(Originally posted 6/18/2011)

The health certificate above is relatively “new.” It was issued in 1995, the last year we operated TrailRidge on the original camp property in Buladean. The following summer (1996) is when we went back to being a travel camp and no longer had to worry about health certificates.

Only the first-year campers and staff in 1982, especially those who came up at the very beginning would or could remember this story. It has stayed with me for nearly 30 years.

We had campers and counselors ready for camp before camp was ready for them. And those first brave souls arrived before our bath house was finished, our dining hall was finished...nothing was finished. Yet, since we were an official camp we had to have official inspections.

So do any of you remember what we had to do each time we were called that the health inspector was on his way up? We hid you! In Pisgah National Forest. You see, we weren’t supposed to have anyone at camp until we had approved water, approved septic system, approved sleeping quarters (even if they were tents), approved kitchen and dining room facilities. And as hard as the carpentry crew was working, there was no way to have this finished before the arrival of the very first campers. In fact, TrailRidge consisted of NOTHING three months prior to the opening of camp. There was an old logging road and it was overgrown!

So campers arrived before we were ready and we had to hide them. Since camp wasn’t even open (in the minds of the health department), we weren’t subject to surprise inspections since they were coming to sign off on various aspects of the infrastructure such as how much gravel was going into septic system drain field number 1. So we would get a call and the boys would be herded up and hiked into adjacent Pisgah National Forest. If it were a mealtime, we would pack up food in Bobbie’s red Radio Flyer wagon and feed you in the forest. Maybe you thought this was a fun activity. It was kind of fun to see if we could manage to escape notice by the health inspector. However, I think he thought something was not quite right when he noticed five porta-potties all lined up in a row. That should have seemed a little excessive to him for a staff of four.

But the whistle got blown. Some grandparent came for an early visit and their happy grandson excitedly told him how we had this neat water system where our drinking water came out of a trashcan. So these grandparents promptly called the state officials in Raleigh and the Raleigh headquarters called our local inspector...and there you go...busted!

So we were given an ultimatum on a Friday to have the well completed and water inspected and approved, the bathhouse finished, all the tents up on wooden platforms, and the kitchen completed by Monday. However, Monday was the Fourth of July holiday and we were given an extra day.

Did it get done? Close enough. We got our “A” rating (a rating we always held), the kids didn’t have to hide anymore, and we were official.

And that’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

(Originally posted 3/6/2011)

Kids probably don’t have a clue what work is these days. No, I’m not talking about 16 year olds, I’m talking 9 and 10 year olds. 

Boys came in 1982, our first year, to “work.” Well, that was the idea. And work they did. I suppose some people could have accused me of using child labor to build the camp and at times I’m sure it seemed pretty cruel. I can remember the first year “paying” boys with a cup of bug juice after they had hauled five (or maybe that was ten) buckets of gravel up the hill onto the path.  And I think they were treated to a bonus of a candy bar after their 25th load (or maybe that was 50). It was a formidable task. But if you were there that first summer you will probably remember the foot or more of mud that was the trail up to where the tents were located. It was a mess. And so, by hand, bucket by bucket, wheelbarrow by wheelbarrow...the boys and staff must have placed 20 to 30 tons or more of gravel to help dry it out.

While boys were recruited to help build the camp that first year, we quickly learned that that wasn’t going to hack it. It wasn’t long before we were scrambling to find other activities to do. If you read some of the camper poems composed that first year (which can be found on this website), you’ll hear from some pretty rattled campers and counselors who weren’t quite sure what they were doing in this wilderness call TrailRidge Mountain Camp. 

In the end, we were doing more “camp” stuff than “work” stuff. But the hard work combined with the lack of planned at activities at the beginning, added to the rough living conditions, and throw in the wettest summer in years...took it’s toll. We had the most campers ever that first summer (which was unexpected but understandable what with 50$ a week fee and a chance to be part of something new). Only a small percentage returned for a second summer. 

But some of those came back year after year after year.

And I’ve said this before...whether you were at camp two weeks or six years...you were most appreciated. It was you who were TMC.

(Originally published 1/22/2011)

We opened TrailRidge in June 1982 and three months prior to that there wasn’t a thing on the property. There wasn’t a proper road (except a long overgrown logging road), not a single clearing, not one piece of flat property, not a building, nothing. There were a lot of trees (lots of hemlocks and poplars) and tons of rhododendron. There were two creeks. That was it. And I was hoping that would be enough.

