June 28, 2024

“There’s plenty of warm weather coming up”

 

The original title to today’s blog was to be “Introducing the Kingswood administrators,” but I overheard just now Mike Wiff and Raven, the Waterfront Director, speaking about today’s conditions on the lake.  At this minute, there is a strong Canadian wind coming out of the north. Just about anyone would consider that a godsend, but such a breeze causes concerns for the boys in their Waterfront clinics, starting soon.

We have a Tarleton Wind Scale, 0-6, with 6 being nearly intolerable waves. I’ll give it a 4 ½  at present and that is much too wind for most boys.  Moreover, it is cool to cold out there.  I repeat; cool to cold!  Who wants to take swim instruction lessons right now?  Hence the decision to allow campers to opt out of water-based clinics if they wish.

I counted fourteen schoolteachers on the front porch of the Main Lodge at yesterday’s pre-breakfast meeting. This is where such flexible planning as the vignette above is generated. By the time they make the short trek over to the Dining Room, the blueprint for the day is embedded into every administrative mind, if not their phone! (I show up with a piece of paper with all my ideas; they take a picture of it!)

Anyway, the admin is the glue. Just beneath them are the counselors who do most of the execution, sometimes side by side with camp leaders and other times by themselves, with oversight where needed.

“You are in charge of your own bubble,” is one of my surviving lines from one generation to the next. Nine times out of ten, younger staff make good judgments and only an occasional nudge is needed to keep things moving in the right direction. “Solve issues locally” is another mantra that works, too.  Lastly, we tell them that an administrator is never far away and feel 100% confident that he won’t bite off your ear if you admit to being in need of some consultation. So, when you look at all those photos, know that this is the process.

My photo album shows some of our admin team doing their respective things.  Ann Young, the camp nurse, holds down the first table inside the door to the Dining Room.  She not only dispenses meds but keeps a general eye open on how the boys look.  Like so many of our camp leaders, she has been here for many years.  Very comforting.

Adam Braverman and Hartel Smith, among many jobs they do, are the heads of the Dining Room. Even with the enclosure of the porch (so welcomed on a cold, windy day) we are jammed pretty tightly into this space.  Under their watch, however, meals go very smoothly.

Then there is Raven, whose main job is to observe the swimmers within the dock system, nonetheless to maintain radio contact with lifeguards manning skiffs whenever boys are at sea in any craft whatever. And, lastly for today, you can see Morgan keeping time of boys treading water as part of the swim test. More admin commentaries will follow in upcoming blogs.

I had the pleasure last evening of driving the boys the very short distance to the trail to Sunset Cliffs, where they spent the night overlooking the western viewpoint and most assuredly a magnificent sunset.

I hustled back home in time to observe my favorite evening sponsorship on Pines Field, a game we call Mat Ball. It is Kickball with some funky rules adaptations which make it hilarious to both play and watch. Silly as it is, Mat Ball should be an Olympic game, as I see it anyway.

My very last pic shows the wakesurf clinic getting ready to go despite the windy conditions. I could have predicted it.  Sara has done her usual great job of keeping up with not only her duties to follow the boys around but also to cull and add good photos taken by the counselors.  You are now officially up to date.