A Publication of the Daily Mountain Eagle
Volume 9 • Issue 4 • Fall 2021
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Man Versus Mountain J O S H G AT E S A N D H I S D R E A M O F E V E R E S T + 50 YEARS OF INDIAN CREEK YOUTH CAMP + FALL ON MAIN + BRISA VENTURA
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MAGAZINE Established October 2012
PUBLISHER James Phillips EDITOR Jennifer Cohron ART DIRECTOR Malarie Brakefield CONTRIBUTORS Ed Howell ADVERTISING Jake Aaron, Brenda Anthony, Renee Holly, Andrea Phillips, Liz Steffan DISTRIBUTION Michael Keeton
Walker Magazine is a publication of and distributed seasonally by the Daily Mountain Eagle, a division of Cleveland Newspapers, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or stored for retrieval by any means without written consent from the publisher. Walker Magazine is not responsible for unsolicited materials and the publisher accepts no responsibility for the contents or accuracy of claims in any advertisement in any issue. Walker Magazine is not responsible for errors, omissions or changes in information. The opinions of contributing writers do not necessarily refl ect the opinion of the magazine and its publisher.
When we launched Walker Magazine in fall 2012, one of the first things I had to learn was how to decide which ideas to write for the magazine and which to use for the newspaper. I gradually began to appreciate that the magazine gave me the luxury of really digging into a story instead of just hitting the highlights. I went down to Indian Creek Youth Camp early in the summer with the intention of getting together an article on the 50th anniversary for our weekend Homefolks section. It didn’t take me long to realize that I had a magazine story on my hands. Since it was my first time at the camp, Rob Gurganus and Cookie Hyche gave me the grand tour, and longtime camp volunteer Vicki Blackwood was kind enough to share some of her memories with me. ICYC is a special place. Not only is it beautiful but it has also been a spiritual refuge for thousands of campers for the past 50 years. Untold numbers have either started their walk with God there or had their faith reinforced through the time-honored traditions of both camp life and Christian life. Earl Barnett, one of ICYC’s founders, told me when I started this project that I’d run out of newsprint before I told all the stories there were to tell, and he was right. However, I gave it my best shot and then turned it over to ICYC alumni to share their memories in their own words. I hope we have put together a worthy 50th anniversary tribute for the many people who know and love ICYC. Though it wasn’t intentional, we stayed in the great outdoors with our second big story for the fall issue. News editor Ed Howell sat down with Josh Gates a few weeks after he got back from Mount Everest. The photos he brought back are stunning, and the stories he shared with Ed read like a pitch for Hollywood’s next big action movie. Gates and his group were just 3,000 feet from the top of Everest when they were hit with back-to-back cyclones. For two and a half days, they were stranded in their tents, holding on and hoping for the best. Of course, it’s no secret that he made it back safely, but I’ll let you read the rest for yourself. We were working on a few other ideas for the fall issue (which actually started out as a summer issue), but things don’t always work out the way we plan. Happy reading, and happy fall.
Our mission is to promote Walker County and to showcase its many attributes as a quality place in which to live, to work and to play. We welcome ideas and suggestions for future editions of the magazine. Just send us a brief note via email. © 2021 Daily Mountain Eagle WALKER MAGAZINE P.O. Box 1469 Jasper, AL 35502 (205) 221-2840 email: walkermagazine@mountaineagle.com
Jennifer Cohron, Editor
to Walker Magazine! If you’re an out-of-towner, get a year of great stories right at your doorstep. Call: (205) 221-2840 Email: editor@mountaineagle.com
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From the Vault
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Camp Memories
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Stories from ICYC alumni
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Fall on Main
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Josh Gates and his dream of Everest
School Pride From The Past
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Man Versus Mountain
Downtown Jasper gets dressed up
For your entertainment we have placed this fishing hook (actual size) within the pages of Walker Magazine. This will be a permanent feature for our readers. We hope you enjoy searching for the fishing hook in each issue.
HINT:
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50 Years of Indian Creek Youth Camp We Are Walker County Brisa Ventura
The peak of Mount Everest, the highest mountain above sea level. Photo submitted by Josh Gates
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Vau From The
SCHOOL P RIDE FROM THE PAST Compiled by Jennifer Cohron
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1) An undated photo of Dora High School graduates 2) Miss Walker County Leigh Sherer presents awards for academic achievement to outstanding students participating in her weekly MUSIC (Music Underscores Success in Children) program in 1995. 3) Cordova High alumna Regina Holsombeck, who had owned 24 Corvettes throughout her life, used to drive one every year in the CHS homecoming parade.
