Kingswood For Life Issue 3

KINGSWOOD FOR LIFE
KFL
NEWSLETTER
Volume 1, Issue 3
Thank you for registering in our new association, named "Kingswood For Life"
Please tell others in your network about Kingswood's efforts to reunite with old-time campers
and parents. Give them this link to sign up for themselves:
https:/ / kingswoodcamp.campintouch.com/ ui/ forms/ applications/ alumni/ App

REVEILLE
This group photo was taken at Scott Neff?s fashionable Eastside apartment that was located a short walk from
the sports bar where we gathered with over forty old Kingswood hands in February.
Front row: Adam Braverman Second row: Mike Zizzo Third row: Scott Neff, host of post-reunion party
Fourth row: Jeff Endo, Spanky Roman, Peter Bruton, Mike Conte, Alex Falk, Zach Prager, Charlie Grant
Fifth row: Mike Rosenberg, Mike Farley, Mike Minchin, Terence Einhorn, Patrick McGowan, Adam Kelmenson

ALL HANDS ON DECK
Old campers, staff and parents whose emails we have on file are the
recipients of these seasonal KINGSWOOD FOR LIFE newsletters. Since
we are slowly building up our contact information, we might be reaching
some of you for the first time. Thus at bottom, you can find the Index to
the first two installments of this newsletter. You can help us a great deal by
emailing us any of the following:
The Alumni Newsletter will be
published 3-4 times per year. Naturally, we
desire to expand on this simple
communication to include photos, history
and much more. If you have any stories to
tell, or ideas for articles we can do, let us
know.
Next, the link below takes to you
the Kingswood web site/ Kingswood
Resources/ Camp Archives. Scroll to the
bottom and you will see that every Monday
Blues Buster from 2002 to 2011 is available
for rediscovery. Same with the Summertime
daily Director?s reports. What a great way to
reminisce. If you find anything that really
strikes you as funny, entertaining, be sure to
prompt me to include it in one of those
upcoming alumni reports.
http:/ / archives.kingswoodcamp.com/ main_new.php
(1) Alternative or preferred emails for yourself
(2) Emails for other family members or Kingswood friends you maintain
contact with
(3) Postal mailing addresses for any or all of the above.
Number (3) above is particularly important since we are working on a
couple of flyers that you may be happy to receive. We promise not to flood
your mailbox (electronic or postal) with constant reminders of this and that.
For those of you who remember Kingswood with a degree of fondness, an
occasional shout from the current ?usual gang of idiots,? (Mad Magazine)
should be welcomed.
YUMPU links to Alumni Newsletters
Issue 1:
https:/ / www.yumpu.com/ en/ document/ view/ 39513188/ kingswood-for-life
Issue 2:
https:/ / www.yumpu.com/ en/ embed/ view/ 2if4MHdN1rmUUSu8
Respond to the above to bob@kingswoodcamp.com
301-656-8406

OLD SCHOOL
OLD SCHOOL
Mike Tcheyan, Danny Strauss, and Smokey Richards

Phil Grant takes on the great Eric Knaus
Reid Cherlin, Charlie Katz-Levy, and Easley Edmunds

