We had eleven games with our neighbors, Camp Pemi, yesterday. Boys who wanted as many as four contests – two each in the morning and afternoon segments – got them. Sara says she needs today to get all of her pix sorted and will make a big posting tomorrow. I did what I could with my lens to get you an insight on the basketball and pickleball action here at Kingswood.
Most of the games were quite close as Pemi and Kingswood match up quite well (abilities, sportsmanship, coaching.) We took the signature game – the 15’s soccer by a 2-1 score while Pemi had the most victories on the day. I asked some of our boys, who had gone zero for whatever, and they, to a person, remarked that the day was a ton of fun. I should add that this is the attitude that is expected to prevail here at camp.
For those boys not participating, including some good athletes who simply wanted a day off from competition, a host of leisurely activities were on tap all day long. It was hot here (by our standards – mid to upper 80’s and a nice breeze on the lake) and you can see from my photo album that crafts, wordworking and even a British tea party drew sizable audiences.
Of course the waterfront was open throughout the day and into the evening. That made it less taxing on the lifeguards as there was a steady trickle instead of a swarm of customers to supervise.
Be sure to consult the counselor albums of trips, organized and posted by Sara, which might help explain why an easy day here and there is so important to many of the boys. I think we have very few perpetual slackers as there seems always to be some good promoting going on by the counselors. They enjoy being assigned trips as it gives them a break from their routines and they do, indeed, take it personally when their excursion gets a rave review.
Honestly, that’s how it works here, and I am always telling the complete truth when I insist that boys will take activities organized by their favorite counselors plus ones that are deemed ahead of time to be good prospects.
You’ll notice, too, that the four trips were all conducted in mostly sunny conditions and we are patient about waiting it out until the moment is ripe. Black Mountain, Welch-Dickey, Indian Pond and Sunset Cliffs have the additional attraction of not being very far away from Kingswood. Boys like it here, on the grounds, and don’t want to miss too much “home camp.” We factor in this tendency when considering the happiness quotients of our charges.
Sunday morning, circa 10 AM. It is pouring right now and we are expecting a very damp day. Sunday is the best day of the week for this outcome, if it has to be, as cabin clean-up, cabin meetings, all-camp meetings and a general re-set is always the order on this day. No one is complaining that much, plus it is warm and comfortable out of doors so long as one is wearing his rain gear.