“Nervous Nellies; That be you, not so much us!
Indeed, we woke up to a few distant peals of thunder, but it was soon established that those storms had already passed over and gentle rains were all that was left for the immediate future. We had warned the boys last evening that showers were most likely and also urged them to accept this fate as it would cut the dust, lower the humidity and make the way for a very nice string of summer weather, maybe as soon as this afternoon.
A point worth making right at the outset: We have just concluded an outstanding first session. The weather was great, boys were cooperative and we witnessed outstanding participation in all activities. Granted, it was a hot morning last Friday, the last day of the session, and 106 boys showed up for the morning dip known as Polar Bear. Everyone who was here then, lots of us, wants to get back into that fabulous grove as soon as possible.
That 49 brave souls ignored the rains to attend today’s Polar Bear session is a good harbinger of happy camp to follow. You’ll soon learn that my photos are of far lower quality than daughter Sara’s but I tracked the kids all the way to the dive tower, where sure enough, one boy did an enormous cannonball, soaking me to the bone. It was worth it. See above.
Regarding yesterday, once most parents had departed by the early afternoon, we held three blocks of activities from roughly 2- 5 PM. We no sooner had performed the laborious chore of putting away the slip and slide gear when we decided to haul it out anew to kick off the first afternoon blocks of second session. Go to Sara’s photo album of today’s date and determine for yourself if that was a good call! See what I mean about the quality of her photos? Swim tests and various games made up the other two blocks.
Shortly after 5PM, we met as a full camp in the council fire area. There are quite a few first-time campers in this session and I was delighted to see the counselors being both very patient and very thorough in explaining how our schedule works and what boys can expect from each activity we offer. Good camp, as I say.,
Instead of indoor meetings last evening, which was glorious, we asked each cabin group to run an outdoors activity and play introduction games as a means of ice-breaking. Then we met at the stage known as the “Theater in the Pines” for some simple announcements and some really good music by Spanky and Swampy. (Great nicknames, eh?)
Two important meetings must occur before we can declare the end of orientation. As aforementioned, Mike Wiff and the program guys postponed both the initial cabin meeting, and the waterfront safety procedures meeting until this morning. Sure enough, it is raining lightly right now and these gatherings are taking place indoors. I am always relieved once I know that the campers understand the rules of the road here at Kingswood.
Much nicer weather seems to be on the way and we plan to run the first round of morning clinics this afternoon.
By the way, please get in the habit of consulting the photo albums that accompany these daily reports in either Campanion or Camp InTouch. Enjoy your day; we sure plan to at our end.