Archive for the 'News' Category

Well, after almost four weeks with hardly any rain to speak of, we’ve finally had what is passing in 2011 as an inclement day. Nothing especially lingering, just an evening and night of on-again-off-again showers and a day of even less aggressive precipitation. It’s hardly held us back at all in a busy week when that finds us preparing for our upcoming day of competition with Camp Tecumseh. Scads of teams practiced yesterday for one of the twenty contests scheduled against our perennial rivals (soccer, baseball, tennis, and soccer matches in five age groups), and three overnights headed off into the mountains. Seniors Alex Baskin, Sparky Brown, Max Borges, Nick Butler, Nathan Tempro, and James Richardson set off with Trip Counselors Sylvia Parol and Will Sargent for a challenging three-day in the rugged and remote Mahoosuc Range right on the NH/Maine border. Meanwhile, travelling to the base of Mt. Carrigain in the company of Sam Day and Richard Komson, were Lowers Andre Altherr, Nick Gordon, Kai Soderberg, Oscar Tubke-Davidson, Sam Berman, Kevin Lewis, and Nick Oribe, poised for an ascent of the mountain today. Not to be outdone by their older colleagues, Juniors Dean Elefante, Dashiell Slamowitz, George Cooke, Henry Jones, and Darren Mangan eagerly joined Jamie Andrews and Ryan Fauver for a five-mile jaunt along the Appalachian Trail, staying at the remote Ore Hill shelter (in the company, we’ve learned, of a good handful of Maine-to-Georgia through-hikers.) It warms this correspondent’s heart that, even in a week when Pemi becomes about as much of an “athletic camp” as it ever does, boys are still sufficiently committed to the full breadth of our program to sign up for trips like these. That a committed and talented athlete like Alex Baskin should jump at the chance to spend three days hiking just as Tecumseh Day approaches as quickly as the Maine border says a lot for him and for Pemi’s sense of proportion. Alex will play in multiple sports on Friday and play extremely well, but he’ll also have stored away some wonderful memories of backwoods adventure to savor over the coming months and years – perhaps long after he’s forgotten the score of the Fifteen’s soccer game

Speaking of Pemi’s broad program, herewith the promised report on the occupation program from Kenny Moore, Assistant Director.

The Pemi program is a machine to behold with many moving parts, levers, and pulleys.  Athletics, trips, nature, arts, music, and special events are all key components; however the main engine is our daily instructional periods called occupations, presumably named in the early years of camp as wholesome activities to occupy the boys’ time. Daily instruction is the hallmark of our system as the boys have the opportunity to try new activities as well as to hone a particular skill in one specific area.  Given intentional designing for such a progression, a boy can take Beginning Archery in the first week of occupations having never shot a bow and arrow and then, weeks later, progress to Advanced Archery shooting for his Bowman or Jr. Archer.  We offer over 70 occupations over four hours (periods) of instruction.  We have over 60 program staff to mix into the fold before assigning roughly 170 boys into their three and possible four hours of daily instruction.  In our fourth week of occupations this summer, 621 assignments were given to campers and 248 for the staff.  We love that ratio: approximately 1 program staffer to 2.5 boys, allowing us to offer excellent and personalized instruction in all areas, from athletics to nature to arts and music.  Our program staff, many of whom are professional educators, excel in direct instruction and are able to relate to each boy, whether they respond best to verbal instructions, to a visual or kinesthetic example, or to the chance to practice by themselves.  Overall, the boys respond extremely well to this custom-tuned model of teaching.

Below is a snapshot of one specific hour of instruction to further illustrate the depth and breadth of Pemi’s program.  As I traveled through camp during 3^rd Hour, I witnessed some remarkable examples of our excellent pedagogy.

In Mixed Media, Florian Dietl watched Deb Pannell’s sewing technique to adequately stitch together his Ugly Doll (a 3-Dimensional stuffed felt doll, designed and created by each artist.) Andreas Sheikh’s Ugly Doll was a strategic masterpiece, coming together after Andreas had carefully sketched a plan before he deployed the fabric scissors for non-traditional cuts.  Beware, parents, of many Ugly Dolls coming your way in a few weeks! Forewarned is forearmed.

In thirteen-and-older Lacrosse, Zander Buteux and Will Clare led a hearty group of ten boys in warm-up drills, working on direct passes and ground balls.  Ryan Murray and Cole Boland followed Zander and Will’s lead by calling, “Ball down!” effectively communicating to their teammates.  Next, Zander and Will explained the necessities of “dodging,” an evasive skill used to beat your defender in order to open a shooting lane; change of speed, body position, juke-move, stick control, etc. were all skills demonstrated and then gained by the attentive sudents.

Next, I was off to check in with Cory Fauver and Alastair Bowman in Environmental Sculpture, a relatively new occupation that stimulates  the boys’ creative juices to produce visually-pleasing and –arresting artistic concepts using natural elements.  At first, the boys worked in the Nature Lodge library, sketching the idea for the day.  Soon the group voted on a concept and a location, a fantastic collaborative venture!  By the end of the period, a concentric stick circle had been created behind the Woodshop that entices any passerby to stop and contemplate their natural existence in the alluring spirals of a kind of woody nautilus.

Speaking of the Woodshop, I couldn’t resist stopping in and seeing what Harry McGregor and his team were constructing.  Each boy (unfortunately participants must remain anonymous in case surprise gifts may be coming your way!) was thoroughly engaged, working with Harry on the sander or Adam Sandler with the wood burners.

