Knights of Freedom Summit 2009

Knights of Freedom is a club for boys ages 8-12. They are organized into chapters of approximately 12 boys and they meet bi-monthly to share what they are learning about and lead each other in activities. We've been involved at different levels for the last two years. At the end of summer there is a 2 day Summit activity where all the chapters meet together and the boys earn swords and make shields and learn about the virtues of knighthood. There is a story line and the boys are involved in protecting their queen and fighting against an enemy. It is a blast for the boys.
It's suppose to be all about the boys. But guess who else really enjoys it?















The grown-up boys!
The dads get to come as the villians and fight in the final battle.
Abe got to be a special kind of villian this year (thus the fancy-pants outfit).













Abe got to be the head of the "Elitists". This was a group who were a part of the camp, but wanted reforms because they were nobles and they knew a better way. They ended up as traitors, fighting with an enemy country.
Their chant was "We are noble, We are Wise, We are better than you guys! Huzzah, Huzzah, Huzzah!"

Abe really got into his role























Here is Abe demanding that the Queen Emily sign the surrender. She refuses and it is almost time for the final battle.














Bethany put it well just before the battle when she said, "Mom, this is scary!" It was pretty intense.











They battled for a good 20 minutes and Abe was quite a target as he had been such a despicable character for two days.








Here's part of what made Summit so fun for Clark and Abe. Stuart and Adam (Abe's brother and nephew) came down from Portland for the big event.












Here is Stuart trying to persuade the Knights to come over to the side of the Elitists.














Cousin Adam won one of only six Chivalry Awards for being a great leader in his camp.















And Abe won the "UN-Chivalry Award" because his motto was not "Quest for the Truth" like the knights' motto.
Abe christened himself Duke Fox and his motto was "Quest for the Best".
When I arrived at Summit this afternoon I was bombarded by compliments on Abe's very entertaining performance. He really added a great element to the Summit this year.









But like I said, (cough, cough) it's all about the boys!