Greystone Girl Spotlight: Addie Boedecker
Our camp community reaches far and wide - there are over 30,000 Greystone alumnae, and that number grows every year! With a group that large, we know there are Greystone Girls out there doing incredible things, and we’re on a mission to help tell those stories.
Today we’re sitting down with alum Addie Boedecker to learn all about her time at camp, how it impacted her, and what she’s doing now. (spoiler alert: it’s pretty cool!) We need your help with this series, though! Use our form to nominate a Greystone Girl who is doing great things so that we can catch up with her.
For now, though, let’s hear it for opera singer, Addie!
How did you first hear about camp?
I first heard about Camp Greystone through my mother, Jacki, and my sister, Katie. They were the reason that I became a Greystone Girl. I was a camper from 1997 - 2006, one year at mother daughter camp, nine years at June and Main Camp, and I came back to work for two summers - two weeks of Main Camp in 2008, and then the whole summer in 2010. I desperately wanted to be there for more summers as a counselor, but my major in college and my career made that impossible. Hopefully sometime in the future I can come back to work again!
What did you love about camp?
I love everything about camp. It really did help to shape me into the woman that I am today, and it was and continues to be an integral part of my faith formation.
But, the lifelong friendships that I made as a camper and a counselor, are what I love and cherish the most from Greystone. Especially because Greystone centers everything on Christ and has you living together, 24-7, you truly develop deep, meaningful relationships that last a lifetime. Even if it has been quite some time since you were last with your camp friends, you pick right back up, as though no time has passed.
Activities that I love from Greystone are Archery, Synchro, Play Production, Tennis and obviously, Greystone Groove! EP’s, I honestly love them all! I can’t choose one!
Any funny stories or particular memories you want to share?
There are a ton of funny stories and memories, but I guess one of my favorites has to do with our cabin lip-sync routine from our Junior-Senior year. Our cabin had wanted to do the KC and the Sunshine Band classic hit, “Shake your Booty”, but we were turned down. So, in our hasty brainstorming, we found an even better selection.
We all were and still are huge fans of Disney’s Mulan, so we chose the song, “I’ll Make a Man Out of You”. We dressed up as men’s staff and we created a “dance”, but we had a special surprise for the whole camp. I don’t know if you all are familiar with the song, but the final lyric is “mysterious as the dark side of the moon”. So, we spelled out the word “mooooooon!” in duct tape on black soffe shorts, and wore those underneath our clothing. When we reached that final line, we turned and “mooned” the camp. Everyone, especially Laura, thought that we were about to actually moon the camp, but thankfully, we did not. Everyone had a good laugh, and we had a blast!
What has your life looked like after camp? What are you doing now?
Life after camp has been great! I do have a bit of a different reality than most. I am a full-time opera singer. I am married to an opera singer, a bass-baritone named Calvin Griffin. Normally, I am constantly on the road, singing operas, musicals and concerts across the country. However, recently, our livelihood has been majorly affected by COVID-19, but we are cherishing this uninterrupted time together.
Though our original contracts were postponed or canceled when COVID-19 hit, the pandemic has allowed for us to perform in new ways and in new mediums, all from our home in Atlanta. So, suffice it to say, we are enjoying these innovations, and we have been blessed to still have work during this crazy time.
How has camp impacted you?
Camp has had one of the biggest impacts on my life. It has informed everything about me. Camp taught me to own, not only who I am, but whose I am.
Jim Daddy equipped me with the Fourfold Way (along with many great stories and jokes). Libby showed me what it is to be a Godly woman, and she was crucial in the foundation of my faith. Libby, Jim Daddy, Jim Boy, and Laura, all exemplify what it is to keep Christ at the center of one’s life, and every one of my mentors at camp encouraged me to be a strong, faith-filled woman.
Camp instilled that unselfishness, along with sincerity, courage, honesty, kindness and truth, really do culminate in the spirit of Greystone. Though I inevitably fall short, I do always strive towards those ideals. I am so thankful that I have the great privilege of being Greystone Girl!