In A Cappella, Dorin Delhs, Zach Barnard, and Mike Plecha were putting the final touches on their rendition of The Whiffenpoof Song, a classic everywhere from the Mess Hall in Wentworth to Louie’s Lunch in New Haven.  The energy and enthusiasm was inspiring, and as I observed them, Greg Nacheff followed Dorin’s lead in the Soprano section, while Daniel and Peter Traver helped Mike anchor the bass.  The choreography was as impressive as the singing, illustrating tremendous collaboration from a wide range of boys.

Our athletic instruction provides a clear example of the positive benefits of small ratios and direct instruction from knowledgeable and committed instructors.  In 13’s Tennis, Jeremy Roque received pointers from Alex Reese to perfect his serve, and after four attempts, showed remarkable progress. In 12-and-Under Baseball, outfielders worked on catching pop flies on the move – then planting, and throwing, in order to hit the cut-off man.  Jack O’Connor and Nate Blumenthal showed great range, always delivering the ball to the cut-off with pop, much to the delight of counselors Ben Walsh and Wesley Eifler.  Athletic Director and Northfield/Mt. Hermon boys’ varsity soccer coach Charlie Malcolm led the charge for the 10-and-Under soccer juggernaut with a precise progression of skill development and live-action practice throughout the week.  Initially, they opened up with a 3-versus-1 keep-away drill in a small grid, as the boys were encouraged to move without the ball to improve passing angles after watching Jeremy Keys’ and Ben Ridley’s flawless example.  After establishing critical passing triangles, Charlie increased the grid size and had the boys play keep-away 4-versus-2.  As the boys knocked the ball back and forth, their coaches prompted them to look for opportunities to split the two defenders.  The final practice progression had the boys playing a small-sided game of 4-versus-4, with two neutral players attacking and defending goals. This allowed the boys to have constant passing options if they continued to move the ball.  This progression yielded major dividends, as it was clear that the boys picked up and developed this vital tactical skill.

Whether it was Charlie’s instructional progression on the soccer pitch or the conclusion to the Environmental Sculpture occupation, having the boys end with a culminating, capstone project is essential for the success of any occupation.  The A Cappella group performance at campfire was a magnificent example to the importance of the culmination activity for the boys, as they felt a sense of accomplishment for their work put in during the week.  The learning atmosphere that occupations foster is the creation of the Pemi Program Machine, as every member of Pemi learns and develops individual skills as well as teamwork.  The final two weeks of occupations will no doubt produce the same results, and your boys should return home better for having been part of our program.

As a coda to Kenny’s portion of the newsletter, here’s a brief account of the recent Allagash Canoe Trip, penned by trip leader Andy Kirk. This is one of Pemi’s banner trips, and every year takes our oldest campers on a extremely ambitious odyssey through some of the least-developed areas of the Northeast. The outing requires a week’s worth of training in a trip-specific occupation; selection to join the crew is an honor; and the challenging experinence is usually one of the highlights of a Pemi career.

On Sunday, July 17, ten campers and two counselors (Andy Kirk and Sam Day) rose at 5:00 A.M. to embark on a four-day canoe trip down sixty-two miles of the Allagash Wilderness Waterway, a nature preserve reclaimed from a long history of logging and farming along its State-O’-Maine banks.  Great was the enthusiasm of campers and counselors alike, and they were unfazed by the seven-hour road trip to meet Katahdin Outfitters, who supplied us with canoes—and another three-hour drive through Baxter State Park (and within throwing distance of Mt. Katahdin) and numerous logging roads.

After camping at Churchill Dam, we got an early trial by fire in a set of Class 2 rapids, and the campers demonstrated the capsize-recovery skills they had learned from guest canoe instructor Doug Hill (Porter’s dad) the week before.  Ridley Wills and Dana Wensberg set the bar high early on with some powerful paddling even with some heavy loads.  Dana later showed ingenuity in repairing a tent, and his only trouble was with the Tabasco sauce that occasionally blighted his meals.  Rodrigo Juarez kept the humor up throughout the trip and was always a good source of conversation.  Brendon Armitage got right back to basics on this trip: work hard, sleep hard, sparing no effort during the day and wasting few opportunities for shut-eye in the afternoons.

The group was up early every day and made good time; all campers helped willingly with chores, particularly Tommy Tranfo, Dana Wensberg, Max Livingstone-Peters, and Sam Harrigan.  The latter two distinguished themselves in two others ways.  At the 1/3-mile portage around Allagash Falls, an older gentleman canoeing alone needed help with his canoe, and Max helped him out right away.  Sam, throughout the trip, regaled his companions with arresting observations and rhetorically posited philosophical questions.

The weather was pleasant, and there were many opportunities to swim and enjoy the northern flora as well as sightings of bald eagles, moose, and other fauna.  Snack stops were frequent—something of an ongoing dope stop [Ed.: ancient Pemi terminology for a post-trip stop for soda pop, formerly called by Granite Staters “dope”] —with Matt Sherman most often piloting the candy barge, the most important canoe, and one for which all travelers had pledged to give their lives to protect and rescue.  No harm came to the candy though it was all eventually devoured.  Sam Papel came through as a motivated mover at the portage, energetically pushing and dragging canoes, often single-handed and doing extra work along the way.  Dan Fulham astonished all as he hoisted one fully-loaded canoe on each shoulder, carried them most of the way, and heaved them the last fifty yards into the water, holding forth on the writings of Kurt Vonnegut throughout. [Shades of Paul Bunyan? We think Andy, a Harvard grad, may be exaggerating a bit here!]

All in all, the trip was a success, and Pemi Seniors demonstrated all the finest qualities of Pemi men.

That’s it for this week. Stay tuned for our next number, which will feature Athletic Director Charlie Malcolm’s account of Tecumseh. For now, enjoy the next seven days in your own little corner of summer.

