As most of you know and others will soon hear Camp Dixie is preparing for her Centennial Celebration in 2014.  We are in the early stages of planning for this momentous event. This event will be an opportunity for all connected with Dixie to celebrate and express gratitude for this wonderful place and to honor those people who have made Dixie such a  lasting influence in so many lives.

And to remember those past leaders and campers, each month we will be posting
articles from the “Dixie Doings” . We thought it would be appropriate for the first article to be on the Camp Dixie Spirit. We hope that you will enjoy these words from the past and they will inspire you to sign up for the Centennial Celebration.

“Camp Dixie Spirit”

When a group of people are gathered together in an assembly of any kind, their happiness and the success of their meeting are determined largely by the spirit which exists among them.  The assembly whose members all have the same spirit of co-operation and service is able to accomplish the best results for its purpose.

Here at Camp Dixie we have a gathering of boys, collected from every part of our Southland.  We come here, many of us as strangers to each other at first, to pass a summer of fun and profit together.  If we would get the most enjoyment out of these two months, if we would make these two months count for most for each one of us, then we must try to create the best possible spirit in camp.

Last year one of the very best features of our camp was the splendid spirit shown by the campers. Every boy on camp seemed to have adopted as his motto: “All for one, and one for all.” That spirit prevaded the entire camp, the  boys practiced it in their every-day life, and the established the “Camp Dixie Spirit” as based upon that motto.

Let’s all adopt the “Camp Dixie Spirit!” Let’s make it the guide of our every-day program. It is a spirit of co-operation and service, of helpfulness and unselfishness. It looks always after the welfare of others, and sees that the other fellow is having the best time of his life. It teaches the beginner how to swim and play baseball better, it shows us how to sit up straight at the table, it makes us think of others first, and it helps us to work for the welfare of the camp as a whole rather than of individuals. It keeps everybody busy, but it keeps everybody happy and contented, pleased with the knowledge of helping others.

That’s the “Camp Dixie Spirit.” It’s the best in the world and it makes everybody happy who adopts it. If we get that spirit we can have just as good a time as is possible for anyone to have, and we will also be giving a good time to somebody else. The “Camp Dixie Spirit” —learn it, get it, practice it, and your will be the gain.

Wallace P. Zachary, July 7, 1917