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4) Alabama Forestry Commission Ranger Tunney Markham, botany instructor Ben Wall and zoology and anatomy instructor Dr. Allen Rowland stand near a tree on the then-Walker College campus called “the learning tree” in early 1986. It was a rooted cutting from a tree found on the Greek island of Cos where Hippocrates lectured in 400 B.C. 5) Curry High School cheerleaders circa 1983 6) Jerri Nuss, right, president of the Walker County Council of PTAs, moderates a forum in May 1986 that involved quizzing 12 state and local candidates on their views on matters involving education. 7) Garry Neil Drummond served as the commencement speaker in May 1994 when the first class graduated from UAB Walker College. He is pictured with Walker College Chairman Al Simmons. 8) Mercedes-Benz President Andreas Renschler is greeted by T.R. Simmons students waving German flags on his visit to Jasper in April 1994. FALL 2021
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Man Versus Mountain JO S H G AT E S A N D H I S DR E A M OF E V E R E S T Text by Ed Howell | Photography submitted by Josh Gates
Josh Gates of Jasper, at 39, had reached great success with Saturday Down South, a sports media enterprise, with the freedom to travel and enjoy life. Being pinned down 3,000 feet below the top of the 29,000-foot Mount Everest, with hurricane force winds forcing him and his companions to hold down their tents, would not seem like a reward. After weeks of effort, he and others were bogged down, with the temperature at 35 degrees below zero - not factoring the winds. Up on Everest, Gates could see the top of the peak in the cold and the wind, on the other side of the world after spending weeks on a trek. That moment, standing on the peak on the top of the world, would soon be taken away, and he would make a journey downward that was as perilous as he could possibly ever imagine, for
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himself and the other climbers who joined him. While he said it was in some ways like any other mountain, “the scale of something that is almost 30,000 feet tall and just the extreme conditions, and having to be in those extreme conditions for two months. It lives up to the billing. It was an incredible experience.” For a normal peak in the U.S., Gates might go for two days to two weeks with a friend. “But for the bigger mountains (around the world), I go with a group of about five to 10 climbers and maybe a couple of guides,” he said. Seven climbers would start in the group for Everest, but two left in time due to injuries. Two guides and probably a dozen Sherpa helped at different stages. For Everest, one has to plan for years, and one practically has to have a resumé to justify you even being there. “I went with a pretty elite climbing group, so all of us were well experienced and versed to be there,” he said, noting a guide service is required for Everest, which also handle logistics. “You can just focus on climbing, and that’s just the way to do it,” he said. “Everest is kind of a unique variable where you actually have support from Sherpa,” an indigenous community in the Nepal region which helps guide climbers on Everest. “That is a 2 1/2 month trip so there is so much gear,” much of it that the Sherpa will help to carry. However, for his own personal effort, he thinks he carried about 55 pounds of items. Unfortunately, the whole world was focused on COVID-19 last year, when he was originally supposed to go. The whole mountain was closed down, and his 2020 trip was canceled 10 days in advance, and he waited until this year. (He noted everyone in his 2021 party was vaccinated against COVID-19, although some of the Sherpa were not, and people would keep some distance when possible.) 16 / WALKER MAGAZINE
He said one starts at the base camp, which is about 17,600 feet tall. “You stage from there and you spend the next month and a half moving up on the mountain to higher elevations and then coming back down,” he said. Rest and recovery is needed along the way to produce needed red blood cells to survive and breathe higher on the mountain. He was on Everest from the first part of April until June, so it was in the 90s going to the base camp. “You do a weeklong trek to base camp. You have no roads,” he said. “You have ox carrying a lot of gear and you are carrying gear. But it is a beautiful scenic hike through the wild mountainous region of Nepal.” One goes from village to village, staying at tea houses. The number of climbers was greatly reduced this year due to the pandemic travel restrictions and fears, meaning happy villagers welcomed his group with open arms and tears. “We had a whole tea house to ourselves,” he said. Base camp has a huge infrastructure in itself, Gates said, although due to the pandemic, teams were not interacting with each other. “Base camp is about a mile-long narrow strip in this valley between these 8,000-meter peaks,” he said. “You have individual tents to sleep in. You have a kitchen. You have a dining tent, and you had tents for the Sherpa.” The base camp never got above 40 degrees and at night would be in the teens. One travels through the Khumbu Icefall, with huge blocks of ice and glaciers that fall constantly, he said. “It’s pretty intense. You climb that to Camp 1. You spend the night and then you come back down. Then you rest for a day or two, and you climb back through it and go back to Camp 1 and then Camp 2, and then you come back down. You keep doing these elevators, so of speak, for about six weeks. “One, you are positioning gear. Also, you are giving your body time
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to really evolve to the environment. You literally double your amount of red blood cells,” he said. “You have to push your body to these higher elevations, expose your body, let it know you need more (red blood cells) to live, so you usually spend the night or spend the day, and then you climb back down and give your body a chance to recover and actually meet the demands you are going to put on it later on.” If a plane or helicopter were to drop you off quickly on the top of Mt. Everest, you would only live two or three minutes before dying, he added. Oxygen supplementation is used to help climbers. “It helps you keep your core warm,” helping against conditions like frost bite, he said, as well as helping keep you mentally sharp. “As you get higher up, with a lack of oxygen, you are more sluggish and lethargic, and you are not sharp mentally. Oxygen kind of helps alleviate some of that,” starting at about 23,000 feet. “On the last rotation, when you are going for the summit, you are usually on oxygen the whole time, even when you are sleeping.” Going up, he felt well prepared. But Everest was a threat, as he noted you are so high and on narrow ledges, making the reality of death being ever present. “You are always a mistake - failing to clip in or tie in - you are a mistake away from death, even though it is not that extreme,” he said. “Driving home today is very dangerous if you decide not to pay attention.” He said there is a mental focus and one is always dealing with dangers. “You are super dialed in to make sure you don’t make mistakes. You are looking out for other people. You are paying attention to the environment. There is a lot mentally when you are climbing Everest that is different from other mountains,” Gates said. Yet that could not prepare him
