Thursday, February 26, 2015



REMINDER: This is heavily based on William Lawrence Camp!
We will get pictures/videos as we are able to post after the event for those who cannot attend, but live is always best. The Route 28 group is "a capella" and awesome as well.

A few more set production shots as promised:



Melly Moore, Savanah Waddington, Aaron Willette, Clay Drakely, and Lexie Kust are hard at work building set pieces. To be part of the KRHS Festival play, set pieces need to be sturdy and portable, as well as pretty easy to set up and take apart, as there are enforced time limits on stage set-up and breakdown!


Monday, February 16, 2015

KINGSWOOD REGIONAL HIGH SCHOOL THEATRE GROUP BRINGS WILLIAM LAWRENCE CAMP TO THE STAGE!!!

If you can be in Wolfeboro on March 5th or 6th (2015) at 7PM, you will NOT want to miss the premiere of the new play "FINISHING SENTENCES", written and co-directed by our very own Scott "Goose" Giessler.  Here is the press release describing the play; more pictures to follow!

PRESS RELEASE:
            Kingswood Theater’s spring show “Finishing Sentences” will feature a fictionalized version of local summer camp, William Lawrence Camp.
            “Finishing Sentences” is a one-act comedy / drama that tells the story of Kendra, a troubled teen who is sentenced to work as a camp counselor after getting in trouble with the law. Once there, she is assigned a young girl named Isabelle, who continually struggles and fails to make friends or be accepted by the group. Kendra takes on the task of helping Isabelle attain her summer goal of winning “the big trophy.” From there, they each embark on a madcap odyssey of self-discovery.
            The play’s setting, William Lawrence Camp, is a real residential summer camp in Center Tuftonboro that has been in operation for over 100 years. Although the play depicts William Lawrence as a coed camp, the real William Lawrence is actually an all-boy camp. The play draws inspiration from a lot of the camp’s culture, customs, activities and events. “Camp is this crazy, wonderful place that has an indescribable charm and energy that can sometimes border on the surreal,” show co-director, Scott Giessler notes. “A large portion of the show’s success comes from having the real William Lawrence as a touchstone to draw from.”
            In fact, one of the main characters in the story is named after William Lawrence Director Nat Crane.
            In preparation for the show, Kingswood Theater toured William Lawrence last November. They took pictures and notes in order to design a set that not only looked authentic as a summer camp, but represented specific elements of the property, such as cabins and the dining hall.
            “Finishing Sentences” is Kingswood Theater’s official entry into the New Hampshire Educational Theater Guild’s Festival. Each year, high schools from around the state produce one-act plays to showcase at the festival, which will be hosted once again at the Kingswood Arts Center.
            “Camp is such a positive force for good in kids, and it has been a joyful challenge attempting to accurately depict all of its qualities on stage,” states Giessler.

            “Finishing Sentences is set to debut on the Kingswood Arts Center stage, on March 5th and 6th at 7pm, with special guest opening acts Route 28 and the KRHS Jazz band.




Kingswood Theater Stage Managers Lexie Kust and Melly Moore construct one of the several pine trees that will be used for their spring production "Finishing Sentences."  The tree is composed of cardboard, paper towels, spray starch and glue.  Once painted, it will look like the one in the in-laid photo.  

Tuesday, February 10, 2015

Spotlight Profile: Knoll News Fall 2014



Fall 2014 Knoll News:
Spotlight Profile: Charlie Cleary

 Decades of Appreciation for WLC

Like so many other memories of fun born of youthful exuberance, the ’72 Camaro more commonly known as “The Gold Tooth” has a special place in a long list of WLC ties that bind for Charlie Cleary.

For $75 each, Charlie and three other counselors had joined in creative collaboration to add mobility to their summer camp experience.  The Gold Tooth was the result.  The wheels would be short-lived for the counselors though; the Gold Tooth would not survive a close encounter with the camp bus.
 
Long after the summer of the Gold Tooth, its memory lingers.  It’s the same way with much of the WLC experience.  Decades after the fun, the memories linger, mellowing into something deeper: appreciation.

Introduction to WLC for 11-year-old Charlie Cleary was not so different from the experience for most boys, with mom, dad and two younger brothers all loaded into the family car along with dad’s Navy trunk for the drive to Camp.  Imagine the sense of adventure rising as the car neared the Camp, left the paved road, and kept going along a dirt road before finally reaching the camp.

Team sports were big at the Camp then, and Charlie quickly found his way to the soccer, baseball and tennis teams.  There were also more exotic offerings  like archery, sailing, waterskiing, and canoeing, activities that helped to make Camp special because they weren’t part of everyday life at home in Needham, Massachusetts.  The introduction to WLC went so well that first summer that the three Cleary brothers would each spend ten summers on the Knoll.  Charlie’s son Thomas holds the family record, though: 12 summers (and counting)....

 Read the rest of this profile and the entire Fall 2014 Knoll News by clicking here!

Thursday, February 5, 2015

Directors Message: Knoll News Spring 2014


The use of the word ‘Camp’ has taken some strange twists and turns over the past few decades.   For most of us traditionalists, when we say ‘Camp’, we think of organizations such as William Lawrence where we ‘sleepaway’, live independently of our parents, learn and play in the outdoors, sleep in cabins, chant and sing songs, develop lifelong friends, learn helpful skills and truly grow as a person.

Nowadays, ‘Camp’ means a whole myriad of things, strangely dissimilar to what history has called ‘Camp. ‘   There are lacrosse and hockey camps, skateboard and computer camps; you name it, the word ‘Camp’ is used.   These specialty camps are short-term residential or day camps.   Nowadays, most of those using the term ‘Camp’ have nothing in common with nor offer anywhere near the value of the traditional New England Camp.

Proudly we stand to say: William Lawrence is CAMP.   We know the value of such an experience and we know that society would be best served if all children went away to CAMP.   A week of lacrosse camp is not a substitute for the awesome value of real CAMP.   I would think that we would want a society of well-rounded, naturally intelligent citizens versus a really good lacrosse player.   So make sure when you are talking with families that have boys that you share your passion for real CAMP. It will benefit all of us.


Nat

Read the entire Spring 2014 Knoll News by clicking here!

Wednesday, February 4, 2015

Centennial Lodge Blessing: Knoll News Fall 2013

A Blessing For Centennial Lodge

             By The Rev. Gail Avery, Trustee
             Inspired by John O’Donohue’s “Beginnings”


May this CENTENNIAL Lodge be a home to all who enter.
And every time you come here,
     may all the weight of the world fall from your shoulders.
             May every heart be tranquil here,
     blessed by a peace the world might not be able to give.

May this Lodge be a happy place,
where the dreams and aspirations of campers
always find the pathway to this door.
May nothing destructive ever cross its threshold.

May this be a safe place,
full of understanding and acceptance,
where campers can be as they are,
without the need of any mask
of pretense or image.

May it be a place of discovery,
where the possibilities that sleep
in the playfulness of our souls can emerge
as we deepen and refine the Camp’s vision.
And for all that is yet to come to birth.

May it be a place of courage,
where persistence and growth are loved,
where dignity and kindness prevail;
a camp where patience of spirit is prized,
and our values and spirit of Willingness, Loyalty,
Comradeship and Sportsmanship are never lost.

May there be great delight around this hearth.
May it be a place of welcome, especially
for the broken and diminished and the homesick.

May we ALL have the eyes to see
   that no visitor, Camper or Alum arrives without a gift..
And no one leaves without a blessing…