LISTEN TO THE LOONS
HOW WE GOT KINGSWOOD
Part 2
(Part I appears in the last issue of the KFL in this
same LISTEN TO THE LOONS section. Click here to
find it.)
So, what the heck does this story have to do with
our getting Kingswood? Plenty. During the height of the
gypsy moth caterpillar onslaught, I got a phone call from
our neighbor, Sam Marsh, who summered at the top of
Shepherd Hill, just down the road from camp. ?I hear
your furry little moth friends have ruined your appetites.
But, it is not so bad up here and Judy and I are about to
put some steaks on the grill. Care to join us?? Given
that our supper was to have been cold cereal and milk,
that was an easy decision.
The Marsh?s enjoyed a fabulous view over
Squam Lake and the distant White Mountains ? all the
way to Chocoura and beyond to the Presidential Range.
It was that evening that Alice and I laid out our scheme
to purchase and direct our own summer camp. Mr.
Marsh was not only a New Hampshire landowner in his
own right, but was also a Washington area attorney who
specialized in the transfer of property and other things
from one person to another. "I like your style and
determination,? he said to us that night. In so many
words, Sam told us that once we found a camp property
that suited our needs, he would work for us to make our
dream come true.
Now, Sam knew that we did not have much
money for going around and buying camps. But, he did
know a thing or two about bank loans, mortgages and
estate planning and he made it clear to us over those
delicious steaks that our owning a summer camp was,
indeed, within the realm of reason ? so long as he was in
charge of all negotiations and deliberations. So, giving
thanks to the caterpillars for being the prompt for that
serendipitous dinner invitation, Alice and I declared then
and there that the serious hunt for a camp was on.
Not long thereafter, the phone rang again. This
time it was Bill Pugh ? Jeb Burnet?s grandfather (Jeb is a
current member of the Kingswood counselor staff.) Bill
had been the owner/ director of the same Camp Norway I
had attended in my childhood. In fact, Bill was the very
first person to swat me for being a nuisance of a camper.
In those days, you see, capital punishment was still an
accepted form of societal control. Make a fist and extend
the knuckle of the middle finger. Now you have a
?nuggie,? which was what we got belted with all the time
at camp. On the head! And, for belting the behind, a
broom came in handy for the disciplinarian counselor. It
was Pugh who uttered, ?Assume the position Wipfler,?
whereupon I was forced to bend over at the hips and
touch my toes. ?Whacks? followed from the broom, right
on target. Bill hit me only lightly this time, but others
later on, not being as sympathetic to the normal antics of
kids, attempted to leave scars. One kid got clobbered so
hard that he ran down to the bathroom house, filled a
sink with cold water, and sat in it for ten minutes to
soothe the pain in his fanny.

LISTEN TO THE LOONS
But I digress. Bill was phoning that day to alert
me that a certain camp named Kingswood was soon to be
on the market for sale. ?Nice folks running it, but they
cannot get the campers to attend.? Of course, I knew
about Kingswood. We had always played them in tennis
and baseball during my Camp Norway years. Not only
did I know its location on Lake Tarleton, but I also
surmised that a hiker on Webster Cliff could probably
see the camp property from a perch along the edge of the
cliff. Please forgive my ulterior motive for immediately
calling for a Wachusett overnight to Webster Mountain,
with me named as leader. After a great hike and filling
supper, I assigned the campers various duties to be
supervised by my assistants, and I took off towards the
cliffs just below our summit camp site (same one we still
love to use to this day.) I had to work my way a bit
further to the west than anticipated, but soon enough
Tarleton came into view and soon thereafter, the
unmistakable buildings of the Main Lodge, Dining Room
and Waterfront cabin. I must have sat there over an
hour, just staring down below me towards my dream of a
lifetime. I can recall nearly coming to tears over the idea
that maybe this camp would one day be mine ? either to
make it work or to blow it!
In August of 1983, the Wipfler family ? Bob,
Alice, Rob (9) and Mike (4) gingerly walked down the
now very familiar camp road towards the lake. It was a
gorgeous afternoon, but the place seemed nearly deserted.
It was eerie, actually, and one of my sons said something
to the effect of ?let?s get out of this spooky place.? When
we finally reached the Waterfront beach, we saw our first
sign of life ? 3-4 boys attempting to build a raft out of
small tree branches. The remaining 17 campers were out
of camp on a bike trip, we were told. Soon thereafter we
stumbled into the owners, and I popped the ?are you
considering selling this camp? question. They pretended
to be insulted and we soon departed with our heads
between our tails. Seven days later, the directors called
me.
Mr. Marsh was delighted. His negotiations with
the sellers took nearly a year and a half, and they were
continuous. Sam left no stone unturned. Long story
short, he kept finding ways to lower the price. Looking
back on those days so many years later, I now know for
certain that Sam had a good point on every concern.
Septic issues were his number one bugaboo, and, well,
most of you know the story of the 2015 all new system,
replacing the one we built in 1992. Sam was right!
But, oh how the sellers disliked Mr. Marsh. All
the more a good reason for Alice and me to celebrate that
we had him on our team, not theirs. One time, the
seller?s agent took the train all the way from Vermont to
Washington, DC only to be dismissed from Sam?s office
after five fruitless minutes of conversation. ?You are
going to ruin the deal,? I nearly cried to him.
?Nonsense,? he replied, ?You are going to get a business
you can afford to run.?
One frosty day in January, 1985, I was
Unmistakable view of camp summoned from Webster's from my Cliff Landon classroom to the telephone
in the Headmaster?s office. It was Sam. In his
characteristic tone, he growled at me, ?Robert, do you
really really want to own a camp?? ?Yes sir,? I said with a
quiver in my voice. ?Well, then you?ve got one. Get to
work.? Next time you come to Kingswood, take a drink
from the Bubbler fountain. There you will find the
plaque that honors Sam Marsh, which ends with the
words, ?whose great efforts made Kingswood
possible.? Indeed.
We owe it all to Sam Marsh, pictured below.

