A Special Note from Our Board:

Dear Glen Arden,

Our dear friend, our colleague, our mentor, our leader, our North Star-our sugar lump passed away yesterday afternoon. She was with loved ones in her last weeks, days, and hours. We are grateful that she is no longer in pain, and even more grateful for all she meant-and means-to each of us.

We are planning a celebration of life for Casey on Saturday, September 9, 2023. The song-filled service & reception will take place at camp. When plans solidify, we will share more details.

Casey will live on in our hearts, and her legacy will continue to shape our lives, and our loved ones lives. We can imagine Casey saying these words: “May we bow our heads and say the camp prayer together:”

Oh, God our Father, give us clean hands, clean words, clean thoughts.

Help us to stand for the hard right against the easy wrong.

Save us from the habit of harm.

Teach us to work as hard and play as fair as thy sight alone,

as though all the world saw.

Forgive us when we are unkind,

and help us to forgive those who are going to us.

So just chances to do a little good every day at some cost ourselves,

so to become more like Christ.

Amen.

OBITUARY

The Ties That Bind

When our founder, Mary Kellogg Bell, was a waterfront counselor in Sapphire, NC, she was introduced to the idea of every camper and counselor wearing a tartan plaid tie as part of their camp attire. Sapphire was heavily influenced by the Scottish traditions of its surrounding mountain area, including Highlands, NC, where Scottish games continue to be contested yearly.

As the ideas and plans for Camp Glen Arden began to form, Mary Bell knew she wanted to bring the rich tradition of the Scottish Clans and their fierce devotion and loyalty to their tartan and those who wear them to her own camp. Allowing her girls to learn and grow through the sisterhood of the tartan and Clan competition, would give them the opportunity to return home with a sense of self worth that would sustain them until they were able to return to the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Just as the different Scottish Clans fought valiantly for their tartan and each other, so too would the Red Clan and Blue Clan of Camp Glen Arden proudly compete each summer to see their tartan emblazoned as victor at the end of the camp season. Wearing the tartan plaid of Red or Blue gave each camper and counselor the knowledge that she belonged, she was one with the long, proud history of Glen Arden girls.

Whether a Red or a Blue, those who wear the ties and grow up at Glen Arden are a link to the love and dedication of all who have come before them and all who will follow.

In celebration of Glen Arden’s 70th summer in 2021 and our many alumni, the Camp Glen Arden Alumni Association had two tartan plaids created and registered with the Scottish Register of Tartans, Camp Glen Arden Red and Camp Glen Arden Blue.

Our Mission

To foster lifelong connection, honor our shared traditions, enhance and preserve programs and property historically held by Camp Glen Arden, and sustain the legacies of our directors, Mary Kellogg Bell and Casey Thurman, by offering opportunities that foster the camp experience and programs through community partnerships that promote outdoor education, stewardship of our environment, and the values Camp Glen Arden instilled us.

We hope to create opportunities for our alumni to give back to our Glen Arden mountain home, where you perhaps had some of the most formative and memorable experiences of your childhood. In addition to the wonderful updates camp is initiating, our alumni association will contribute to camp program and property enhancements. We can help spruce up cabanas and porches, campsites and trails, and enhance programs by updating equipment and facilities.

And, finally, we hope to create a campership program by continuing The Directors Fund, in honor of Mary Kellogg Bell and Casey Thurman, to be used toward partial or full camp tuition for campers in need. We would like to give future generations of girls the chance to experience summers at Camp Glen Arden.

Stay Connected

Join us at Alumni events, Work Weekend, Fall Alumni Weekends!

And be sure to follow Camp Glen Arden Alumni Association Facebook and Instagram pages. Help us spread the word and tag a friend on social media. #tagared #tagablue #stayconnectedcga