Daughter Sara gives the photo orders around this joint and I was assigned to Capture-the-Cumbersome-Object, yet another of our variations of Capture-the-Flag, that involves, well, securing cumbersome objects! No further explanations necessary.
This addition to the Evening Sponsorship board came at the last moment when Scott and Raven noticed that we needed one more “soak-em-up” for this absolutely unchallenged favorite time of day for just about everyone at Kingswood.
During dinner, counselors make entries on the white board for activities they think will be popular with the campers and they nearly always select things which they, too, would like to do. As per the suggestion cited above, the board is approved beforehand by the administration and a good balance is usually achieved. Many entrees are most creative and an equal number have been requested by the campers. Hence, there is always lots of buzz at what we call “the reveal,” when counselors stand up to make their respective promotions.
Once upon a time, way too many sales persuasions began with the likes of “Me and Charlie will be playing…” so the Grammar Nazis began to humble the mis-speakers to the point where no one would today ever dare mess up his announcement – yet another camp routine I personally find to be gratifying. Yes, your son pays attention to this detail, another hidden perk for your tuition dollars!
Anyway, from viewing today’s photo albums, one can tell that both Sara and I flooded the same zone during the various sponsorships. No harm, no foul as the photos are a terrific example of Kingswood operating at peak happiness. Today is the much ballyhooed day number 21 and I am confident that 99% if not all of the boys have completely adjusted to being away from home. One time I asked for some volunteer excerpts from letters home and one boy reported he had written, “Dear Mom and Dad, I still think about you a lot, but I don’t miss you anymore.” I hope you wish those words could have been sent to you!
Besides the lake and the council fire area, the Theater-in-the-Pines is one of my favorite camp venues. The huge red pines do, indeed, grow right up through the stage and we use this haunt as the place for “camp closure” several days per week. Pines Field is not only a pretty spot and centrally located, but we have all the amplification gear there and it is easy to summon all the boys once the show is ready to go. See the photo albums.
Musical performances, maybe a story, always some announcements regarding the morrow lead to an orderly dismissal. Just a few minutes of this downtime gathering after the hubbub of sponsorships is the perfect way to end yet another fabulous day in this wonderland. That we have nearly a dozen old-time staff visiting right now is testimony aplenty to my use of the word “wonderland” to describe our camp.