– Tom and Danny

Download this newsletter as a PDF.

Greetings once again from Lower Baker, where we’re entering the second full day of 2011.2. Yesterday morning saw occupations getting quickly out of the blocks, and the afternoon re-started the trip program with a four-mile walk on the Appalachian Trail for some full season veterans, augmented by new arrivals Nathan Tempro, Will Jones, and Grady Nance.

Lower 1 and Senior 1 paddled across the lake for supper, while Matt Turner and Junior 5 found their way up to the Pemi Hill Shelter for the night. Today, as the heat wave that has been baking the Midwest slogs into our neighborhood, Lowers 4 and 6 will be dining al fresco, but I think we may cancel all Pemi Hill-ton reservations for the night. The prospect of successfully stalking Morpheus in a snug sleeping bag in these temperatures is daunting. The heat, though, won’t stop Andy Bale and Dan Reed from taking an avid group of nature photographers to scenic Franconia Notch to capture the beauty of The Basin and Flume on their (What is it now?) memory cards. We’re off to a good start.

Let’s devote the rest of this letter, though, to some special events in the closing days of the first session. 2011.1 boasted an excellent 3 ½ weeks, and it finished off in a blaze of engaging and sometimes innovative activity. We hear first from correspondent Dwight Dunston on two signal activities.

On Thursday, July 14^th, the entire Senior division went along with Reed Harrigan, one of the Pemi’s professional drivers, to Campton, NH, where we lent our services for the afternoon to the Campton Historical Society and to the Campton community. The CHS is a non-profit organization geared towards protecting the town’s heritage by obtaining and maintaining artifacts and documents and making these items available to the public. The group was split in two and tackled three jobs on the day. The first group, of which I was a part, worked at the Campton Town House to help prepare a flagpole for painting, sanding it down and removing all of the rust that had accumulated over the years. We also dug a fire pit that will be used to cook and store beans for the upcoming Home Day, a town-wide event featuring various engaging activities for the 3,000 residents of Campton.

Down the road from the Town House, a number of other campers went with Reed and Senior 3 counselor Alex Reese to help clear an area of the town that was once used as a collection point [“pound”] for lost sheep and other animals but that had become a bit overgrown of late. The group of about 16 boys did in 90 minutes what would have taken two people a full day’s work, and their effort contributed substantially to the task of beautifying this charming mountain town.

Although we missed rest hour for the day, it was wonderful to see the boys enjoying each other’s company while working towards completing a worthy goal for the day. Seeing how happy we made the people at the Campton Hostorical Society was a huge added bonus. Great work, boys, and what a way to have a positive attitude and impact on the community around us!

Amen! And now Dwight again, on a more purely recreational topic.

Thursday evening, forty-four members of the Week 3 comedy improv occupation gathered together to perform in front of the rest of the Pemi community in the 2011 Comedy Olympics. After participants split into two teams, blue and white, the comedy athletes played a host of improvisation games that kept the crowd roaring with laughter for a little over an hour. The blue team was captained by Senior Dan Fulham, while the white team was led by Senior Thompson Bain, and all of the campers came equipped with wonderful imaginations and well-stretched funny bones to entertain the crowd. Sean Denson, Jeremy Keys, and Dwight Dunston officiated the event, giving the audience a quick introduction to each game that was played. They even lent their own improvisation skills at times. In the end, the evening proved to be fun for both the athletes and the observers, and we hope to have a similar event during the second half. Great job everyone!

Friday saw Pemi’s annual visit to Camp Robin Hood for their storied multi-camp archery tournament. Coach Carlos Yeung – who in fact resides not far from Sherwood Forest – escorted a dozen stalwart long-bowmen close to the Maine border, where they acquitted themselves extremely well. While the overall results are not yet in, we were impressed that the 15s finished with a total of 1294 points out of a possible 1800 and the 12s with 1057 out of 1800. Top archers in each division were Nathaniel Kaplan (with a sizzling 262/300), James Richarsdon (228/300) and Luke Mawell (220/300) for the 15s; and Max Crummy (191/300), Dylan Cheng (187/300), and Kai Soderberg (182/300) for the 12s. As far as we’ve been able to determine, no apples were involved in anything other than a digestive role.

Saturday we were visited by roughly thirty-five families of full-season campers, who enjoyed a near-perfect couple of White Mountain days re-connecting with their sons, watching some spirited athletic competitions with Camp Moosilauke (we went 5 and 5 in the results department), patronizing some local eateries (including the ever-popular Fat Bob’s ice-cream emporium), and enjoying a lively and entertaining campfire. Sunday, for the first time ever, we asked the Seniors to organize a camp-wide activity for the hour when the parents said their good-byes. The thinking was to re-engage all visitees quickly and robustly in the camp program, and by all odds the ploy worked wonderfully, thanks to the commitment and energy of our oldest campers. Strikingly dubbed “SuperAwesomeDay DAY,” the event bore a vague resemblance to Pemi Week’s traditional Games Day, but as you’ll see, it bore eloquent testimony to the whimsy and imagination of our 14s and 15s. Here’s a rough outline of the events, as framed by the promoters. Ask you sons for details.

Frozen shirt race: James Richardson distributing shirts, Carl Pohlman blowing the whistle as Official Starter, Harry Cooke tabulating results. Materials: Frozen t-shirts (preferably short sleeve cotton with the owner’s name in it). Goals: The whole team will work together to unwrinkle a frozen t-shirt and put it on a team member. The first team to do so wins.

