Camp Country Lad offers boys a unique opportunity to live together in pioneer log cabins nestled in the woods, camp out under the stars, grow in confidence and character, and build friendships and share experiences that last a lifetime.
Camp Values and Philosophy
Camp Country Lad was founded to provide boys with fun, outdoor experiences and the opportunity to learn valuable lessons that will make them become a better person.
Camp’s philosophy is based on:
A Simpler Life. For most boys, today's world is very complex, filled with pressures from school, athletics, and social life. Days are filled with non-stop activities. Camp Country Lad offers boys the opportunity to step aside from these distractions and come to know themselves better. At Camp, the day is filled with experiences such as learning to paddle a canoe, playing with and caring for a baby duck, swimming with friends, or just reading a book in a hammock.
Appreciation for the Out-of-Doors. Many of the activities of Country Lad revolve around the out-of-doors. Whether it’s riding a horse on a trail through the woods, camping out under the stars, or jumping from the rope swing into the lake, the boys are immersed in beautiful natural surroundings.
Spiritual and Moral Development. Solid moral principles are the foundation of Camp Country Lad. Boys learn to put others before themselves, to work together to accomplish a goal, to respect differences among others, and to develop a closer relationship with God and His creation. A Christian-based church service is held on Sunday mornings in an outdoor setting by the lake and the counselors give inspirational devotionals each night before bedtime. Camp Country Lad accepts boys of all denominations and faiths.
A Sense of Accomplishment. Many of the activities at Country Lad have ranks which give the boys an opportunity to not only learn a new skill but to gain a sense of growing proficiency and accomplishment as they pass each rank. A unique part of the Country Lad spirit is how boys will encourage and help each other in passing the ranks and growing in skill and teamwork.
Leading by Example. For the older campers and Camp staff, leading through character and by example is a central aspect of Camp life. At Camp, campers learn to “have fun in the right kind of way” by seeing it all around them as much as ever being told. Mr. Malcolm emphasized this point each year by reading the following poem to the counselors:
A careful man I want to be,
A little fellow follows me;
I would not dare go astray,
For fear he'd go the selfsame way.
I cannot once escape his eyes,
Whatever he sees me do, he tries;
Like me he says he wants to be,
That little Lad who follows me.
I must remember as I go,
Through summer seasons and winter snow;
That I'm building for the years to be,
That little Lad who follows me.
Leadership
Camp Country Lad was founded in 1962 by Malcolm R. Williams, Jr. For fifty-five years, “Mr. Malcolm,” as the boys called him, and his wife “Miss Patsy,” operated Camp Country Lad as a place where boys could live simply in the out-of-doors, growing in character and building friendships that last a lifetime. From planning the daily activities, to training the staff, to overseeing nightly devotionals, Mr. Malcolm and Miss Patsy were actively involved in every aspect of Camp life.
The Williams family continues to operate Camp today in the spirit and vision of Mr. Malcolm’s founding. Mr. Malcolm and Miss Patsy’s daughter Marion now serves as executive director and, she, with her husband Matthew and their family, work with Camp year-round. They are assisted in the operation of Camp each summer by a Program Director as well as Senior Staff, all of whom have been at Country Lad for many years. In addition to Camp Country Lad, the Williams family maintains and oversees the operations of its sister camp for girls, Camp Monterey, founded by Marion’s grandmother, “Miss Dollie” Williams, in 1945.
Each summer, Marion and Matthew are joined by senior staff, counselors, assistant counselors, and counselors-in-training. Senior staff, almost all former campers, lead the camp program, serve as activity heads, organize activities, and support the counselors in their leadership of cabin life.
What we hear more often than anything from former campers returning to Camp, is that “nothing has changed.” While the world outside Camp has changed in many ways since Camp’s founding, the Camp Country Lad spirit remains the same.
Location
Camp Country Lad is located in the heart of the Cumberland Plateau, five miles north of Monterey, Tennessee and just 100 miles from Nashville, Knoxville, and Chattanooga. The Cumberland Plateau is a region known for its beautiful landscapes, unique biodiversity and environmental significance. With an elevation of 2,000 feet, our days are warm and our nights are cool, ideal temperatures for camping out under the stars. Camp consists of 1,400 acres of forest and farmlands bordering the East Fork of the Obey River and includes a 25-acre private lake nestled in the midst of pine, hemlock, poplar and dogwood trees.
Cabins and Facilities
Camp Country Lad is a rustic summer camp covering 1,400 acres of woods and pasture. Hiking paths, horseback trails, fresh springs and mountain streams crisscross the Camp property. The Obey River crosses through Camp providing opportunities for tubing and swimming with favorite spots like The Rock House and The Chutes. Large rock formations deep in forests of rhododendron and hemlock give the boys places to explore, track wildlife and hunt for arrowheads. With campout spots located throughout the property, the boys spend nights weekly cooking out, playing together in the woods, and sleeping under the stars.
Nestled in the woods, the cabins ring a large, open field for field games. The dining hall, where boys enjoy delicious, nutritious, home-cooked meals, stands at one end of the field, having been built around a large chimney and fireplace that was all that remained from an original pioneer settlement. At the other end of the field stands Lad's Lodge, an open-air, timber-framed building where the boys gather for evening activities of skits, hootenanny sing-alongs, the shoe game, and other camp wide activities.
Craft and woodworking shops provide tools, materials and supervision for creative constructions, invention and imagination and seeing a project from inspiration to completion. In our nature area, boys keep small animals including rabbits, chicks and ducklings. Four clay tennis courts host pyramid tournaments, boys improving their serve and their groundstrokes, as well as frequent rounds of barefoot volleys for fun. At the barn, boys learn to ride, gaining basic horseback skills and practice in one of our two riding rings, and then by taking horseback trail rides through the forest. They also learn about grooming and care of the horses, from feeding and watering their horses to brushing their coats and handling and storing the bridles and saddles.
At Camp, the boys live in pioneer-era log cabins, originally built in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Each one different from the other, these log cabins were gathered in Camp’s early years by Mr. Malcolm and moved to Camp from the surrounding area as coal mining and this old, Appalachian way of life were giving way to factory jobs and more modern living. The cabins preserve an important part of Tennessee – and American – history, but more importantly, they preserve a simpler way of life and each one gives the boys a unique place to call home for the summer.
Below the cabins and the play field, lies Camp’s 25-acre, private spring-fed lake with docks for swimming, boating, sailing, and fishing. The boys enjoy floating rafts, and jumping off diving boards, the slide, and the rope swing. The boating dock provides canoeing and sailing to boys who want to learn new boating skills or just explore the lake by boat on a warm and sunny day. Bass and bream are abundant and fishing along the lakeshore is always popular. The campfire circle sits on the edge of the lake and all of Camp gathers here for big bonfires against skies full of stars for Campfires of awards and recognition each week on Fridays and music, inspiration, and devotions each Sunday for Vespers.
Beside the dining hall, our Camp Office serves as the center of Camp where staff meet and organize activities, hikes and other trips gather to depart, and campers can purchase simple supplies and drop off outgoing mail. Also beside the dining hall is the Camp infirmary.
Throughout the day, boys come and go freely from their cabins to activities scattered throughout the woods.
Camp Country Lad is a place where “boys can be boys.”