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for something that he said has never happened in the modern history of climbing Mt. Everest. “You had back-to-back cyclones, which is what they call hurricanes that hit,” he said, as two came within a week of each other. With a storm coming on the coast of India, eventually winds and snowfall came and created avalanche risks. “The winds and the blizzards that go with that are incredible, especially when you are 20,000 plus feet up on a mountain,” he said. “You are totally exposed when you are living in tents and moving on sheer faces, it is insane. It is pretty crazy.” The first cyclone came just before the team made its summit rotation, which is when one moves up continually to the top, and the team waited a week in base camp for the storm to pass and for ascending climbers to move on. Another 150 climbers were caught halfway up for 18 / WALKER MAGAZINE
seven to 10 days due to the storm, staying in tents and running out of food and oxygen. Climbers had to be sent down to resupply them, he said. He noted too it is dangerous to be stuck in place because without moving your body doesn’t generate heat to warm itself, leading to multiple problems that can lead to death. While his team waited below, another, much larger cyclone formed from the tropical storm system. “We had this window of time,” he said, noting one only has about three weeks from mid to late May to summit Everest for the entire year. “We were all stir crazy. It is a bunch of type A accomplished climbers waiting to go,” but stuck waiting for the storms at a critical time, he said. “We decided we would shoot the gap,” to go up before the second storm hit. “We knew we wouldn’t be all the way down before
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the second one hit, but we thought we could at least summit before it did. And we could figure out getting down from there. “And we almost made it,” he added with a laugh. The team got to Camp 2 with no issues, and then to Camp 3 with beautiful weather, except for some “gusts that would almost knock you off your feet.” Then they moved on to Camp 4 - the camp where one then starts for the summit. Most of the earlier group had summited and were passing Gates’ group as they were descending. Ahead of the five climbers and two guides were four or five of their Sherpa who had been to Camp 4 to get it ready for the group. They and two other climbers were the only ones on the mountain. “It was perfect conditions. We had all of Mt. Everest above 23,000 feet to ourselves,” he said. “That’s unheard
of. It was beautiful, sunny weather. It was cold and windy, but it was beautiful blue skies.” The group reached Camp 4 at 26,000 feet at about 1 p.m. with no issues, although they were tired. Going from Camp 3 to Camp 4 is probably the most demanding part of the whole climb, he said. Radio contact with base camp communicated that some weather reports indicated that the cyclone could possibly hit below Camp 4 and not hinder their progress to the summit. “There are tents there. It’s very remote. We were going to rest for about six hours,” Gates said, with plans to make the summit push at about 9 p.m. “We had a very strong and fast team, so we could have probably summited in five to six hours.” Gates and another member even had plans to summit Everest,
come down to Camp 4, traverse over and summit the neighboring peak, Lhotse, within 24 hours. “Only like 20 Americans have ever done that,” he said. Then, the plans unraveled. Within 30 or 45 minutes of reaching Camp 4, the outer band of the cyclone hit the camp. Temperatures dropped significantly. The threshold for making a climbing attempt were sustained winds of 30 to 35 mph, “which is almost insane but it’s doable.” Gates can only estimate, but he feels when the outer bands hit, it was more like 60 mph, or at least hurricane force winds, and the winds brought ice with it, like a blizzard. “Basically, we were in a situation where we couldn’t leave their tents,” he said. “The winds were too high. We thought we were going to lose our tents. We didn’t sleep for two and a half days. Everybody just kind of held on to their tent and hoped for
the best. But there were rumors and reports intermittently that there might be breaks and gaps in the winds in the storm. “And again, we just needed the winds to come down to 30 to 35 miles per hour for about five or six hours, long enough for us to summit. And we could almost - if we could get halfway down from the summit within that window of calmer winds, it was doable.” He saw on the neighboring peak the storm would linger for days and they had no supplies to do that, so he gave up on the second peak. “But we’re just trying to summit Everest. We’re just 3,000 feet away. You can see it. It’s right there. Sticking your head out of the tent as far as you would go,” Gates said. “You can’t walk around. It was really cold and you were on oxygen continuously at that point. So we sat there for two and a half days.
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“Everybody was completely healthy, feeling great, ready to go and just at a certain point, the winds were just going to continue to get stronger for four more days,” he said. “We were almost out of supplies.” Moreover, by this point in the expedition, a couple of Sherpa and a couple of climbers had to leave early due to injuries. Another Sherpa had a death in the family and had to leave. “So we had a depleted Sherpa staff that was having to do the same workload as if they were fully staffed, so they are exhausted. Our guides at a certain point said, ‘It’s not going to happen,’ which was devastating,” he said. “He stumbled into the tent and you knew what he was going to say right away.” And that led him to have to process that he had gotten so close and worked so hard, and still missed the final goal. “We had been climbing up and down the mountain for six or seven weeks,” he said. The actual climb from the base camp to Camp 4 had taken three or four days, sometimes with sleep of only four or five hours. They had been stuck two and a half days at the camp waiting for the weather. Worse, they realized that they could not stay at the camp. “We had to climb down in that storm. That was pretty extreme,” he said, noting one could just barely see enough in the storm. “You’re just trying to stay on your feet. And you are having to do all the technical climbing you had to do to get up there in reverse going down, which is much more difficult.” Meanwhile, one climber in his mid-50s had extreme issues that started quickly after they left. He was unable to stand on his own and lost his “mental acuity” a little. “He wasn’t thinking straight and wasn’t communicating well. He kept pulling his mask off,” he said, as it appeared the man was coming down with altitude sickness and had the potential for frostbite.