Sentence relay: Run by Sompy Somp and Zach Popkin. Materials: Markers, paper, space, clipboards x5. Goals: Each member of the team will run one by one with a marker out to a distant piece of paper. They will each write only one word on the paper in order to write a complete sentence. Speed, sentence completeness/grammar, and humor are rewarded.

Apple fork: [Not actually conducted through a wise judgment call by staff on implicit risk of mayhem, but worth mentioning as an example of the innovative thinking involved in the whole endeavor.] Materials: Apples, forks x (a lot). Goals: One member of the team will toss an apple to another member of the team. The receiving person is holding a fork and attempts to catch the apple by spearing it with the utensil. Each team gets 3 attempts to fill the apple with as many forks as possible. One attempt ends when the apple is not caught with the fork. Apples will probably become progressively more mangled as each turn goes on. Complete this one cabin at a time to minimize the need for forks and maximize the time it takes. [As we said, this contest was sensibly scrubbed – but we absolutely love the realistic assessment of the apple’s chances of surviving! Better chance with Robin Hood!]

n+1 legged race: Run by Carl Pohlman, Nick Pennebacker, and Nathaniel Kaplan. Materials: Rope, n people. Goals: Tie one leg of each individual together. Have them race against the clock through a course. [Made a traditional three-legged race look like Nureyev and Fonteyn in their most refined pas de deux!]

Group knot: Run by a gaggle of semi-sadistic adolescents. Materials: People. Goals: Have the team stand in a circle. Have each person hold the hands of somebody not standing next to them. Without breaking any handholds, have the teams untie the knot they’ve created. It always works! [Confidence is everything!]

Frisbee Toss: Run by a gaggle of hip and laid-back adolescents. Materials: Frisbees, trash barrels. Goals: Each individual from the cabin will attempt to throw frisbees into a trash barrel from different distances. Rate of success will be the criterion for victory. [NB – we encourage the boys to do the same thing with their trash.]

As with any innovative activity, there was a learning curve involved; and when we do it again, there may be some refinements. But for sheer inventiveness and public-spirit, the event was truly commendable and we expect to see a semblance of  SuperAwesomeDay Day come Visiting Week-end II, in August.

Sunday evening, as Division Heads Ted McChesney and Henry Eisenhart fired up the grills for the Sunday cook-out, Ryan Fauver gathered the Silver Cornet Band on the porch of the mess hall for the closest thing Pemi has to the Proms. As the boys lined up for their marinated chicken breasts and hot dogs, potato salad, etc., Ryan led his charges in forty-five minutes of compelling tunes. Jackson Smith reprised their slick solos from the Fourth of July vaudeville on alto sax and French horn – Jackson in John Coltrane’s “Blue Trane” and Miles in Robert Grabill Jr.’s Pemi-scribed “Wear Your Pemi Blues.” New to the musical spotlight, though, was Jivan Khakee on clarinet, rocking Grabill’s “Work It Out.” We doubt there are many other camps where, in a setting this beautiful with Mt. Carr glowing distantly in the setting sunlight, a full jazz band regales diners with American and home-grown classics alike.

Speaking of regaling, Ian Axness stepped to the front of the Lodge for that evening’s meeting, basically entitled “How I Stopped Being Bored by Slow Movements and Learned to Love Adagios.” Surely some of the folks in the room were already classical music fans. But for those whose tastes run to Coldplay and Adele more that Chopin and Albinoni, to have Ian admit that he had once been impatient with slow movements but then matured into loving them may have provided to many of us just the prod they needed to give the classics another listen – a good listen. Playing excerpts from Haydn’s Surprise Symphony and a handful of Beethoven sonatas, Ian parsed the slow movements, suggesting the images and connecting narratives one might hear in them. “The Moonlight Sonata,” for example, evolved almost Fantasia-like into the prospect of a moonlit lake with tiny waves lapping on the shore while a pair of owls hooted in response to one another, each sound represented by something insistent in the music itself. We’ve sat through any number of musical presentations on Sunday nights, and none have surpassed Ian’s in candor, imagination, or instructiveness. When the program closed with Ian at keyboard and Larry Davis on flute playing the adagio from Khachaturian’s Spartacus, visions of the weary warrior dreaming of his past exploits in a slow-motion dream surely danced in the heads of many.

Monday’s most festive event was our annual Birthday Banquet, replete with roast turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, cranberry sauce, and all the rest of the fixin’s – Thanksgiving in July. As the title suggests, the meal affords us not only the chance to put a culinary capstone on the first session but also to honor all of those Pemi citizens whose birthdays fall while they are with us. Everyone gets a Pemi cheer on their actual birthday, but at the banquet all are celebrated with a decorative poster bearing their name hiung high in the rafters (Thanks for those to Deb Pannell) and a birthday limerick custom scribed by Ian Axness or Peter Siegenthaler. The latter were especially entertaining in 2011, and we offer the following Siegenthaler creation as an example.

One thing I share with Alan Garcia:

Without glasses, we hardly can see ya.

It works out in the end,

My bespectacled friend:

The girls love you and guys want to be ya!

Word! (as people younger than we seem to say for some reason.)

Finally, an account of Monday’s multi-camp track meet. Once again, the information comes from the thumb-drive of Dwight Dunston.

On Monday, July 18^th, fifty-eight track and field athletes loaded up in the Pemi van and bus and traveled an hour away to our rival sports camp, Camp Tecumseh, to take part in the annual Jim Gibbons Track Meet. The team was a bit short-handed in the Senior division, as 10 full-season seniors were away on the always anticipated Allagash Canoeing trip [on which more next week], but the Seniors present represented their age group well. Carl Pohlman, Sparky Brown, and Nick Pennebacker ran a very impressive 440yd race for the 14yr-olds, pacing the field before making a late charge to secure a 1, 2, 3, victory. Pohlman then took a quick break, hydrated, and hit the track again for the 880, once again coming in first. He also placed in the top 3 in long jump and high jump.

