Retreat

June 29, 2024

Absolutely no one is going to disagree with a Five Star rating for the Kingswood kitchen crew so far.  There has been wide variety, loads of choices, great presentation, and fabulous tastes at every meal.  “You come here not to enjoy the outdoors but to eat,”  I say to many a patron staring down a loaded plate.

The first few photos in my album show the Chinese food dinner of last evening.  Ricky Marsh, head of kitchen, is seen giving the thumbs up. “This is their favorite meal so far,” he acknowledged. “Then feed them this instead of fish,” I barked, only to be corrected by someone saying, “The fish was outstanding.”  So there you have it!

Sara got out there yesterday to document that “Five Lake” wind condition.  Use a bit of imagination to both hear the wind and the shouts of glee coming from the boys.  I’m told that the War Canoe (the red, white and blue beast) in Sara’s album did indeed capsize. Whether on purpose was not revealed.

While on the subject of Sara’s album, yes, you see a soccer game going on with boys carrying the ball legally.  That’s Gatorball, a camp staple, where a player may carry the ball so long as he is not touched.

IMPORTANT NOTE: That last sentence above was written an hour and a half ago. I was summoned down to the Main Lodge to tell camp stories to a group of boys waiting for me on what is a fairly dreary day.  Yes, I dumped you for them, and I will do that every time.

Now, where was I?  Oh, so Gatorball happened during A Block. At dinner, I was observing the sponsorship board (see my photos) and immediately found the “soak ‘em up,” Kingswood’s phrase for an activity certain to draw large numbers of participants. “Chicken Hunt” got the call and it turned out to be exactly as I imagined — bunches of boys running pell-mell about the grounds trying to capture the counselor dressed as a barnyard creature!

We ended the day as a full camp group up next to the stage at Pines Field. The day hike to Mt. Lafayette had abandoned the effort about ¾ of the way to the summit.  The counselors in charge had determined the wind conditions to be brutal and hence they turned back.

I, for one, wanted the rest of the camp to hear their story.  But not before we told some stories about others, not Kingswood people, who made very poor decisions in the hills.  We had their full attention, to be sure, and at the end all the boys agreed that these reports are designed to help make them WANT to hike on the grounds that “I don’t want to be that guy” who made the wrong call.  Good lessons learned.