Walker County's Bradford Camp is wrapping up its 17th camp season with a zip-lining, swimming, canoeing, crawdad fishing and other outdoor adventures on the Bradford family farm.
Alisa Bradford and her eldest son Bert Bradford started the five-week camp 17 years ago with all boy campers, but now the camp enrolls both boys and girls.
"I think they enjoy the stuff we do, but more than anything else they love the people," said Bert Bradford, referring to what keeps campers coming back every summer. "My mom was always the kind of mom that my friends came over and called her [their] mom. My family makes everyone feel like family when they are around. I think that's what people love the most about camp."
For example, Bert Bradford's grandfather, affectionately known to campers as "Grandpa," takes campers to a tree to carve their names in it.
"I remember when we sponged the paint on T-shirts," said Alisabeth Bradford, who was 2 years old when the camp began. "I got to be with Bret all day and hang out and played battle ball and swam at camp."
And, Alisa Bradford added, former campers are now coming back to be counselors, to relive their camp memories.
"People feel like they are coming back home," she said.