Ken Vipperman - President
Ken was born and raised in Pittsylvania County and has lived in the area most of his life. The only time he spent away from his home area was when he served in the US Air Force. During his time in the Air Force, he was stationed at Grissom AFB in Northern Indiana and served during the first Persian Gulf War.
After being Honorably Discharged, he returned home to pursue his career in Facility Construction and Maintenance. It was during this time he began to date Angie Royster, who he in turn married. Ken and Angie grew up in church together and have known each other since they were 5 years old.
They both began to serve the Lord together as a couple at Timberlake Baptist Church in Danville, Virginia and are still serving there today. They both work as youth leaders for the older children in the church and teach the Teens Sunday School class there. Most of their free time is spent ministering to their children there and planning activities for them to participate in. Ken and Angie also coordinate a week of Summer Camp at Selah for their youthgroup to go to at the end of the summer.
Ken has one daughter, Katie, and is home schooled by Angie and they participate in many home school events with other home schooled families in the area. Ken’s current church duties include Teen Sunday School Teacher, Website Developer and displays verses on projector screen during Church services.
Gayle Thompson
Gayle Thompson has developed Camp Selah’s Living History Faire. She has designed several programs to give local teachers an opportunity to expand their classrooms beyond the four walls of a classroom and provide hands on experiences for their students. The programs meet the Virginia Standards of Learning for kindergarten through sixth grad. The program is availabe from September to early November and late March to June.
Gayle has a genuine heart for young people to develop knowledge and an appreciation of the founders of our country. She believes that it is imperative to teach our youth their history; hopefully they will be less inclined to repeats its mistakes. She desires for them to learn about the symbols of our country and respect the sacrifices that have been made for the freedoms we enjoy. Here at Camp Selah, where these men and women are purported to have traveled on the Colonial Roadbed, is the ideal place for those things to happen.
Gayle was born in Kinston, North Carolina. She is the daughter of the late Fred R. Foyles and Dorothy B. Foyles. She was brought up in Caswell Presbyterian Church in Atkinson. Her favorite church activities were Vacation Bible School, Presbyterian Youth Fellowship, singing in the choir, and Church Camp. She was active in her church, school and community. She played Varsity Basketball, was a member of Future Homemakers of America, Future Teachers of America, and sang in the Glee Club and Chorus. She was a Girl Scout and a member of the 4-H Club. She won many awards in 4-H, attended 4-H Camp and 4-H Congress for many summers and is a member of the North Carolina 4-H Honor Club.
Gayle attended East Carolina College and Wilmington College. She was a member of the Home Economics Club, The Scriptics Society, the College Chorus, and The Thalians.
Gayle was employed by the Piedmont Girl Scout Council. The time I worked at Old Mill Girl Scout Camp was a real growing process for me and had the greatest impact on my life of any experience I’ve ever had. I really loved being in the outdoors and I learned more than the campers. She says.
Gayle earned a Master‘s Degree in Education & Reading from Appalachian State University and taught in the public schools of North Carolina for 34 years. She was a teacher leader and held many offices in professional associations. She served as President of Rockingham County Association of Childhood Educators, Rockingham County Association of Educators, and the County Association of Rockingham Educators. She also served as a District President of the North Carolina Association of Educators. She was a member of the North Carolina Council of the International Reading Association and the North Carolina Association of Educators of Young Children. She is presently a member of the North Carolina Association of Retired Educators.
During Gayle‘s teaching career she taught second grade, 7th and 8th grade Social Studies, 9th grade Health, Kindergarten, was a Media Specialist, and a Title I / Chapter I Reading. She coached JV Basketball and Baseball, wrote and directed student programs and dramas, tutored and coached young writers, and served on the School Improvement Team.
For fun, Gayle was the owner and operator of Frederica‘s Finest Fare, a catering business, for six years. She loves to read, knit, crochet, paint, scrapbook, cook, garden, weave baskets and cane chairs. She is an avid Wolfpack fan and collects nativities and Cairn sculptures especially those involving trains. She is a Certified Nursing Assistant and a member of Bible Study Fellowship International. She volunteers for Loaves and Fishes, a food ministry, and for AlaMAP, a medical assistance program.
