Freethought 'Advance' Opens in July

By Roger Cleveland

Reprinted with permission from Freethought Today, May 1991.

The thought first entered my mind about two years ago when I read a letter to Freethought Today. The writer was asking if there was a retreat for freethinkers anywhere in the country. I thought, what a great idea!

It happens that, where Pat and I live, there is a 12-acre lake behind our home on a 66-acre tract of land. I told Pat that if we owned that property it would make a beautiful retreat and campground. With the lake we could have fishing, swimming, canoeing, camping, hiking, and nature trails. You know how dreams are, sometimes they seem to mushroom. Maybe we could have freethinkers from all over the country. I thought how much fun it would be to have hundreds of people around camping and having a good time, and all of them freethinkers. Wow, what a dream.

But I had to wake up. The land belonged to someone else and was not for sale.

Since that time several things have happened that have made our dreams possible. The owner decided he was going to sell the land and lake and notified us the first as he had promised. With the help of my sister and her husband, Melody and Barney McCord, also freethinker many of you met at the Foundation conventions in Atlanta 1989 and in Ann Arbor 1990, and with the help of our friendly neighborhood loan company, we have purchased the property and lake. Our dream is becoming a reality.

We are going to have a freethought lake and campground right here in the middle of the Bible Belt. We have renamed the lake "Hypatia" and the creek is now called "Cady Creek." There is a road passing the dam that we call "Thomas Paine Parkway." We were going to call it a freethought retreat until Dan Barker asked me, "Why call it a retreat? Why not call it an advance?"

We are now in the process of trying to get Lake Hypatia and the campgrounds cleared and suitable for camping. There are three campsites with names in the works. We are making lots of plans for the future. At this time we will be equipped only for primitive camping or self-contained recreational vehicles. We hope very soon to build several picnic tables and barbecue pits and as soon as possible, restrooms and showers for campers. We hope very much that all Foundation members will be as excited as we and members of the Birmingham area, Alabama chapter are about this.

At this time we do not plan to charge for camping, fishing or the use of any of our facilities. This is not about making money. It is about making friends and meeting other freethinkers, and maybe helping to advance reason and freethought in our world.

If you would like to make a contribution toward helping in this effort, we would welcome it, but it is not required. The only requirement is that you be members of the Freedom From Religion Foundation or their family and friends--which seems to us to be all in one category.

We plan to officially open on July 1, 1991. If you have not made plans already for the 4th of July, come on down and visit us. We plan to celebrate Freedom From Religion. We will show you what they mean by "Southern Hospitality."

Since this story was printed in Freethought Today, the Lake Hypatia Freethought Advance has become the official meeting place of the Alabama Freethought Association and the host of the annual Lake Hypatia Independence Day Celebration.

The Advance is open 365 days a year and is the use of the facilities is still free for FFRF members and their family and friends.