Washington County News

Thursday, May 9, 1968

page 2

by Meade Campbell

   The oldest summer camp for girls in America was, in the beginning, an ever-growing house party at “The Meadows,” the home of Captain Frank Robertson.  As it grew in both personnel and decibels, it outgrew not only the space it occupied but the endurances of the Robertson family trying to live there.  It was kicked uphill and named Camp Glenrochie, a nice way of saying ‘this camp is going up to that rocky glen or else.’

 Willoughby Reade and his second wife, “Miss Nan,” took over.  They were people of extraordinary vigor.  Mr. Reade, a many faceted personality, had a lot of all consuming interests all going at the same time.  Among them were outdoor living, Stonehenge, horses, The Idylls of the King, and ferns.  Cars were another interest but he never learned to drive one very well.  His trips by auto around Campbell’s Hollow and up to Texas Baby are unforgettable.  People returning to find themselves on solid ground again, shakily encouraged him to go saddle his horse, which he rode very well, indeed.

   Campbell’s Hallow is now the location of the day camp for Girl Scouts.  Texas Baby was an observation tower on the top of a high hill reached by a winding path, passing “Tent row,” the Infirmary, and taking a sharp left straight up the hill through sassafras, trailing arbutus, chickadees, and indigo buntings.   

   The legend is that a pioneer family from Pennsylvania, trying to find a new trade route to Texas, made it this far, and then on that certain high hill, their newly born baby died and was buried there.  It may be so.

   Mrs. Willoughby Reade, better known as “Miss Nan” shared her husband’s interests and added some of her own.  She was an advocate of stout boots for long hikes through the woods with close observation of birds, trees and wild flowers.  On clear nights she gathered the campers together for inspection of the stars and planets, their names and movements, recalling as they watched “many of the beautiful stories of ancient times in which they had a part.”

   The girls came to camp from all over and were met by counsellors along the way, following a strategy plan that would probably confound the Pentagon.  They came from New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington, Richmond, Memphis, New Orleans, Savannah, Atlanta, and Cincinnati, and somehow campers and counsellors all arrived together at the same time at depot square in Abingdon.  There they were met by a horse-drawn hack and were clomped off to camp. 

   The young men of the town, seeing this bevy of beauties disembark and disappear into the hills, swarmed to the site, but Mr. Reade was capable of swarming all by himself, and the barrier stood firm.  The young men were already indoctrinated to such frustration, having spent the winter months being swept away from Martha Washington and Stonewall Jackson colleges.

   A 1925 catalogue, under the hearing ‘Chaperonage’ says, “Girls are not allowed to leave camp, whether it be on horseback rides, trips to town or through woods on hikes except when accompanied by a counsellor.  At camp, no chaperonage is necessary, for girls do not come to Glenrochie to have dates, and boys and young men are not among the attractions which are offered,”  Well now, think of that.

   Camp Glenrochie had many unusual features, and perhaps its most unusual was its flatfooted refusal to advertise.  The management just let the word get around among former campers and friends that this was a pretty good place to spend a summer with a large congenial family, who welcome new members.  This way, the management was assured of getting only the best and those who would fit in.  

   It was required of the girls on any trip outside of camp that they wear the khaki or white duck hats with ‘Glenrochie’ around the crown, so they could be identified as they proper young ladies they were.  Camp Glenrochie was operated a world apart from the razzmatazz of the time and the girls had little opportunity to learn much about being fashionable flappers, or how to use rouge or make cupid-bow lips or bathtub gin.  They couldn’t even make spit curls and couldn’t have cared less.  Their parents, doubtless going about these very pursuits, were happy to have their offspring in this secure environment.  

   The camp was non-sectarian, and ministers from the town took turns holding Sunday services there.  If they desired, the campers could go to the church of their choice to either Abingdon or Bristol, accompanied by a counsellor.  A white skirt and shirtwaist with either high or low shoes were appropriate for these journeys, but girls were not permitted to walk anywhere in high heels.

   The camp costume had by now changed from hobble skirts to bloomers, black pleated ones.  Knickers were acceptable for riding, if the campers could not come provided with a riding habit or jodhpurs.  The controversial matter of the side-saddle seat was settled once and for all in 1921 when it was told that cross saddle riding, only was allowed.  Those adhering to the more graceful side saddle just didn’t know enough about it to keep the horses from getting terrible saddle sores.

   The horses, Daphne, Dotsy, Betsy, Lemon, Orange, Little Bit and others, were wintered at Sullins and Virginia Intermont college in Bristol.  In the summer they returned from School to camp as did their riders.  Daphne’s colt, Miranda, became the personal possession of Mrs. Frank Reade, but more about that later.

   Meanwhile, back at the ranch, the cuisine offered a variation from the usual hominy grits, and served treacle on buttered hot biscuits.  Theatrical productions were a great going thing and may have predated Robert Porterfield’s Barter Theater.  The girls wrote the plays, costumed themselves, and acted them out, sometimes in the big cabin, at other times by the pool or up and down the hillside.

   The beautiful blue Clinch Mountain, over there in the distance, came to be a challenge.  Because it was there, and the hardest mountain around to get to or climb up, it was the natural selection for the yearly dawn to dark picnic.  At the top of this mountain there is a terrifying strata of rock, called “The Great Pinnacles.”  The largest, jutting out into midair, is known because of its profile as “The Alligator.”  For this excursion two registered nurses were required, one to stay at Glenrochie to tent the girls and counsellors not up to the trip, and another to go along on the safari to pick up the pieces.  Somehow they always managed to get back safely and happily.

   There will be more next week as Frank and Jean take over.