Gayle has been married to her best friend, Douglas since July 12, 1986. Doug‘s daughter, Michelle, lives in Appling, GA. with their grandson, Michael. Doug and Gayle are members of New Life Community Church in Haw River, NC. They are looking forward to a mission trip to Matachi, Mexico in July, 2008. Gayle is chair of Resources for Inspiration and Sincere Encouragement (RISE). The committee makes shawls, blankets, etc. for gifts to church members and friends who are experiencing special events and trials in their lives.
Doug and Gayle are members of the Sports Car Club of America. They are both licensed flaggers and can be found flagging corners at Virginia International Raceway many weekends of the year. They both love to compete in Road Rallies with fellow SCCA members. They were rallymasters for an AlaMAP fundraiser in April, 2007.
Gayle has served as a volunteer at Camp Selah for 7 years. She has helped with Frontier Days, Wild West Adventure Mission Trips to Oak Island, NC, Day Camp, and Grant Writing. Gayle says, “My first trip to Camp Selah was the beginning of a renewal of my own Christian convictions. Our Creator’s Hand is evident everywhere at Camp Selah. It is the perfect spot to show children the wonders He has made. I feel God calling me here in so many ways, it is as if my whole life has been in preparation for what God has planned for Selah.”
Russell Scruggs
Personal
Birth Date: September 20, 1941, Farmville, Virginia
Married: Carolyn Ferguson Osborne (14 years) (Nurse, BSN, at Danville Regional Medical Center)
Parenthood: One daughter (whom I reared as single parent);Three step-sons
Grandfather: Seven grandsons, two granddaughters
Education
BA, History, University of Richmond, 1964
MA, History, Appalachian State University, 1970
Additional Graduate Work: University of Virginia
Summer Institute: “The Negro in American History,†1969 Appalachian State University
Teaching and Professional Experience
1970 - 2007 Assistant Professor of History, Danville Community College
1972 - 2007 Minister of Music, Moffett Memorial Baptist church
1971 (Summer) Adjunct Instructor of History, Averett College (Now University)
1965- 1968 History Instructor and Glee Club Director, Oak Hill Academy
Special Recognitions
Outstanding Faculty Award, 1994
VCCA Showcase Faculty, 1994
Church Musician of Year, 1994, Virginia Baptist Church Music Conference
Governorâ€TMs Volunteerism Award, 1984
Outstanding Educators of America, 1972
Elks Citizen of the Year, 2005, for Community Service
Teaching Fellow, Appalachian State University, 1969-1970
Selected Activities at Danville Community College
Co-sponsor, Afro-American Culture Club, 1973-2007
Chairman, Black History Month Planning Committee, 1973-2007
Chairman/Coordinator, Celebration of the Arts, 1982-2007
Faculty Steering Committee member, 1989-1994
Faculty Coordinator, Funds for Excellence/Faculty Development, 1988-1990
Danville Community College Association Officer, 1987-1994
Coordinator, Annual Talent Show, 1970-2005
Director of D.C.C. Singers, 1970-1981
Coordinator of Artists-in-Residence
Past & Present (Selected) Community Activities
President, Board Member, Danville Concert Association
President of Dan River Alliance for Arts and Culture
President, Danville Friends of the Public Library
President, Board of Hughes Memorial Home
President, Danville Area Association for the Arts and Humanities
Board Member, Danville Area Choral Arts Society
One of Three-Person Team who founded the Danville Community
School of Music
Oral History Project Team Member, Danville Historical Society, 1972
Newsletter, Danville Historical Society, 8 years; Board Member
Arts-in-Education Panel, Regional Panel, Artist-in-Residence Selection Panel, of the Virginia Commission for the Arts
Chairman, Art, Festival in the Park, Four Years
Chairman, Cultural/Arts Performances, International Festival, 2007
Coordinator of Danville Church-Based Tutorial Program, Moffett Church
Coordinator of Weekly Saturday Free Meals Program, Moffett Church
Music Director; Chairman of Worship Team, Pittsylvania Baptist Association
Handbell Instructor, Summer Music Camp, Eagle Eyrie Baptist Assembly
Volunteer Grants Writer for Several Arts Organizations
Board Member, Camp Selah
Board of Directors, Danville Public Schools Education Foundation
Lodge Owners Advisory Board, Eagle Eyrie Baptist Conference Center
Professional Organizations
Southern Historical Society
Virginia Society of History Teachers
Virginia Community Colleges Association
Kathy Reynolds
Kathy Minter Reynolds, public relations and volunteer recruitment representative, was born and raised in Henry County, Virginia. She was brought up in the First United Methodist Church of Martinsville from birth and delighted in opportunities to attend church, Girl Scout and 4-H camps while growing up.