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“He was completely snow blind. The wind and the snow actually do something to your retinas at that altitude and those conditions, where you actually go blind temporarily. You can’t see,” Gates said. “It is also totally disorienting, so it was a huge problematic situation. The only remedy for that is to get down out of that environment as quickly as possible. If you don’t, it can become permanent blindness. This was a huge problem. One of the guides got a short rope and tied that climber to himself, and was manhandling him down these super technical [slopes] - you have like a sheer face that is like 10,000 feet, say,” as well as walking narrow ledges. They also have to clip into ropes and climb down. “It is hard enough by yourself, but if you are having to manhandle a fully grown adult male, as well, who is also doing erratic things, it is difficult,” he said. Because of his condition, the man could suddenly jump, turn or fall randomly. At this point, there are five climbers and two guides, with one guide devoting his time to the erratic man. Gates is up front with one guide. Meanwhile, the other guide and the erratic man are going slower, separating them. Gates said they needed to push quickly to get down, knowing they needed to be active to be warm and avoid frostbite and death. “And once you ran out of oxygen, you are on a timer, too,” he said. “At this point, we are only carrying one bottle of oxygen for each climber, and there is no resupply. If you run out of oxygen, you are up at a high extreme altitude - the death zone is what they call it - and you can’t survive there longterm without oxygen.” If they were to run out of oxygen, they would need to move down quickly, as staying put would kill the person. However, the separation complicated the escape. “We get just above Camp 3 after many hours, many more hours than
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it should have taken,” he said. “We had lots of guys starting to get the beginning stage of frostbite, where your toes and fingers are just gone. So we were trying to figure out a way to keep warm, but we realize we had
to wait for the guide and this other climber to catch up to us. The weather condition was too extreme to leave them by themselves. We’re going to have to help each other to get down.” Tents had been left behind in
the camp, albeit buried in the snow, with only the tops visible. They dug out a tunnel and a couple of climbers went inside the tents to get warm, as they were having a hard time finding warmth. Gates and the rest of the
group waited outside for the guide and the erratic man to arrive. “One of the Sherpa had caught up to the guide and the climber who was having trouble at that point. But he was snow blind as well, so he couldn’t
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see, and he was just stumbling around,” Gates said. “Coming down from Camp 3, I actually had to help him repel down and help him to Camp 2, because we didn’t have enough guides to keep up with everybody, so I’m just trying to help out.” In the end, he said it took “all day” to get down to Camp 2, which is safer because oxygen was not needed there and it is a more stable environment. “Altitude sickness, frostbite, snow blindness - the remedy to all that is to get to lower altitude. He said it should have taken four hours to get down. He wasn’t sure how many it did take, but estimates it may have been six to eight hours. The party spent the night at Camp 2, and left the next day for the base camp, he said. With rest that night, the man acting erratically was able to have an almost full recovery
at Camp 2, including getting a clear mind again. “He was totally exhausted. His body hurt. He was tired. His eyes bothered him. But he was able to function to be able to get down,” Gates said. Oddly enough, Gates had no problems and felt fine the whole time. “It was validating, because I was prepared and fully able to function and climb,” he said. “I felt fantastic the whole time.” However, that physical ability did add to the frustration of being within 3,000 feet from the summit and not being able to go. “But it was a cool experience, and it helped me to come to grips with not making it to the summit, because I realized how impossible that would have been. Having to actually climb in that weather, you realize that that was the right call. Otherwise, I would have been haunted by that decision. I’m still not
happy with the decision, but it was the right decision,” he said. But he would like to try again. “It’s an unchecked box. I feel like I got 95 to 98 percent of the Everest experience,” Gates said. “It’s tough to take the time and treasure to do it again, but I want to be able to say I summited Everest and not just I climbed Everest. But I don’t know if that will be next year or five years from now.” He noted it didn’t feel like a failure because he felt validated in being there. “I was never pushed beyond my limits, so there is no doubt I could have gotten to the top,” he said. “It’s all about the journey anyways. It’s all about everything that happens from here to the summit, not necessarily the summit itself.” While he said the first thing anyone asks is about the summit, “the trip is where the value is.” •
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“If the Lord wills, thousands of youngsters will spend a few moments of their vanishing tender years within these humble walls. May these moments be consecrated to illuminate the beauty of God’s love and to strengthen their faith, character and devotion to our Lord Jesus Christ.” — plaque outside Hilltop Cabin at Indian Creek Youth Camp 26 / WALKER MAGAZINE
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50 Years of Indian Creek Youth Camp Text and Photos by Jennifer Cohron | Camp photos courtesy of Vicki Blackwood
ob Gurganus stepped up to the bell that marks time for campers at Indian Creek Youth Camp and gave its string a tug. The bell pealed, signifying that the first activity for the first week of camp was about to begin on May 31. The loud, clear tone also marked the official beginning of ICYC’s 50th year. Last year, for the first time since 1971, the bell was silent. ICYC’s board of trustees made the difficult decision to take the year off because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Gurganus, the board’s secretary, first attended camp as an infant. Until 2020, he had been to at least one session every year since its inception. His father’s family donated the land on which ICYC was established, and both sides of his family have been active in camp life for several generations. “You make friends down there that are lifelong friends. The bond that you get in a week is even stronger in some cases than the one you have with people you go to school with for 12 years. Of course, I do believe that it is God — the working of the Word and the Christian atmosphere,” he said. Divine providence was at work well before the first campers arrived in 1971.
