Director’s Reports

Sand Castles

June 30, 2026

Sand Castles

June 30, 2026

So, this parent once called me to ask a favor. Her 15 year old son was on a travelling soccer team who made it to the next round in a major tournament. But, the next game was several days away. Her request was could he come to camp for a few days, simply to get away from all that pressure and such? On his first hour on the grounds, I found him building sandcastles on the beach with the junior campers!

To be honest, I think the older boys know the real purpose of camp without needing to be told. The younger ones, less so, and, yeah, there are a few moist eyes in the dining room from campers who are nevertheless pounding in unison with the other kids for whatever counselor chant is going on. “What’s that all about?” I asked one boy. “I don’t know,” he said while continuing to slap the table. We will win these cases!

You’ve got lots of photos to glean this day. Sara’s, naturally, are superior in that they capture the essence of boys up close and precisely at the right moment. You are very lucky to have the luxury of her offerings. Mine are more from the bird’s eye perspective. Flowering shrubs and panoramas of Mother Tarleton are just as likely to be found in my albums as are happy campers. My current album has all of those.

I publish lots of photos with a purpose, however. My waterfront photos attempt to capture the keen supervision we insist on having on the lake. A lifeguard in a power boat is mandatory whenever boys are on the water. Sam and the sailing coaches can do only so much on the beach and then the boys are on their own. Sort of. We’re watching and boat rescues are so common that practically no one pays any attention from afar.

Television at Kingswood? Just World Cup games and the like. After that, we indeed are a screen-free camp.

After dinner is a daily sweet spot for many of us. It cools down a lot on most evenings. Last night the mosquitos were out, not in full force, but enough for a few of us to notice. I carried some repellent with me on my rounds up the hill to Trash Ball and the aptly named Kingswood World Cup.

Trashball – the game with the garbage cans. Believe it or not, this is an important offering as it is a “sporting” event with the same objective as the sandcastle building. With 4 cans and 2 soccer balls, the goal is to get the ball into any can without being tagged by an opponent. Who wins? Nobody, as we don’t keep score and no one cares. While playing Trashball,boys are about as emotionally safe as they could possibly be. Let that sink in.

World Cup? Fascinating. 4 teams of 4 play at the same time on a single goal. Score a goal (the very happy faces) and you are on to the next round. I think Morocco was one of those who advanced.

Lastly, at 8:15 we all met at the “Theater in the Pines,” for Tee shirt and Frisbee distribution. The latter go to everyone who has been to Kingswood for three years or more. One parent once told me his son refused to go on a family tour of the world, as he was not going to miss getting his Kingswood Frisbee.

And, that is the state of camp on this, the final day of June, 2026!