The original marketing idea was to invite a few kids to come up for a couple of weeks or so and we would basically camp out on the property while doing some fun things mixed in with a few “building” projects like maybe making a campfire circle, maybe a hiking trail, maybe a picnic table...simple things like that. We would going to live in tents, use Coleman lanterns and flashlights for evening lights, get water out of the pristine creek, use a porta-potty for the bathroom, and take showers using a solar shower (basically a black bag of water that had been sitting out in the sun all day).

I had been living in New Orleans and had sold my house and had something like 15 thousand dollars out of that to use to help establish the camp. I also cashed in my retirement savings from Metairie Park Country Day School and had something like $4000 in that. And maybe I had another $1000 saved up..so I was “rich” with a wad of money that I thought would be plenty to enjoy that summer and figure out where to go from there. I mean how much could a cheap tent cost?

But I figured I had to find some campers so I came up with a “marketing” idea and printed a brochure. You can read the entire brochure by clicking here.

The cover said, “How can you go to camp in the mountains of North Carolina for 50 bucks a week”? and it was answered with the statement, “Help Build It.”

I’m not quite sure what happened but kids started signing up and those kids started recruiting other kids, and those kids told someone else. And before I knew it, my five to ten kids a week turned into dozens a week. I think we actually had more than 70 kids there one week of the summer. I was afraid to even mention to Bobbie and the rest how many kids were signed up for the next week.  It was like magic to me and I couldn’t say, “no.” Well, I should have. There was no way we were equipped to handle more than eight or ten boys per week. We had no staff coming in except Ray & Nancy Thompson and Gus Jerdee. We also had a great gal who was going to help us in the “kitchen,” Catherine Hays. 

It quickly became apparent that we were going to need lots more help with all of those kids so we started looking for counselors and parents to serve as staff...and tents...and more tents...and more tents.

But I was still figuring, you know what, “where’s the problem?” All of these kids are paying 50 bucks a week and just how much could a little food in a pot cost? And we could pick up a tent back then for about $80 and that would sleep two or three people and certainly last a whole summer.

Well, it started to get complicated.

First of all, the MItchell County Health Department knew we were starting a camp and they didn’t care how many kids were coming and how much they were paying...even if only one kid was was coming and paying one cent a week...then we had a commercial operation and certain things had to be in place before we would be given a permit to open. And remember that $20,000 that was going to last me a few years as we got established. That was gone in about ten days. We were told we had to have a dining hall finished before the kids arrived along with a commercial kitchen and it all had to be built to state specs. And we had to have a bathhouse, again health department approved. And we had to have  a well with state-tested water and all of this had to happen before anyone took occupancy.

Okay, so remember I started saying that three months before opening day there was not a thing on the property. All of that started to change. Bobbie moved from our house in New Orleans up to Bakersville to be the onsite supervisor. She had friends coming who were carpenters and Gus was going to join them. Plans were drawn out for a dining hall and  a bathhouse and with snow on the ground, the building started. And that $20,000 was gone. It was time to borrow...but all of that’s for another blog entry.

And of course, we had all of these kids coming who were paying fees...but we soon realized that we now had to have some kind of kitchen staff (one day you’ll hear about a near mutiny in the kitchen), we had to have plates, commercial stoves, counselors, activities, bathhouse, camp vehicles, a well. So I estimated (after the summer was over) that it was costing us about $75 per week for each camper who was paying us $50 per week. All I could do was somehow hope money would come through and we could just get to the end of this first summer and then sit back and look at what we had accomplished and start regrouping for the second year. I mean, surely we would have a second year.

Well, I’ve certainly made this entry longer than I intended...so let me just add that future entries will fill you in on what it’s like to hide 50 boys and ten counselors in the woods when the health department was coming for a visit...and what it’s like operating the first summer with boys living in more-than-rustic settings in tiny tents with a record summer of rainfall. 

I’ve said this elsewhere on this website but it’s worth repeating. Those were some brave boys and staff. I personally could have never done what they did at age 10, or 12, or 14, or 18. I’m proud of them all. 

(Originally posted 1/11/2011)

Since I appear to only be writing for myself, I’ll keep up my plan to post things as they come to me even if they are in no chronological order whatsoever.