Inspiration struck minister Earl Barnett, the camp board’s first president, as he was driving past Brunner’s fishing camp in the Pleasant Field community below Parrish in the late 1960s. Barnett saw children playing by the side of the road and realized the need for a local camp where youth could get Christian instruction as well as enjoy nature. Barnett mentioned the idea one night during a service at Cordova Church of Christ. “Making the 900-mile trip from York, Nebraska, Howard C. and Doretta Gurganus visited relatives at Dovertown Church of Christ for the Sunday morning service. For some providential reason, they attended the evening service at Cordova Church of Christ, where I served as minister,” Barnett recalled. “That evening found me entirely ‘out of soap,’ for each and every subject I considered, the members either had heard it many times or knew more about it than me. So I shot in the dark, choosing to speak on the need for Christian education, supporting missionaries and the need to build a youth camp in Walker County.” Gurganus approached Barnett after the service. “As Howard C. Gurganus clasped my hand, he announced, ‘If you want to build that camp, we have 50 acres to give you.’ Thus began the fantastic saga of the
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development of Indian Creek Youth Camp, provoking the thought ‘Provided by Providence, Sustained by Faith.’” The old Gurganus homestead that Barnett offered adjoined the fishing camp where Barnett first visualized what would become Indian Creek Youth Camp. Leadership and other volunteers to make the camp a reality came from Church of Christ congregations throughout the county. The first board of trustees was made up of Barnett, Hardie Gurganus, George Salter Jr., Herman King, Newton Gurganus, Otis Burnett and Wilbur Phillips. Other early supporters included Gus Nichols, Ronnie Poore, Paul Wylie, Brodie Plyer, Tommy Chambless and Marcelle Gurganus. While it was under construction, the camp was financed through a dollar-a-month club in which members received an envelope each month to return with their donation inside. Creative fundraisers would become the hallmark of ICYC, which has always relied on the faith and support of individuals to meet its financial needs. In 1975, 200 men, women and children walked from Sixth Avenue Church of Christ in Jasper to the camp — more than 17 miles — in a walkathon to raise funds for a swimming pool and a pavilion. The walkathon was an annual tradition well into the 2000s. After several seasons of trial runs, the camp officially opened on June 27, 1971. Fifty campers were enrolled, and Howard Gurganus served as the director for the week, according to a Daily Mountain Eagle article. The first campers stayed in the old cabins by the creek previously used by the fish camp as well as in the Hilltop Cabin, which is still used today. By 1972, the camp had a total of eight cabins — an equal number for boys and girls. Several new cabins were built during the pandemic year, and some are still under construction. Today the camp has doubled its capacity — eight boys cabins and seven girls cabins. Early ICYC supporters J.G. and Lois Pounds were known and loved by generations of campers as Ma and Pa Pounds. While the land was being cleared for camp, it was Lois Pounds who insisted that one tree be saved in the middle of camp near what became the mess hall. “There are some hatchet marks that Granny showed me. She said when they were clearing land, they started
Intro photo: Campers show off 50 years of ICYC t-shirts. Previous page: Many memories have been made under the mess hall shade tree. This page: Scenes from the early days of ICYC.
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chopping that down. She said, ‘Oh, don’t chop that down. We’ll use it for a shade tree. We’ve got to have one somewhere,’” Gurganus said. In the camp’s early years, the mess hall (named for Harry Sherer) was the only space where group activities could be held indoors. The shade tree outside became a separate gathering place for campers to gather with friends. “What I remember most about that tree is the guys taking their guitars and sitting out there and singing. We had a rule that there were no transistor radios. So you made your own music. They may not have been very good on the guitar, but it didn’t matter,” said Vicki Blackwood, who came to camp as a counselor in 1972 and has now seen three generations come through camp. Blackwood is an unofficial camp historian. She has pictures and camp T-shirts going back to the 1970s. She can recall when the top of an old pontoon boat was used as a canteen and when children saved their popsicle sticks to use for crafts. She was there when Indian Creek Youth Camp became ICYC because counselors were creating the first camp T-shirts themselves and didn’t want to sew that many letters on the back. She was also present for the birth of another camp tradition — the Green Ghost. Donning green sheets borrowed from Blackwood’s mother and then dyed, counselors came to stunt night as the Green Ghosts of Indian Creek Youth Camp and presented Barnett with a wood-burned plaque. In the years to come, the Green Ghost would cause all sorts of mischief around camp. To this day, it is a camp tradition to wear green on Thursdays to ward off the Green Ghost. Under the mess hall shade tree and elsewhere, summer love is inevitable at camp. Gurganus and his wife are one of several couples who met their future
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wives and became engaged there. In 2018, Chad Hagwood flew his childhood sweetheart, Patti Armstong, to camp in order to propose. The two shared their first kiss there in 1989 while serving as camp counselors. They went their separate ways as adults but reconnected several years ago and are now happily married. This summer, another young couple got engaged while working as camp counselors. Annie Claire Cook, an 18-year-old second generation camper, met her longtime boyfriend, Grayson Boler, when they were campers. The two got engaged at camp on July 1. In additional to several proposals, the camp has also hosted two weddings.
