.  We need at least 30 boys to have 1 bus and at least 50 boys to provide 2 buses.  Spots will be given on a first-come, first-serve basis.  Please note that we will cancel the bus if we do not have the minimum number of boys signed up.

Your son’s cabin request should be made on the application or in an email to summer@alpinecamp.com no later than four (4) weeks prior to Opening Day.  Boys must be in the same grade in school to be placed in the same cabin together.  Alpine places boys in cabins by the grade the camper has just completed in school.  The directors will do their best to honor individual cabin requests.  Many factors go into making final cabin assignments and the director’s placement is final.  Alpine is not able to guarantee cabin requests.

If your son has spent the night away from you on more than one occasion (even just with grandparents) then that is a great sign that he is ready for camp.  His performance in school is another good indicator for young boys (1st – 2nd grade).  If his teacher says he makes friends well and does fine with the separation from you, then that is a great sign.

Your son’s personality is another great indicator.  You might have three boys with three totally different personalities and you can quickly say that one will be ready earlier than another.  Your son who is more independent and easygoing might be ready a year earlier than your son who is more cautious and likes to be around you more.  Sometimes birth order plays into this.  In general (but not always) younger siblings are ready a little sooner than an oldest child because they have been around older brothers and sisters and “act older”.

As far as age, most boys are easily ready for Junior Camp after having completed the 3rd grade with a great many ready after 1st or 2nd grade (again, that depends on personality type).  For First Term and Second Term, most all boys can easily handle 25 days after 5th grade with a large majority ready after 3rd or 4th grade.

All of these factors are simply designed to help you determine when your son is ready for camp, whether that be after 1st, 2nd, or 3rd grade or even a bit older.  There is certainly no hard and fast rule.  We believe all boys need camp even if they are still a little hesitant before they come (which is perfectly natural for all boys!).  If you have a child with special physical or mental needs it is best to give us a call and we can discuss whether Alpine is right for your son.