As of this posting, I’m closing in on compiling the best possible record of all campers to have ever attended TrailRidge - The Buladean Years (and those three years after we vacated the property that I continued TrailRidge as a travel camp).

In the process of attempting to find names of all past campers, there are several whose names keep popping up for a variety of reasons...and most of those reasons have been positive.

Seeing Scott Andrews show up in various newsletters and in photos reminds me of a lot of great memories. And one of those, possibly not a great memory but certainly memorable, dates back to that first summer in 1982. 

I’ll make a long story short. Scott, who was about ten at the time, and Brett Sulzer, about 14 years old at the time, were on an overnight trip to the Appalachian Trail shelter behind camp with counselor Carter Friend and a few other boys. Somehow or other some dirt bikers had gotten onto the AT (now impassable to bikers) from Hughes Gap and had ridden the trail past where our campers were camped. Because of stories that had circulated earlier in the season about rabid bikers kidnapping kids, etc. that some staff member had told...when these bikers came through someone yelled “Scatter” or “Hide” or “Take Cover” or something along those line. Everyone took off and hid. A few minutes later they all came back together. Then the bikers came back to get on the main road and our campers did the same thing. But this time, I guess because it was getting near dark or because two boys decided to run farther than they did the last time...those two boys...Scott and Brett were nowhere to be found.

Counselor Carter Friend wasn’t quite sure what to do. I don’t think we had discussed losing campers during orientation. But it was now dark and all the calling for the kids wasn’t going to do any good. Carter made a decision to stay up and keep calling for the boys while letting the other kids get to sleep. He figured it wouldn’t do much good to attempt to get back to camp in the dark. So early the next morning Carter comes running down to camp (I imagine the distance from that shelter to TMC was a mile or less but without a decent trail it’s not an easy hike). He alerted us and at that point panic creeped in.

I could only imagine what could have happened to Scott and Brett. We had only been open a few weeks and I could see this as the end of the camp after one season. We called the local sheriff’s department, but they weren’t too interested in helping out because they figured the boys were actually in Tennessee. The AT where this shelter was located is right on the NC-TN border. So we mounted our own search teams to start looking. There were no cell phones for communications then (or if there were...there would have been no signal). Gus and a couple of people started at Iron Mountain Gap and hiked “north” and another crew started at Hughes Gap and hiked “south.”

I believe it was Nancy Thompson who took a camp vehicle (or perhaps her own car) and drove on over to the community of Burbank, TN which is at the base of Roan Mountain and somehow or other...there sat our two lost campers on a bench in front of a store. They weren’t able to call the camp because we were so new no one knew of us or perhaps Nancy beat them to the phone.

They were tired, hungry, and happy. We were tired, happy, and relieved!  The boys had scattered that second time just a little too far and had become disoriented. They decided it better to stay put and make the most of a long night instead of trying to find their way out in the dark. That was a very smart and mature move for two young boys from New Orleans.

When daylight arrived they made their way downhill, found a road, followed it, and ended up at that store where we found them.

It was a happy reunion. Both boys returned for several more summers, especially Scott.

The parents got a telephone call from us explaining what had happened. They, to their credit, were understanding and supportive.

And while it has been nearly 30 years since that day...I’ve never forgotten it.

And I imagine we put in a “what to do if you, a camper, or everyone” gets lost session into future staff orientations.

(Originally posted 1/2/2011)

I don’t know why I thought the minute I put this new website online that former campers and counselors would find it. I just assumed with facebook everybody would discover it. I am NO power user of facebook believe me, though I’ve learn a few things during the past couple of weeks.

I am very happy to have reconnected with a few people over these past couple of weeks. Hugh Andrews, we knew him as “Scott,” actually was our very first facebook “fan” before there was anything up there. I claimed the name on facebook months before starting this site and didn’t have a single thing up there but the logo. And I was puzzled to find out one day that we had a fan. And since he listed himself as Hugh I really didn’t make the connection. I was thrilled to get an email from Scott once the site was actually up and something to see and the mystery was solved. Taylor Marshall-Green was also on the list very early and I don’t have a clue how he found the site...but thanks Taylor.

I had several email addresses of some folks who have remained in touch - Ben Parker, Ray & Nancy Thompson, Danny Moore, Barclay Yates, Tom Stitt, Michael Reily, and Jay Jalenak. They quickly signed on. Barclay told Lora Harrison Johnstone and she signed on. And that was it. So much for the “if you build it they will come” theory.

