Camp Hidden Hollow campers listen during a chapel service. Owner Sally Worland will be organizing the camp’s 40th anniversary celebration later this year.Sally Thomas Worland has been involved with the Hidden Hollow property in Chickamauga for nearly 40 years, starting when she opened Camp Hidden Hollow. However, it was only in the last four years that she assumed control of the Hidden Hollow Resort her parents had started.
The stress of running both operations hasn’t weighed her down, though.
“My mom and dad laid a very solid foundation for me to grow and build on. I’m just trying to carry on a tradition of hospitality,” Worland said.
She’s been busy trying to maintain that tradition while juggling constant updates and renovations to the resort property. She recently finished renovations to the on-site chapel, which she said in conjunction with the other, nearly constant improvements to the wedding venue site, has dramatically increased demand and bookings for weddings.
“We started work on the wedding area about three years ago,” Worland said, explaining that she has been upgrading and renovating it piece by piece since. “We completely redid the woodwork on the chapel, and also added another steeple and a belfry to the chapel. It takes a long while when you do it yourself,” she added with a laugh.
Worland said she is very excited with the growth at Hidden Hollow, and attributed part of that growth to positive word of mouth. The renovations, a fresh website and positive reviews have made it “a whole new ballgame,” she said.
In addition to undertaking new updates to the resort, Worland is organizing the 40th anniversary event for Camp Hidden Hollow.
“Right now we’re just getting the work planned out,” she said, “but it’s going to be a big celebration. We’re going to bring back alumni of the camp, the initial campers, and we’ll share our memories of the camp with the newer kids.”
Worland said she believes the camp has changed very little in the near half-century it’s been running, which she attributes to the camp’s success.
While it could be easy to get overwhelmed and stressed at the prospect of running a resort getaway destination and an active day camp for children, Worland doesn’t see it that way. She said stress rarely gets to her; she “call[s] it exciting, instead.”
“You just have to keep everything organized and compartmentalized, which I think I’m pretty good at,” said Worland, adding that the volunteers and staff at Camp Hidden Hollow are “an incredibly vital part of the camp, and some of the finest young people you can hope to meet.”
For more information, visit camphiddenhollow.com or hiddenhollowresort.com.