PHOTO OPS
Each issue will feacture a bunch of pix, plucked from our
enormous file- boxes of willy-nilly photos stored in a basement
closet. Send us your pictures or make a request from a fond
camp memory. Email pictures or requests to swipfler@gmail.com
3
1
4
2
5
1. Harmon Handorf tapes Cameron?s mouth. Good thinking,
Harmon!
2. Thomas Haynes and Jaime Gil-Casares coach water polo in
1996. Jaime is coming to town soon.
3. Prager is being cheered by Alex deVogel and Frank Hull.
4. Peter Sverd has not changed that much from 1985.
5. The ?Ice Man? Klaus feeds chocolate baking powder to Scott
Neff. Yummy!

PHOTO OPS
4
1 2
5
3
1. Peter Jons, ? and Dewey Gordon reveal the bear paw prints
on the cooking utensils at Beaver Brook Shelter on Moosilauke.
2. Nick Scrivens celebrates the ?easiest five I ever earned? in
Mr. Wiff?s Frisbee golf hole-in-one game
3. Todd was at his best on Haunted House night.
6
4. Tim Martone, Erik Spangenberg, Matt Cherchio and Terence
Einhorn were the Kingswood component of a band called
?Juiced?
5. Dave McGaughey, Bow & Arrow neutral referee, gets a back
rub from Nick Derosier, who in turn? .
6. Knaus?s trip, now at the camp sign, still cannot find camp!
Want to see more pictures?
Email swipfler@gmail.com with your requests! Follow
Kingswood Camp on Facebook for throwback pictures

SMITTY ERA PHOTOS
1
2
1. The old Main Lodge sat exactly on the site of
our new building. In this photo, the person is
standing on the right side of the Great Room,
looking in the general direction of the fire place.
2. We still have loads of those uniforms and haul
them out every summer.

THE AMBASSADOR'S SPIN
The guy's name is Michael. But, don't ever address him as such. He is
KLAUS, plain and simple. He has been with us for 21 of Kingswood's 31
summers under the Wipfler banner. As Head Counselor, he makes knowing
every boy his prime camp duty. He is everybody's best friend, UNLESS he has
donned his black trench coat, black hat and dark sunglasses, whereupon he
transforms into the mean Mr. Ambassador (from nowhere to nowhere). His
mission is to smash every egg to bits during the infamous Egg Drop
competition. He's got a great way with sarcasm and we think you will enjoy
his biting wit. Take it away Mr. Ambassador.
A few weeks ago, an exasperated coach Klaus was silently lamenting the inconsistent play of his varsity tennis
team during a match (yes, I can silently lament). One of my players finally hit the shot that had been eluding him for a
few games, upon which I quietly said ?praise Sabiston,? a reference, of course, to the birthday bit in which the counselor
staff turned the dining hall into a revivalist Church of Sabiston (complete with ?organ? and hymns).
Sadly, one of my players overheard me and asked what this mysterious godly-Sabiston was all about. Willie
Staso?s voice screaming ?PRAIIIIIIIIIIISE SABISTON? ran through my head, but I had to awkwardly explain the
reference, though anyone who has been to Kingswood in the past 25 years would need no explanation for why Todd
Sabiston is a God-like figure.
The reason this conversation struck me is how many times in my daily life I find myself using ?Kingswood-ese.?
Phrases and words like make it work, womp, you know it, helm, be a pro, slim, ding dong, and now look it are said (or
at least thought) by me many times each day. These phrases mean nothing to those outside our small corner of the
world. I do a clearing game every time my school has a community lunch with assigned tables.
The other reason this conversation resonated with my so pointedly is that I find it difficult to explain Kingswood
to others when I am home. You no doubt have this problem as well. When you can go to the store and buy a soda any
time you want you forget the lengths required to get a Coke from a counselor. Earning a trip to Fat Bob?s (may he rest in
peace) has no motivating power outside of Rt. 25C. Perhaps most sadly, no one has any idea how amazing it feels to
pull together a bit in the attic two minutes before show-time and have it be hilarious.
Perhaps because I am on my soon-to-be 22nd consecutive summers that these phrases get renewed every year,
but when I see an alum who comes back after a multi-year hiatus, it is nice to have a common language that will never
go away.
Shout it loudly,
Klaus
"Make it work!" "You know it!" "Be a pro!"