In the 15yr-old age group, Zach Popkin, James Richardson, and Alberto San Roman were the only representatives, and each had to double up on field and track events in order to make sure that Pemi had a chance to score some points. Popkin placed in the top 3 in the long jump, and Daniel Reiff, age 14, stepped up to compete with the 15’s in the shotput and put forth a valiant effort.

For the 13’s, Nick Bertrand and Ben Chaimberg took turns dominating both the track and field events as Bertrand placed 2^nd in high jump, and Chaimberg placed first in the long jump. Both boys medaled on the track with Chaimberg winning the 60m dash and Bertrand coming in among the top three in the 440. Nick Schiciano also ran in the 440 and placed in the top five. Ned Roosevelt was a presence in the shotput arena, placing in the top five on the day.

In the 12’s division, highlights include Thomas Bono’s first place finish in the 60-yard dash, Jamie Nicholas and Ben Williams taking first and second respectively in the 880, and a 4×200 relay team consisting of Charlie Scott, Jamie Nicholas and both Leo and Chris Schmitz. The relayers were unable to beat a strong Tecumseh team, but still took second. In the long jump, Thomas Bono once again struck gold while Jamie Nicholas claimed second. In the shotput, Bill O’Leary won by a margin of eight inches.

In the 11’s division, highlights include Patterson Malcolm’s 2^nd place finish in the 440-yard dash followed by his 3^rd place finish in he 880-yard dash.  Dylan Cheng had an excellent day as well, taking 3^rd place in the 440 and anchoring the 2^nd place relay of Patterson Malcolm, Nick Todalagi, Sam Berman and Dylan Cheng.  Sam Berman also had a 2^nd place finish in the 60-yard dash

Finally, for the 10’s, Diego Periel led the way with a phenomenal showing in the shot put, taking away 1^st place with a throw of 24 feet, which was a foot further than the second place finisher.  Jack Elvekrog threw 22 feet to come in 3^rd place for the shot put.  In long jump, Ben Burnham led the way with a 3^rd place finish.  The 10’s relay of Andrew Kanovsky, Ben Burnham, Robbie McDonough, and Jakey Cronin had an excellent run as well, taking 2^nd place honors.

Great job Pemi Track and Field!

We could go on with an account of session’s-end awards in the Lodge, or the hilarious final Bean Soup of the stanza, or Charlie’s Malcolm’s useful but equally hilarious talk about how to pack for departure in a way that doesn’t destroy the planet, or some allusion to the group of ten Seniors navigating the Allagash Waterway in Maine, or the Lowers treading another crucial section of the Appalachian Trail between Zealand Falls Hut and Crawford Notch – but let’s instead draw this epistle to a close with a simple nod to a session well-finished. Parents of both full- and first-session campers can look to receive reports from their boys’ counselors within a week or so.  Everyone else can look forward next week to a rich and informative  missive from Assistant Director and Program Head Kenny Moore on occupations. Until then, relish those adagios!

– Tom and Danny

We are currently enjoying one of the most spectacular  days of the summer – cloudless blue skies without a trace of humidity, mercury in the mid seventies, and a mild zephyr whisking down the pond with just enough gusto to raise four-inch wavelets. Perfect weather for being anything other than a duck.  In extolling today’s conditions, I suppose we’re running the risk of suggesting the other weather we’ve encountered hasn’t been particularly good. Au contraire! If every first session were blessed with the days we’ve been having, we’d count ourselves very lucky indeed. If the ratio of sunscreen applied to firewood consumed is an indication of a great year, 2011 is truly a great one.

Lots has been happening the past week, as some of you have no doubt been informed by your boys. Last weekend saw a very successful day of athletics with Camp Kingswood, our friends and rivals just over the hill. We fared very well in the Win-Loss columns, but more importantly everyone who chose to compete did so with heart and commitment, and they displayed the kind of sportsmanship that we extol and treasure. Occupations continue to be inventive and remarkably varied (more on this from Program Head Kenny Moore in two weeks). Rehearsals for this year’s Gilbert and Sullivan show, The Mikado, are beginning to promise some truly stellar performances come August. And the trip program is running flat out. Today, we have Lowers 5 and 7 up Mt. Cube for a day hike, Upper 1 continuing a four-day that began at Greenleaf Hut and is continuing over Garfield and the Twins, Upper 2 crossing the Franconia Range after spending the night themselves at Greenleaf, a group of Lowers wrapping up a three-day on Mt. Potash, Junior Tent and Senior 2 heading off across the lake by canoe this evening for some sylvan dining, and Junior 4 hiking up to the Pemi shelter for the night. As for our bid to traverse the whole of the Appalachian Trail within New Hampshire, by week’s end nearly 100 walkers will have logged roughly 100 miles of the 189 we’re aiming for. Several boys have over twenty miles under their belts (boots?), with Pierce Haley holding on to a slight lead over Crawford Jones. All very exciting.

The bulk of this newsletter, though, will cover two topics, one of them treating a broad component of the program, the other something relatively minor. We’re extremely proud of the both, however, and expect that you’ll appreciate hearing a little more.

First, a survey of the Music Program at Pemi, coming from its very heart and soul, Ian Axness, whom we’ve been lucky enough to have at the piano and podium for five years now.

