A “FIVE” WIND…

July 11, 2025

… a tired camp and a popular movie: That was the setting yesterday afternoon when the grounds were as quiet as I can remember in quite a while. My album shows the empty fields and abandoned waterfront at a time of day when both venues usually are packed with campers.

Minecraft was the flick and nearly everybody opted for this one. That was perfectly OK with this old codger, who took a nap himself during this reboot of sorts. A four-week term at camp indeed requires many adjustments, often on the fly, and Kingswood is really good at recognizing the need for a break in the action.

As I could have guessed, and did, was that boys would be gung-ho for renewed pell-mell activities after dinner. We call this block “Sponsorships,” and the administration marvels at the interest and creativity that the counselors throw into promoting activities which they can both lead and participate in themselves.

“You asked for it,” I barked at an exhausted Adam M. and Max Mck. who had been chased about the grounds by a mad gang of hunters in some version of hide and seek that has the word “chicken” in it. I just report what I see and cannot always explain it!

The sponsors of “slow motion basketball” hit the right note with the boys, whom I could hear laughing all the while they walked up and down the court without any jumping permitted. Clever!

In Week 3 counselor photos, it looks to me like the boys on the Smarts Mountain hike got some rain on the trail but had fun climbing (carefully) up the old fire tower that has graced the summit for as long as I can remember. “We all hiked with a swagger” was the expected report upon their return to camp.

Noteworthy in that album, too, are pix of fishing on Lake Tarleton plus the eating of the catch. We always release otherwise. Whenever it is hot, we head off to Big Eddy or Busted Rock for cool plunges into the Baker River. Ceramics is popular at camp and especially as Robin A. invites the clinic to her art studio just down the road from Kingswood.

Those canoers in that album are practicing T-boat rescues in their clinic.  Boys who have sisters at Camp Merriwood met up with their siblings at Moose Scoops. Kingswood/Lochearn had a similar date earlier in the week.

And, lastly, I was very happy to see the four-man rowing shell out on the lake yesterday. Tom B. acknowledged how difficult this sport really is but offered praise for improvement as the clinic progressed. All in a gathering wind!