ICYC was built at the intersection of its namesake creek and Wolf Creek. An overlook where the two come together is known as “the point” and was the site of morning and evening devotionals for many years. The point is where some campers surely have felt closest to God, but the entire camp exists in a unique space outside the reach of time or worldly trouble. (Gurganus was at camp when Saddam Hussein’s forces invaded Kuwait in August 1990 and he didn’t hear about it until he came home several days later.) The thoughts of many ICYC alums were summed up in a 1999 column in the Daily Mountain Eagle: “ICYC is a magical place — a
place that is hard to describe even for a man that has all the words in the world. The air seems cleaner. Life seems simpler. God seems to get closer to a person. It’s as if all persecution stops for a little while. Time slows all the way down to a zero - there are more things to do during the day than there is rest to have the strength to do it. By the end of the week, people are hoarse, tired, almost out of clothes and ready to go home. And when they do, they go home feeling a little bit better about their world... God looks over us always, no matter who we are. No matter what people think of you or about you, God is watching over us. And he loves us, like Papa Bear or Ma Pounds does at camp.” •
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Camp Memories: Stories from ICYC alumni
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I was the first ever to register for Indian Creek Youth Camp! That’s funny because I remember my Mama, Ma Pounds, jumping up and down badgering me as an 11-year-old: “If you don’t get your application in, the camp’s going to be full and you’re not going to be able to get in!” Needless to say, I did what Mama said and got my application in on time! Pa and Ma Pounds were with Earl Barnett, Ronnie Poore, Paul Wylie, Brodie Plyer, the Nichols and Gurganus families and countless others who worked in the workdays allotted in cutting through bush, brier and yellow jacket nests in the aspiration of children having a beautiful wooded campground to grow closer to God in. I believe there is no place on earth that you feel closer to God as when you’re singing camp songs together. Sometimes even late at night in a circle on the ballfield, the amphitheater in the morning, at a devo in the pavilion, I’ve even ugly cried in a song service in the cafeteria thinking about the songs…all through the beautiful memories of camp long ago. The closeness you feel is in awe of our creator and the angelic voices of young chiming together remains in you long after the camp session is over. You feel like singing especially at different times during the day remembering the joyful songs from camp way after you go back home. Ma Pounds, who has a gazebo craft hut named for her, would spend her winters at home, cutting up flour sacks and sewing them into scrolls. On these scrolls, she would draw character stories through the Bible and color them in with colorful magic markers and teach the small children, holding one side of the scroll, while allowing a camper to unroll the other side, teaching her Bible story. She also sewed “Cob Dolls” for Dorcas lessons and taught swimming into her 80’s! She was so happy when she could share all her joys of camp, as it was her life. Pa Pounds, not to be out-done, would get with Paul or Earl at Skit night and play the “Old Timer” portraying a scally-wag knucklehead attracting laughter in every little heart there. Back then we would jump off of a rope into the creek and sing Kum-By-Ya by a fire on the riverside, even had spook houses in the Creek cabin. Memories! All the love, songs and laughter have made so many young-‘uns what is good in them today. Quena, Sherry and I went there to check out the boys, and we always did that, but what we brought home with us was a natural peace within us. It is what made us real as adults through the careful thoughts and planning of our loving mentors, many of whom, no doubt, are reaping their reward. - Cookie Hyche ‘70’s
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How do you tell about all your camp memories? I guess I’d have to remember the way camp made me feel all those years. It was a happy, joyful, fun place to be with nature and your best friends in the world. From being one of the very first campers that stayed on Hilltop in 1971 to being at camp till I was around 50 years old working at this wonderful place. I think about all the Bible classes under the trees, sitting under the mess hall tree, listening to songs we sang at the point or playing ball on the ball field...eating together in the mess hall, late night devotionals in the cabins... it all blends together into one huge lovely memory of times that were simpler. - Linda Guthrie
I have so many memories of ICYC, it’s hard to choose just one. I went to camp in the early 70’s through early 80’s. I learned how to swim using just a ski belt because if I didn’t, I would never be allowed on the rope swing that swung out over the creek and dropped you in the middle of it! ;) That was plenty enough motivation for me! That was just the beginning. ICYC taught me to be more confident in being myself but the most important thing I learned was to Rejoice in the Lord Always, no matter what happens in this life! - Carol Appling Manley 70’s & 80’s
My favorite memory of Indian Creek Youth Camp was the singing. My cousins and friends that grew up at Cordova Church of Christ started singing together at an early age. With my uncle, Milton Wylie and Jimmie Lee Alexander as two of our wonderful song leaders we always had the best song services at church so we grew to love singing hymns together. At camp our favorite counselor, Vicki Blackwood, would get us to sing in the cabin sometimes. She still mentions that every time I see her. But the blended voices at ICYC was like none other. It always seemed like there were thousands of us there when we would sing. I have many great memories of camp days but singing stands out the most. - Jennifer Rosser Ingram
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When I came to ICYC, I had never been a counselor, so I had lots to learn. I think L.T. invited me to come from my home in Anniston. I had a great time and made friends. I think of it often. There are two memories that stand out. One evening we had a contest or maybe it was like a skit night. My group did a circus act, and I did some kind of feature like swinging on a rope (Billy says it was a tight-rope). I know Billy Courington and maybe Twila was in this act.. How crazy, but it was so much fun! The other memory was of my Aunt Lois “Ma Pounds”, sitting on a stool or a rock with a circle of children around her. She was teaching a bible story from one of the scrolls she had made. I still have a scroll she gave me and still use it in my bible classes today. Many young, teens, middle aged, and older have been taught about the Bible at ICYC. Much love and greetings to family and friends of ICYC. To God be the Glory! - Suzanne Clark McElory ‘70’s