Greetings, listeners and music-makers!  The first half of Pemi 2011 has already yielded a tremendous creative output from all sides of the visual and performing arts, and music is no exception.  We may not have the knitted hats or 8×10 prints or Adirondack chairs to prove it, but the harmonies drifting out over Lower Baker Pond have been top-notch.  Vocal rehearsals for The Mikado, this summer’s Gilbert & Sullivan production, are in full swing, and dozens of campers have already participated in music occupations, including Silver Cornet Band, A Cappella, and Soundpainting, a method of instrumental improvisation.  (Think sign language mixed with orchestral conducting, with a splash of free jazz.)  The A Cappella group has flourished under the direction of Zach Barnard and Dorin Dehls, and they performed a fantastic new arrangement of Doc Reed’s “Clam Shell Song” at Vaudeville, to the delight of all. Some boys— and even some counselors— decide to start learning piano at Pemi, and they may very well be playing Mozart or Coldplay or “Don’t Stop Believing” by the end of the summer.  In short, Pemi’s climate of musical enthusiasm and curiosity is alive and well.

At the most recent Saturday campfire, the Pemi community heard a poignant Modest Mouse cover from senior Dan Fulham and an original song by counselor (and M.A. candidate in poetry) Dwight Dunston, in addition to the latest ditty from the A Cappella group.  Counselor and Bean Soup editor Peter Siegenthaler also performed a song on guitar, accompanied by Bridgid Ruf on viola, and junior Eli Brennan led a rousing sing-along of Mess Hall favorite “Are You From Wooster?”  Counselors Sean Munck and Henry Eisenhart rounded out the music for the evening with instrumental solos on guitar and tenor saxophone, respectively.  The variety and quality of music at the campfire circle never fails to astound and inspire.  And speaking of astounding and inspiring, last Monday’s Bean Soup featured one of the best song rewrites in recent memory: “Teach Me How to Dottie,” re-written by Jeremy Keys and Dwight Dunston.  The accompanying dance moves will undoubtedly be remembered in Junior Camp for weeks to come.

As for my own playing, I can’t decide which venue I prefer: the Mess Hall (accompanying college fight songs and Pemi originals, sung with abandon by the entire camp) or Sunday Meeting (classical music, usually Beethoven, to ease the masses towards contemplation).  Fortunately, both are equally important in keeping alive the musical spirit of Pemi.

I can think of few spaces dearer to my musical soul than the main dining room of the Pemi Mess Hall.  My knowledge of the connections between music and health is limited, but I can say without a doubt that spirits (and, certainly, vocal cords) are strengthened as a result of Mess Hall singing.  In this way, music exists as a living record of tradition, just like the plaques and trophies that hang on the walls.  The unwritten call-outs, the pauses and ritardandi learned by rote and repetition, the Jones Junior High song— these are all a part of our shared Pemi musical foundation.  And this foundation, like the root system of a huge tree, is always growing slowly: a few weeks ago, on the first game day for the “Flagship” 15s Baseball team, Coach (and Director) Danny Kerr led an exciting double chorus of “Take Me Out to the Ballgame.” Just a few days ago, Tom Reed, Jr. added a second part to the end of perennial favorite “Mabel” which segues into the old American war song, “Over There.”  A startling contrast of styles and subject matter, but cohesive and exuberant nonetheless.

Sunday meetings, on the other hand, are an opportunity for the Pemi family to gather together in the Lodge and listen to words and music that speak to our collective spirit of personal integrity.  (Also a good excuse to wash up and wear a collared shirt!)  I’m always glad for this opportunity to expose campers to short pieces from the classical canon, be they Beethoven piano sonatas or Mozart flute quartets or Khatchaturian flute transcriptions.  This Sunday’s meeting will be all about music, in fact, as I attempt to illustrate the unusual creative merits of slow movements, or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Adagio.  I’m hoping for a good audience jolt from Haydn’s Surprise Symphony.  The Sunday evening convocations are a wonderful time to experience the wordless, mystical imagination of the great composers.

Music is everywhere at Pemi, and it always has been: even now, as I write this article for the newsletter, I hear Taps being played out on bugle over the Intermediate Hill.  And then, seconds later, Taps in Junior Camp.  Played by a real person, not a loud-speaker.  This is unique— and it’s particularly special in today’s age of electronic music players and limitless digital sound manipulation.  Music at Pemi communicates feelings of joy and sincerity, performed and heard in a fresh, natural context.   And I’m glad to say that our central musical motivator is curiosity— the simple (and simultaneous) act of playing and discovering.

Many thanks to Ian for that richly descriptive piece. By the way, it has to be said that Maestro Axness is one of the most dynamic and inspiring music heads we’ve ever had at Pemi. It’s now hard to imagine a summer without Ian’s manifold contributions to the culture and joy of the community, given his dual role as musician-in-chief and Bean Soup editor. If any of you can give us a lead on a “winter job” that would leave him free to return to Pemi for decades to come, please, please, please do so! Seriously!

Now a word or two from another of our infectiously enthusiastic and talented staff members, Deb Kure – Associate Head of the Nature Program. Nobody brings more energy, knowledge, and enthusiasm to the task of teaching at Pemi, and Deb augments her contributions with her oversight of our Recycling Program. Here she describes a recent – and recurrent – initiative which she oversees.

5 A.M. on Saurday, July 9^th, found 12 campers being awakened by Assistant Counselor Wes Eifler and Nature Staffer Deb Kure to volunteer with the 30^th annual Prouty fundraiser. “The Prouty” typically involves 1,000 volunteers, 4,500 bicyclists, and $4.5 million raised for Cancer Research and Patient Services through Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, a good neighbor in Hanover, NH. Pemi boys host a SAG stop at nearby Mt. Cube Farm, providing food, water, and shouts of encouragement to riders 28 miles into the 100-mile route option.