Again not knowing much about facebook, I thought I would try one of those sidebar ads. Pretty complicated to figure it out, but you could set a limit of how much you’re willing to spend. So I said, hey, what’s another 100 bucks after losing tons of money on the camp. And so after putting together the ad (which didn’t take long since you only have about 35 words), and selecting a demographic (not sure what to choose but settled on something), the ad went public and within three days had appeared on tens of thousands of facebook pages and three or four people had actually become fans. And, I was happy to have new fans but didn’t know a one of them. So, I decided to cancel that advertising campaign after spending a grand total of $14.

And then I decided my next tact would be looking up people one by one starting with names that are pretty much different than standard names like John Smith. And through that process I’m excited to have connected with Ethan Pinkert (Virginia), Wedon Brown (Louisiana), and Davies Hood (Alabama). I also on a whim looked up Cameron Gwynn (Florida as well as Tennessee/North Carolina) and Robert LaPlace (Louisiana) and had luck finding them even though their names were among many of the same names.

And so the process will continue, one-by-one. We only had so many campers through all those years (I will be attempting to count them as I compile a master roster), and imagine the total number of different people came to close to 750 or so. And I imagine a measurable percentage of those weren’t happy campers at all and have no desire to hear the name again. But I’m hoping over time to get our fan base up to at least a hundred.

Happy New Year!

(Originally posted 12/24/2010)
I had a friend who after hearing of those tales of trying to get TrailRidge started said I should write a book about those experiences. That idea never interested me because I knew there wouldn’t be a lot of people who would want to read it. So I suppose this blog is actually the beginning of a book and the magic of the web means it’s being published as I write it even if I’m the only one reading it. But this will be the book and in no particular order. Part comedy with lots of drama I’m sure. It was a wild ride which continues on only in the memory of those who accepted the first-year challenge to start a camp and of course to those who either came back for another dose or new campers and staff who decided to see what the fuss was all about.

(Originally posted 12/22/2010)

It was a good feeling last night to get the first of this website up and running. I announced it on our facebook page and we already have some old camp friends signing up. Please help us spread the word.

Tonight I’ve finished scanning several new things including a fairly complete set of photos of the camp facilities. I didn’t think I had any of those left so it was great to find them in our home office closet. And while I was in there I found tons more old camp stuff. 

Since I work at a school I have this brief window of opportunity to add more and more items to this site. And after this winter break I’ll add things when I can. 

(Originally posted 12/21/2010)

I didn’t know how I was going to get this started but started by scanning a few old photos and looking through other stuff. There’s a lot I can add. I’ve reserved this website domain (www.trailridge.info) for five years and after that...well, I’ll see.

You can help. Send me your thoughts, your photos, your best and worst memories. And of course, let me add you to the list of campers, counselors, and staff. If you remember which years you were here...then that’s even better.

And spread the word. I’ve been out of touch with most campers and counselors for years but occasionally David and Kim Broshar, the current owners of the TrailRidge Mountain Camp name and business have forwarded emails to me that came their way. And I would like to thank David and Kim for letting me establish this website for TrailRidge Mountain Camp - The Buladean Years.

Now spread the word and get in touch. My email is: marklevin@windstream.net.

(Originally posted 12/20/2010)

I’m not sure how the idea of starting my own summer camp came to me. And perhaps it’s an idea that should have stayed only that. But, oh well, it happened. I had worked for seven summers at Camp Mondamin and loved every minute of it. But after seven summers I decided I was ready to do something else and so the idea of a travel camp came to me. And so for the next four summers I took kids on trips across the country and finally ending in a five-week trip to Europe using Eurail. 

And so it was during those four years of traveling that I thought, wow...if I could make a thousand bucks being my own boss in a summer with just ten kids, think what I could do if I had a regular camp. Wrong thinking on my part, but by then it was too late to back out of my future plans. And so, around December of 198o I found 64 acres of land in Mitchell County, North Carolina (surrounded on three sides by Pisgah National Forest with the Appalachian Trail a couple thousand feet from our property boundary, and with a view of 6, 285 ft. Roan Mountain) it seemed like the perfect and most affordable spot. 

And so, I made an offer to purchase... and went to my parents’ home for the holidays stoked to get started on this new venture and phase of my life. At this moment, I was not yet married to Bobbie.