Having had dance training since she was three, she earned a teaching certificate from the Dance Educators of America Teacher Training School in New York City in her rising senior year of high school and owned and operated The Academy of the Dance Arts in Martinsville, until beginning a family and moving to Lincolnton, NC.
She has 5 years experience as a professional employee of two Girl Scout Councils, working at camp, and in membership and program development. Kathy also participated in the Chapel Hill University program “Living with the 10 to 15 year old” while living in Lincolnton, NC.
She has also earned a Paralegal Certificate from Averett College. She is married to her husband, Ken and is very proud of her two daughters, two amazing sons in law, and 5 extraordinary grandchildren Zachary, Ben, Kaitlyn, Madison and Kennedy. Her daughter, Jacqueline, lives in Holly Springs, NC just below of Raleigh, with her family while her other daughter, Emily lives in Colonial Heights, VA with her family. Only God knows what is in store next!
God has also blessed her with the gift of ventriloquism, which she uses in ministry to His Glory, giving Him all praise for her salvation in 1978 at the Lincolnton First Wesleyan Church..
Kathy moved to Danville in 1988 and joined Moffett Memorial Baptist Church in 1990. She has been a member of the choir, served as a Sunday School teacher, an outreach committee member, a Children’s Extended Session worker, and a member of the Saturday morning meal teams that feeds the community’s hungry. She has also been a member of Bible Study Fellowship, International.
In addition to puppet ministry, she offers workshops in puppet manipulation and beginning ventriloquism. Since 1997, one of her passions has been to encourage those around her to document their life story using journals, photo albums and other media. She also guides people in learning to write their own story or testimony, believing that “if you know what you believe, practice writing about it, you will be better able to share God’s goodness with others.
There are so many ways to volunteer and help at camp. Kathy has helped in the past with the newsletter, country fairs, day camps, Wild West Adventures, Frontier Days, mission trips to Cherokee,NC and Ground Zero after 9/11, speaking at churches, putting up posters, making phone calls and lots of prayer and Bible time. The new expanded Living History Fair offers a fantastic program to school both public and private classes from Kindergarten through fifth grade and is one of her new favorites at camp. However, the up and coming Day at the Carnival has all the volunteers excited as its salvation based message will bless communities everywhere as children are won for the Lord.
She first became affiliated with the camp founder in 1990 while working on a project at the scout camp. Both of her daughters served the camp as counselors in training during their teenage years. Her husband, Ken, is a strong supporter and has also volunteered.
Kathy says,
“The possibilities at Camp Selah are endless! You can be a blessing by praying, stuffing envelopes, helping at day camp, overnight camp, mowing the grass, weekend or week long mission trips for churches with both youth and adults….just bring your desire to serve Him and we will have a place for you.”
She has a ministry speaking in churches, using her characters and sharing her testimony of God’s love and is happy to bring updates on the continual progress of the camp and its continuing needs to churches interested in becoming donors.
She currently works part time as a mobile notary signing agent in a four county area.