Editor’s Note: As part of our year-long celebration of our 100th Year Anniversary (1922-2022), we’ll post a Throwback Thursday edition of our Alleghany Rattler Newspaper to give you a peek into life at camp across those 100 summers!
In this piece we have a roundup of submissions to a December 1945 issue of the Rattler.
Twas the Night Before—!
By Bunny Alexander
‘Twas night all along Tent Row
And all through the trees,
Not a light wind was stirring,
Not even a breeze.
The clothes were all hung
On the clothesline with care,
In hopes that by morning
They’d be ready to wear.
The campers were nestled
All snug in their beds,
While visions of Greenbrier
Danced in their heads.
And Channy in her kerchief
And Peg in her cap,
Had just settled down
For a short summer’s nap,
When out on the grass
Arose such a clatter,
I sprang from my bed
To see what was the matter.
Into my bathrobe
I flew with a bound,
Tore open the tent flaps
And looked all around.
The moon, peaking over
Mount Pancake above,
Gave a smile that shone down
With lotions of love,
On a cute little trick,
Energetic and gay,
Stringing clothes up the the flagpole
In her own busy way.
From her laugh which resounded
Throughout the Valley,
I knew in a moment
It must be our Hallie!
Campfire Echo
Dear Girls and Counselors:
I am looking forward to this Christmas with more anticipation than any for a long time. You see, when Reese and I put our candles in the window, we will “stand by” and really experience the “echo” of that last lively campfire at Alleghany.
We will be thinking of you and wishing you the Merriest Christmas you have ever known.
But let us not forget to be thinking of the happy Christmas this one will be for all of the families whose boys and Daddies have come home from the service. Let us be thankful that their prayers have been answered and that this Christmas will mean more to them than any other Christmas.
May I join all of you from Alleghany in wishing each other joy and good cheer!
Sincerely,
Bess
Christmas at Camp
Edentown, N.C.
November 27, 1945
Merry Christmas Everybody!
How I wish I could be with you all at camp on Christmas day! I can see it all now.
Betty Mann is out by the showers blowing reveille and complaining about the mouthpiece being too cold as an excuse for going flat.
For once in our lives we are up on time because it is Christmas morning (all but Julie, who slept in her clothes!)
Then we go to breakfast and for the first time there is no swimming announcement, but one for sleigh rides!
After breakfast we all rush down to fix the tents and Betty Clark doesn’t even have to send out searching parties for her girls and Greear makes her bed with a smile. All the Lynchburg girls have their own clothes and are in their own tents!
Then the bugle blows again and we all rush to the Play Hall to see what we have been waiting for all morning. That’s the reason we have all been so good — an enormous Christmas tree and the stage filled with presents!
Wouldn’t it be wonderful? When you light your candles on Christmas Eve, let this be one of your thoughts, along with remembering about the wonderful times we had together at camp.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all!