I remember my experiences with my little brother Donny (Herb) Myers, when I went to Indian Creek. I was 10-13 yrs. old and I am 60 now and haven’t forgotten my summers there. We had so many, many good times there! Loved the food Loved the Bible Classes Loved the ball playing Loved the cabins Loved, Loved the friends – My mom would bake brownies and bring to our cabins. We would pig out! One night, I remember having a devo with my friends, Kathy, Twila & Delesia in our cabin. Afterwards, Delesia & I were baptized down in the creek! The sweetness of my cousin, Walt Williams, who would carry me everywhere due to a skin disorder I had with my feet blistering from too much activity. Youth camp was wonderful and I am thankful and grateful Mama and Daddy let me experience it. We had AWESOME times there!!! - Sandy Myers Lumsden ‘70’s
My favorite memory is all of the many friendships made at ICYC and the peace I felt even as a teenager while there! I was away from the peer pressures of the “world”. - Kathleen Williams ‘70’s
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“What a great impact Indian Creek Youth Camp has had on my life. I think it was in 1971 the first time I went for a work day and saw a number of volunteers cleaning up the old fishing camp on Wolf Creek. A few of us worked that day on making a trail from there to the bottom of the bluff that we call the ‘Point’. This is where Indian Creek and Wolf Creek meet. I thought it was the most beautiful place around and still do. In 1972 I came for my first week of camp as a counselor for the youngest boys cabin under Earl Barnett’s direction. As I recall, most of the kids’s were very well behaved as we stayed so busy, singing, playing ball, swimming in the creek (no pool then), Bible class, eating together and just having the most fun. The next year I was there for the whole summer. I think it was the year Earl’s dog got in contact with a skunk and our cabin was sprayedthat poor dog, and poor us! Those types of adventure you never forget. When I was in college my wife, Susan, came as a counselor. She has been our head cook for a number of years and always does little special things like making a birthday for campers celebrating our week. This year the cooks made a 50 Year Birthday cake for the camp for our Birthday/ Carnival fun night. I still help direct a week each year and it’s exciting to see the camp grow with more and more campers. This year we had a few kids at camp whose grandparents had been campers. For the first time, all ten of our grandchildren were able to be there, too. - David Courington
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I had so many great memories of ICYC that I can’t possibly pick out a favorite! I most vividly remember, at age 11 or 12 yrs old, crying all the way home. I never wanted to leave that place. My favorite memory was a girl named Quena ; ) - Jamie Wyers ‘70’s
Our congregation, Tubbs Church of Christ, wanted to host the monthly youth rally in May of 1975 or 1976. However, our small building would not hold the crowds that attended those special events, so we planned to have it at ICYC on the creek bank where everybody could gather. Our preacher, Wheeler Pounds, did a fabulous job coordinating the service. His brother, Garland, Jr., came down the creek on a pontoon boat and presented a lesson. It was well attended, and everyone seemed to enjoy coming to their favorite place to participate in a favorite monthly activity and see their ICYC friends - Brenda Appling Wheeler
Some more memories are of the Mess Hall-dining hall. When camp first started that was the only meeting place we had. We had all our meals there, crafts, Bible class, devos, Stunt Night, movie nights---everything. We had no other building. In the summer of 1974 the board put up a BIG TENT in the parking lot over near where the dumpster is now—(back then we had to haul off the trash). We had Bible class, crafts, devos, stunt night, and other assemblies there in 1974. We even had a Circus that year under the “BIG TOP”. On May 3, 1975 we had our first walk-athon to camp---17 miles. We were walking to raise money to pay for a Pavilion (better than the tent) and a swimming pool. We had to get out of the creek swimming due to sometimes the creek got so muddy. Thought Id give you some of my memories about EARLY DAYS of canteen and crafts. First year I went to ICYC was 1972. Canteen in 1972 was in the top part of an old pontoon boat that had been fixed with doors to open. We had drinks out of BOTTLES and the RC Cola man would come and pick up the bottles an bring new drinks. We’d have “coke” cases leaning against trees for the campers to put their empty bottles in. I think we drank RC, Nehi orange and grape is all I remember. We had all kinds of candy bars for snacks to go along with the drink. I especially remember liking Snickers candy bars. We also had all kinds of ice cream and dream sickles and push up bars and fudge sickles for canteen. Crafts in 1972 was very limited!!! I remember my grandfather, Gus Nichols, announcing on the 8 am radio station on WWWB to bring your magazines, Pringles Potato chip cans (we’d make into pencil holders), egg cartons, and Kentucky Fried chicken barrels (made into trash cans) for us to use as crafts. another favorite craft item was pieces on wood cut from wood on the property with a whole drilled in the top.. We’d string yarn through the hole and decorate the wood with our name of ICYC and wear it ALL WEEK at cam— camp jewelry. The boys also made gun racks and sling shots. In the next few years or so we painted rocks with rocks we’d pick up from the camp parking lot. You can tell our crafts were on a very LOW BUDGET We had NO EXTRA MONEY--but it didn’t matter. The kids seemed to be happy doing or making whatever. Folks would also turn in their BAMA jelly glasses as that was the “CAMP CRYSTAL PATTERN” HA Folks would bring all these craft items and BAMA jars to the Sixth Avenue Church of Christ basement where it was collected. - Vicki Blackwood FALL 2021 A PUBLICATION OF THE DAILY MOUNTAIN EAGLE
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I remember after lunch in the mess hall, hiking down the hill to swim in the creek! - Dena Pounds ‘70’s
Back in the early years, Thursday nights were a really big thing! Rumors of the approaching Green Ghosts had been flying since Sunday… it all lead up to the Haunted House down by the creek. Yes, back then, we did it right - Somehow, we got a casket, dry ice, pretty much the “works”!!! Just seeing their faces as it unfolded were memories that will always bring a smile to my face. Roger “Stubby” Gray ‘70’s
