Finally, Dewayne nodded, walked up to the ball and thwacked it decisively.

When the ball hit the goal, the croquet green at Carol Woods retirement home erupted into a chorus of cheers.

This is about as wild as Camp MeadowWood gets.

And that works out just fine.

The camp is built around the needs of children with mental illness, ADHD, behavioral problems and other challenges -- and whose parents or guardians can't afford to send them to swanky camps for the summer.

But the camp may do as much for the elderly residents of Carol Woods and Carolina Meadows as it does for the children they mentor.

Camp MeadowWood began nine years ago after a Baptist campground that had previously provided space to children like these determined it could no longer play host.

The Orange County Mental Health Foundation, now known as Chrysalis, began hunting for a new camp home.

Member and Carol Woods resident Janet Campbell got to thinking. The campers needed meeting space, a cafeteria, a swimming pool, and outdoor and indoor activities.

Carol Woods had all of that.

More importantly, the retirement village also had an army of white-haired volunteers ready to assist.

The camp is free to the children, so keeping costs down is essential, Campbell noted.

What started as a tentative arrangement -- a single week of camp -- has grown to five weeks; three at Carol Woods, and two at Carolina Meadows, another retirement community in town.

It works so well, it's an idea that should be replicated in communities all over the Triangle -- and beyond.

I know, I know, some of you are thinking: Pre-teens and octogenarians!?!

Camp counselor John Guerry was skeptical, too. The UNC-CH grad student in psychology had attended enough camps to know how chaotic they could be.

This group of troubled children could be especially difficult.

"I was envisioning temper tantrums and broken hips," he said.

The reality surprised him.

Like spirited children who instinctively know to be on their best behavior at Grandma's house, the MeadowWood campers seem to let go of their need to be cool and rein in their most combative behavior.

They respond well to the quiet structure of the retirement home setting.

For their part, the elderly residents pour on the grandfatherly and grandmotherly love and patience.

Which is not to say there aren't "moments." There are.

One day, a camper refused to participate in an activity, said camp director Anna Cooper, a grad student in social work. She expected the child's elderly mentor to wig out.

But the Carol Woods resident just sat and waited. When the camper regained his composure, they quietly went about their activity.

"It's beautiful," Cooper said.

Just watch 87-year-old Jean Joseph plotting mallet strikes with 11-year-old Halley Crank.

Sometimes fulfillment is found in the resounding whack of a croquet mallet on a quiet greensward. Fulfillment for both young and old.