All Saints Anglican Church members staged their first Family Camp recently in North Carolina and had a Smoky Mountain “blast.”

After three days and nights in the mountains, some 26 campers, 12 adults and 14 children, from the Peachtree City church left Black Mountain and say they came home with “renewed spirit.”

The camp was held July 25-28 some 17 miles east of Asheville.

Campers worshipped, hiked, completed a confidence course, and listened to music.

The Rev. Michael Fry led the group in morning prayer, Holy Communion and vespers in the forest amphitheater.

“The most fun was on the Alpine tower and giant swing,” said Fry. “But, there was also tennis, swimming, arts and crafts, reading and relaxing. On two nights we had a bonfire and roasted marshmallows. One night featured skits as well.”

Camp organizer Charlotte Stevenson picked the YMCA Blue Ridge Assembly location based on her experience there as a counselor while she was in college.

“The spot is drop dead gorgeous, in an old refined sort of way,” she said. “There’s a huge old, long lodge that was built in 1906 which has been used for events like this ever since. For a few years in the 1920s or 1930s the place was used as a college. Einstein taught a class there, as did Aldous Huxley.”

Some of the campers went on a six mile hike to the top of Old Windy, a 4,375-foot mountain a few miles from Mount Mitchell, the highest peak in the eastern United States.

The next family camp at Black Mountain is scheduled for the summer of 2009. Both members and friends of All Saints are invited.

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