Adults get to go to brainy camp

What would summer camp for scholarly adults look like? Ward Purrington has a bead on it.

Purrington, long a political and cultural force in Raleigh, is combining his love of Western civilization with the lure of a mountain retreat in a venture that will begin this summer, modeled after the venerable Chautauqua Institution in southwestern New York.

"It was an idea I had about 30 years ago," says Purrington, a former state revenue secretary who was instrumental in creating Carolina Ballet. "I'd take the kids to camp, pull out of the campground and think, 'Gosh, I wish I could stay.'"

The result is the Appalachian Institution, which will launch in August at an Episcopal conference center on Lake Logan near Canton in the southwest corner of North Carolina. There will be two five-day retreats, each built around one of two lecturers: Thomas F.X. Noble, director of the Medieval Institute at Notre Dame University, and Alan Charles Kors, a University of Pennsylvania history professor and expert on the Age of Enlightenment.

Mornings will be spent in appreciation of Western civilization's history, accomplishments, values and opportunities, says Purrington. Afternoons can be spent hiking, fly-fishing, golfing, playing tennis or taking courses on art history, floral design, jewelry design and Spanish or French for travelers. The evenings will be given over to classical and bluegrass concerts and Shakespearean theater.

Alfred E. Sturges, director of choral music at N.C. State University and of the N.C. Master Chorale in Raleigh, has signed up to be music director at the Appalachian Institution. Purrington, who has retired from his law practice, is the founder and primary financial backer of the nonprofit enterprise.

Purrington says he recently mailed about 15,000 postcards and bought advertising in regional publications to attract participants. He hopes that interest will build over the years and the institution can expand to pair speakers engaged in scholastic debate and someday outgrow the facilities.

Details and registration information are online at www.appalachianinstitution.org.

Purrington and his wife spent a week at the Chautauqua Institution a few years ago and came away impressed. The New York state educational center, which began in the 19th century, reports drawing about 7,500 people a day during its nine-week season, with more than 142,000 attending its public events. It also enrolls about 8,000 students to its summer schools in art, music, dance, theater and writing.

The comparable spot Purrington found in the mountains is on land once owned by the Champion Paper Co., which dammed the Pigeon River to create Lake Logan in the 1930s and built an executive retreat. After the company sold out to its employees in the late 1990s, the retreat was given to the Episcopal Diocese of Western North Carolina.