A group of men came up the side of the hill leading to the now Hilltop Hilton with axes doing some of the first clearing ever. Papa bear bought me a bow-saw so I wouldn’t cut my foot off….finally someone showed up with a chainsaw and we all thought that was amazing…. The big tank on the hill came from Empire school. My cousins Britt and Eric had to get inside to clean it (used as a reservoir for the pump water). We had to get the water “in code” with the health Dept. I still remember the hilltop and the mess hall being built. Eugene Jones, Herman King, Ab Watson, Bro. Smith and all the gang. Sister King would bring the workers a cooler of fried pies to eat. I remember the Watson twins (Brenda and Linda) unloading an entire truck of blocks for the mess hall. They taught me how to put mortar on the bricks with a trowel. Remember “ol snort” (camp truck)? Claud Keaton built the engine to go in it and best I remember gave it that great paint job!! Yo-Yo and Sugar Bear (camp dogs) made every step with me and dad. After the boys cabins were built little known fact that dad had to run water to the boys shower THE DAY BEFORE camp opened because someone had dropped the ball on getting it done. The big double boys cabin was built with wood donated by my uncle Cliff. Brodie Plylar did the carpentry. I helped him one day build the bunk beds and I have NEVER seen a man be able to build stuff like that. Ol snort, Sugar Bear, Yo-Yo and all the great men I got to know as a kid. Is it any wonder how blessed I am. Now we are “ reaping where another man has sown”. These wonderful memories were just on my mind… Just let me throw this out there who remembers cabin raids with pillow fights in the middle of the night and the teenage girls going on strike with cabin clean-up?!?! Lol - Danny Barnett ’70’s
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I will never forget the scary story “Who stole my golden arm” by Earl late at night. Got me every time. And the time during early camp early construction when a flood came. It took one of the cabins off its foundation. We all were so solemn and devastated over this. So much hard work destroyed. But we came back. Nothing ever destroyed the dream. So many more memories. Too many to count. The swing, I learned how to do flips off of it. The cabins with no air conditioning. Canteen. Crafts. I made a pair of moccasins. - Tammy Gurganus McClusky ‘70’s
“Earl Barnett, first President of ICYC, asked me to come down to the area where the camp would be built to remove underbrush. I bought an ax from the hardware store in Jasper and met Earl at an assigned time and began the clearing. Later, I was appointed the camp’s first Vice-President! Today, 50 years have passed and I am proud to have had part in the organization and promotion of the highly successful and effective camp which continues to influence young boys and girls!” - James Horton of Ripley, MS. James was associate minister of the Sixth Avenue Church of Christ in Jasper from 1966-1971.
When thinking about memories of Indian Creek Youth Camp, I realize I learned, grew and had many firsts jam packed into one or two weeks in a summer. Not bad for a girl who got homesick her first few days. I was young, but so glad I stayed. I miss that warm, extended family of sisters, brothers and leaders. We were surrounded by the beauty of God’s masterpiece around us, studying his word and enjoying each other’s company. I can still remember walking down trails to sit at a beautiful clearing in the woods and listen to the great lessons taught by our wonderful leaders and teachers. I was in attendance before the installation of the pool. Yes, the days of swimming in the creek. Yet, my parents didn’t feel good about me or my sister swimming in the creek. So, many days I watched others having fun in the water. It wasn’t until my dad’s best friend told me it was okay for me to go in. What fun it was jumping off the rope swing and swimming in the cool water. Between meals at the “mess” hall, arts and crafts, swimming, the canteen, softball (minus trying to catch a ball with my face! Yes, that hurt and may be the reason my nose isn’t beautifully straight!), Thursday night cookouts by the creek, the green ghost (G.G.) to the bonds made with so many lasting friendships across towns; it’s a whole life-changing experience. I had the experience of being a K-girl. Kitchen girl is what I remember that stood for, but it was a prestigious position that I enjoyed thoroughly. Then, under the guidance of others, I learned a little about leadership and responsibility by being a cabin counselor, just looking up to so many great personalities in days gone by, being at Indian Creek Youth Camp. - Julie Beaird Daniels ‘70’s
My association with the camp was in the late 70’s and early 80’s, first as one of the counselors, and later as one of the directors during one week each year. I treasure the memories of friendships I formed with dedicated Christian staff volunteers who gave tirelessly of their time and talent to nurture the campers spiritually and socially. The camp provided an atmosphere that encouraged responsibility, as well as providing wholesome recreation. For example,I will always remember the lighthearted cabin cleaning judging each day, where the young people enjoyed striving for the best marks, and I enjoyed having fun with the process. Of course, the greatest joy was to see young people growing in their faith through the daily Bible study periods Finally, being much younger back then, and susceptible to suggestions for crazy things from the staff, I donned costume after costume and played character after character that they thought would entertain the campers! I was so blessed by the opportunity I had to be a part of ICYC. It was a special time. - Jim Dearman, Co-Producer of Good News Today, www.gnttv.org FALL 2021 A PUBLICATION OF THE DAILY MOUNTAIN EAGLE
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Fall on Main For a second year in a row, local volunteers joined with businesses to decorate downtown Jasper for fall fun.
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with
Brisa Ventura
Brisa Ventura began working at Carl Cannon Chevrolet in June as a translator for the dealership’s Spanish-speaking customers. Brisa, who works alongside salesman Greg Williams, was born in Argentina and moved to the United States when she was one year old. Her family moved to Walker County five years ago from Miami, and she graduated from Jasper High School in 2018.
“Since I’ve been here, Greg has sold to several Hispanic customers. One of them he had tried to sell to before and he wasn’t interested. This time I talked to him and he ended up buying a 2021 truck. I never expected to be here (a dealership). I was going to college for veterinary practices and now I’m in a place where I feel like I can start again, but I love this job too.” - BRISA VENTURA 42 /
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