LOOKING PROUDLY DOWN
Our big news for the year is the arrival of William Charles Handorf II,
who is named in honor of my father. Will joined our family on October
13th and we cannot imagine life without him. He is a good-natured baby
that does not protest his sister?s exuberant affection. Libby just turned two
and can be found reading, hosting tea parties, singing and bouncing
around any given playground. My wife, Caroline, has been quite busy
given her stay at home mom duties, public affairs consulting work, and
board position with Playgroup in the Park, a wonderful early childhood
program. Baby Will wasn?t the only major change in our lives: last April,
Blackstone acquired GE Real Estate, letting all the group?s employees go.
Thus, after almost a decade with GE, I found myself hunting for a new
job. Thankfully, I quickly landed a fabulous new role as the Director of
Finance for RLJ Lodging Trust, a publicly traded hotel company. I focus
on acquisitions, dispositions, M& A, capital markets, and investor
relations.
- Harmon Handorf
Everything has been great with the Mahon family as you can probably see from the photos. October 1st
Jordan and I got married and November 16th Joshua joined the family. I've been busy working and Jordan
finished up her degree in Occupational Therapy and the plan is for her to head into work sometime soon.
We've all been pretty busy over the last few week though, been to Cardiff in Wales, back home to Ireland and
down to Southampton in England to see Jordan's parents. Lucas was two on 14th January and is as happy as
ever! He's got a wonderful personality and loves his brother Joshua very much! I miss Kingswood and all the
Kingswood family very much but love seeing and hearing from you through the blog on the website.
All the best,
Des, Jordan Lucas and Joshua

LOOKING PROUDLY DOWN
Wiff,
As always, a note from you brings me directly to the shores of Mother T. Ah, to be present on the day of a sparkler is pure magic and though those days are
fleeting, permanently etched in my memory, and accessible at all times.
I was going through some old sketchbooks and found one I had during my Summers at Kingswood. In it was a poem, perhaps written as a part of my, ahem,
consecutive Songfest victories as Arrow Captain. The tone of the work seems to speak of an end to Summer and a longing for beginnings. I am sure that I
borrowed liberally from a currently unnamed poet, so to that person thank you. Not title was present in the sketchbook, so I ask that you name it.
There?s something off about Kingswood,
It?s far too big today;
There aren?t any cheers or whoops
With all the boys away.
The boats are beached and very still,
The infield has no base.
The clubs and discs, the bats the balls
Are strangely all in place.
Upon the middle of the floor
No magazine is spread,
With campers sprawled in childish ease
And comics to be read.
No bathing suits upon the line
Or calls of ?Time to eat!?
No tracks upon the cabin floor
Brought in by running feet.
Home is a place so very nice
For those who go that way.
But an empty lodge is lonely camp
For those who have to stay.
A parent?s glad a child can go
To camp, a while to thrive,
But gladder still, the counselor seems,
When that same child arrives.
Ever vigilant,
Hammer