Nick Gordon and Nathaniel Kaplan fulfilled the Community Service portion of their quests to become Pemi Braves, as Ezra Nugiel did for the start of his efforts towards being a Pemi Chief. Thompson Bain, Daniel Bivona, Harry Cooke, Rodrigo Juarez, Luke Maxwell, Sam Papel, James Richardson, Matt Sherman, and Ridley Wills volunteered for the sheer enjoyment of being involved with a local community event known for its team spirit, athleticism, and life-giving research value.

Our campers were in full production slicing fruit, mixing Gatorade, keeping water jugs filled, and making specialty sandwiches for hundreds of riders – for four hours non-stop. Nick Gordon “yelled” every rider up the ascent to the SAG station, shouting sincere encouragement and “Welcome to the Best Party on the Prouty!” for hours on end. Riders commented repeatedly that our stop is their annual favorite, and that Pemi campers make the best sandwiches on the Prouty!

We’re extremely glad to be able to involve our campers with such a spirited and worthwhile community event, planting the seeds of volunteerism for their years to come.

Amen. And thanks again to Deb for spearheading the effort. By the way, this editor drove Matt Sherman up to Mt. Cube Farm shortly after 8 AM, after Matt had graciously agreed to accompany a Junior cabin up Pemi Hill as a “big brother” for the night and had just come down the trail. As we approached the SAG stop, against a steady flow of very buff riders, the early morning sun lit the scene with magical clarity and sharpness.  Off to the right stood the lushly forested ridge of Mt. Cube itself, on an apron of which stands the farm. As I parked the van, I could see distant Mt. Moosilauke off to the north as clearly as though it were riding shotgun. I opened the door, and the chatter of the riders, milling here and there in their tight and bright attire, filled the air, punctuated by Nick yelling his greetings. There must have been 200 participants there at the time, and one could absolutely feel the force of their will and determination and collective spirit sweeping up everyone in their draft. To see Deb and Wes and the Pemi boys there, so clearly sensing the human nobility of the effort and equally clearly being appreciated by the athletes brought some moistness to the eye. We wish you could have been there. If your boy was, ask him to share. It was a rich experience.

With that we will close for the week. We look forward to seeing many parents of full-session boys tomorrow, in the first of our annual visiting days. Please, if you would, take a moment to review the Parents’ Handbook on “the drill.” Others of you we will see on Tuesday as you come to pick up your campers. We’ll be happy to see you but sad to lose your sons. They have been part of a wonderful first session and, while we wish them all the best for the rest of the summer, we hope equally to see them back soon. A bientot.

-Tom and Danny

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Well, our cozy little community of 250 has now been dwelling on the shores of Baker Pond for well over a week now, and the program is at full throttle. The weather has been extremely helpful – mostly sunny days in the mid-seventies and low eighties – and the lake has warmed enough that many of us are electing to continue our Polar Bears after the obligatory first week. We’ve enjoyed two days of athletics with our neighboring camps. Over fifteen trips have already been logged, with six more slated for today (Thursday), including a group of Seniors headed for the newly-renovated Madison Hut perched in a stony col at the north end of the Presidential Range. The Mikado has been cast, and rehearsals are underway. A second week of occupations follow hard on the heels of the first, with Deb Pannell’s hugely-popular art offerings setting a torrid pace for interest and productivity. The Beginners’ Caving Trip departed this morning for New York State for a tour of three separate caverns, an activity very rare in the camping world and certain to provide its participants with memories to last a lifetime. 2011 is well out of the gate and picking up speed in the first turn.

For the second Sunday meeting of the season, Danny Kerr manned the lectern for a talk entitled “Nothing Is Impossible,” based on his training for and successful finish of the New York City Marathon in 2005. Complete with charts of a sixteen-week training regimen and photos of the route and various participants over the years, Danny’s presentation gripped the room with its simple and direct messages. The journey is as important as the destination; if you want to get somewhere or achieve something in life, take the first step, commit yourself to the next one, and patience and persistence will ultimately deliver the goods. Danny then invited Senior Max Livingstone-Peters to the front of the room, and Max added to Danny’s examples with an account of his own battle with and triumph over nagging homesickness during his first season at Pemi. The third speaker was Trip Leader Sylvia Parol, whose participation in the Pemi West Mountain Leadership program in Washington State truly stretched her limits but quickly brought her to the same realization as Danny’s and Max’s. A number of striking photographs of Olympic National Park put the exclamation mark on a compelling evening that left no-one in the room missing an extremely useful developmental point: confidence and determination for young and old!

The Fourth of July celebration got off to a leisurely start with an 8AM reveille and 8:30 breakfast. After a hearty rendition of “My Country ‘Tis of Thee” (joined melodically  by our British staff singing “God Save the Queen”), counselors and boys headed back to the cabins to plan their floats for the annual Pee-rade. We honestly can’t remember  the results being any more creative and entertaining as your sons and their mentors mounted a dramatic procession that was half Kate and William’s wedding half Benny Hill.

As always, the Junior Camp led the way, three of their number (British counselors Ben Ridley, Alastair Bowman, and Matt Turner) marching in under the Union Jack in a convincing likeness of a Redcoat fife and drum corps. No sooner had they broken into “God Save the Queen” than the sound system thundered out the opening notes of “Born in the USA” – and the rest of Pemi’s “infant prodigy kids” burst in from every direction in their all-American gear, each of them gyrating in immaculately choreographed moves. It was like some opening ensemble spectacular on “Dancing with the Founding Fathers.”