LOOKING PROUDLY DOWN
Ray McGaughey moved to Colorado in August to be Director of
Admissions at the High Mountain Institute, a semester school that
a number of Kingswood outdoorsmen have attended over the years.
Just like at camp, Ray gets to impact the lives of youth and spends
as much time outdoors as possible.
UPDATE for Jared Apuzzo (A.K.A. - Nick Pastrami)
All is well. Living in Mount Vernon, N.Y. Happily married to wife Dana Apuzzo, with 4 year old daughter
Ms. Indiana Rose Apuzzo, and newest member, (and future Kingswood Alumni if I can afford it 10 years
from now), 1 year old son Mr. Arlo Anthony Apuzzo. I'm still playing drums, still making music with my
band "Monogold" and still wondering if Eric Knaus has ever owned a clean pair of underwear. I recall on
one of my many hikes up Mt. Moosilake meeting a "through hiker" on the Appalachian Trail. He had a
funny "trail name" (and a funny smell), but when he told us of his journey starting at the start of the trail in
Georgia and walking all this way headed towards Maine, I knew right then and there that this was something
that was definitely going on my bucket list. I'll probably have to wait til I'm 50 now that I have kids and can't
ever find the time to take 6 months to hike from Georgia to Maine, (and no, I do not want to do it in
sections) but I do believe that eventually I will be able to live out this dream. Thanks Kingswood, for
instilling in me a love for nature and the outdoors. All I can hope is that I can pass down this same
appreciation to my kids so they do not end up stuck in our ever increasingly digital world and miss the beauty
of the real world all around them. Thanks for letting me visit every once in a while and commandeer one of
the Kinswood canoes to camp out across the lake, and I hope to make some time this summer to visit when
my nephew Nicholas returns.
Peace and love to you all!
-Jared
Not sure if this would make it into the 'news' category but, I'm still living in Paraguay working for Millicom
and getting to see Easley less frequently than I'd like and I'll be doing my darndest to make it to Gus' wedding
in September. If only I still had my '93 yellow K hat to wear around Asuncion...
-Brian Hennessey

TAPS
At Kingswood, our mission is to create a happy,
close-knit community that treasures kindness, the
natural world, and the joy of play; a place where
boys develop confidence, make independent
choices, value true friendship, and grow into
"Nec ex f eugiat
f orensibus integre
luptatum eum oratio
blandit responsible, ef fcaring iciantur young men. quo ei.
Te vel vivendo f acilisis."
We are confident that this statement resonates with the terrific community we have created over our 30+ years at the
Kingswood helm. Yet, there remains one more significant value that cannot show up in any mission statement: Who becomes the
beneficiary of such wholesome goals? We believe that Kingswood should not be limited only to families of means.
The number of families requesting and qualifying for financial support for their boys to attend camp has increased
exponentially in recent years. For summer 2015, we awarded over $70,000 in tuition assistance, an enormous leap from our
average numbers in the past. We would like to continue to provide scholarships to well-deserving families with boys who are
highly recommended to us.
Our parental accrediting agency, the American Camp Association, has developed a vehicle that allows individuals to make
tax-deductible financial contributions to specific camps of their choosing, for use as scholarship funds. Accordingly, we have
created a Kingswood Scholarship fund through the ACA auspices. Precise guidelines and rules apply to such distributions, to
include grants only to deserving children.

Standards of Eligibility for Kingswood Camp
Scholarship Assistance
Kingswood Camp uses the following guidelines in
determining the applicability of scholarship aid to families
who apply for it. Both the personal characteristics of the
boy and a complete family financial disclosure are factors
weighed by the camp administration in making assistance
offers.
- The boy himself understands the basics of our
program and is eager to participate.
- His age is between 8 and 16 years old.
- His teachers/ coaches/ guidance counselors describe
him to us in areas of his curiosity, integrity,
intelligence, and general demeanor.
- The boy must acknowledge that he enjoys the
out-of-doors. He must realize that even our
wood-framed sleeping bunks have that ?outside feel?
to them.
- Kingswood seeks boys who are respectful of others
and able to follow the guidelines of positive group
dynamics.
- We are assured that he is capable of enduring the
physical demands of our program.
- He expresses interest in grasping a larger
understanding of the physical world, and hopes to
acquire greater self-confidence through his camp
experience.
- He is committed to being a positive contributing
member of the Kingswood community.
- The boy?s family supports this endeavor and is
willing to provide all the information the camp needs
from them.
- The family submits a letter of recommendation from
the boy?s primary advisor or principal.
- The amount given toward the participation of any
scholarship camper shall not exceed the amount of
tuition and airfare minus the amount the family is
able to pay.
To contribute, click here