The Lower Lowers featured L1 with a witty rendition of “The Night before Pemi,” with Andre Altherr starring as a first-time camper all snug in his bed while visions of Polar Bears danced in his head. L2 whisked us back to colonial and pre-colonial times to witness Columbus’s non-discovery of India and the first Thanksgiving, all accompanied by Robert Loeser singing “America.” L3 followed with the first of several “Jeopardy” take-offs of the day, also being the first to weave Danny’s “Nothing’s Impossible” speech into their drill. (It’s always nice to know the boys hear us, even if it’s not always clear they take us as reverently as they might.) L4 in turn evoked the longstanding (if utterly unfounded! We swear! Honest! Hope to die!) legend of Bakey, the Freshwater Shark, said to lurk in Lower Baker Pond. Played by Ben Williams with chilling verisimilitude, Bakey ultimately convinced all who doubted his existence that there is more in heaven and Lower Baker than is dreamt of in a naturalist’s philosophy. (First Hamlet allusion of the year, in case you’re counting.) The musical accompaniment? The Monkees’ “I’m a Believer,” naturally.

The Hill Tent led the way for the Upper Lowers with an unusually cerebral “Short Story about American Foreign Policy,” featuring Tristan Smith as John Adams crossing the Atlantic (aptly represented by a non-PBA Nalgene) to seek foreign favors. The skit took full advantage of Andrew Virden’s flawless French and Pepe Periel’s native Spanish to lend linguistic credibility to the story. Per Soderberg, as a gentleman from the Netherlands, offered up some Dutch to round out the language table. L5 uncovered the long-concealed truth about what really goes on at Pemi after Taps as, despite Nick Ridley’s Big Brotherish presence, the boys in his cabin conducted a lively late-night trade in black market goods, including chocolate milk swapped for two minutes of “Angry Bird.” L6 delved into Pemi’s past with a rendition of the first post-hike “dope stop” in 1919 (“dope” being then as it is now “New Hampshirese” for carbonated soft drinks) – only to follow with a decidedly Gangsta permutation reputed to reflect current practice and an avid craving for Monster. Wrapping up the Lowers was another “Jeopardy” clone, featuring Joe Robey as MC and asking stand-ins for Zander Buteaux, Fitz Steuber, Danny Kerr and the like, “What is the ideal reason for coming to Pemi?” Once again, Danny’s recent “Nothing is impossible” swam back into our ken, but the correct reason for being a camper turned out to be “To have fun, grow as a person, and do things for others.” [Editor’s question: Was last week’s Harrison “Paradise” Potts writing their material?]

Upper 1 tapped Americana with Thomas Bono as a hapless  Charlie Brown, moping through “the worst Fourth of July ever” while Miles Donnelly did a spectacular job rendering the appropriate “Peanuts” themes on French Horn. In what may be the most legally actionable skit of the Pee-rade, U2 then skewered Pemi’s reputation by presenting brutal tyrant Jamie Marshman as a counselor who forces his boys to do everything from taking Polar Bears in a bone-chilling lake to playing Frisbee-Running-Bases despite their being “covered with bruises.” As a last straw, this convincing simulacrum of a staff ogre read his charges to sleep thus: “And then the monster tore their heads off and fed them to the kids. Good night!” Yikes! U3 turned to recent Bean Soups for the latest number of “Gee Whiz, It’s News!” exploring the hypocrisy not only of Charlie Malcolm’s recent and totally unexpected concession that lacrosse is not “The Devil’s Game” – but also Danny Kerr’s alleged banning of peanut butter and sugary drinks in an attempt to horde all such delicacies for himself. U4 closed for the Intermediates with an inventive “Rap about the Pemi Kid,” which comically mined TRJR’s initial Sunday talk for various silly bits and pieces of Pemi lore.

The Seniors were as creative and risible as they have ever been. S1 set the bar impossibly high with what was, by our count, the day’s third evocation of Bakey the Shark. This time, though, the hideous aqueous creature, armed with huge, slathering jaws consisting of a blue Crazy Creek, devoured Danny Kerr and Tom Reed, Jr. before being vanquished by Nature maven Deb Kure (played by Thompson Bain with a bubbly effusiveness fully worthy of the genuine Deb). Bakey was then duly taken off to the Nature Lodge, no doubt to become part of the “What Is It?” contest. S2 followed with its own eye on tele-culture, presenting “Pemi’s So You Think America’s Got Idol Dancing with the Voice Stars Talent.” The so-called talent? Representations of the improv trio of Dunston, Keys, and Denson, Kenny Moore, Zander Buteaux and the like. Stealing the show, though, was TH Pearson as Jeff Greene, attributing his distinctive voice to having as a youngster been struck in the throat by a toad – and never sounding quite mellifluous since. S3 followed with its “Concise History of America,” featuring King George III (played with frightening tyranny and lunacy by Dan Fulham) dispatching Lord Jeffrey Amherst to the Americas not to found a highly selective liberal arts college but rather to slaughter the indigenous natives. (How squeakily post-colonial Pemi has gotten these days!) Best line of the skit goes to James Richardson as a falling Native American: “Ow! Bullets are my only weakness!” Finally, Lake Tent dipped into the history of the nation and the camp alike, representing the Founding Fathers morphing into the Four Docs and deciding that, while it may have been difficult to get everyone to sign on to The Declaration of Independence, putting one’s John Hancock to The Declaration of Pemigewassett was a no-brainer. Once again, the creativity and dramatic flair displayed by your sons was little short of breath-taking. We wish you could all have been here to witness it.

The 2011 resumption of the fabled Shrimps vs. Sardines baseball rivalry occupied the Juniors after Rest Hour. (Your humble correspondent captained the Sardines in 1958, while Pemi Board President Peter Fauver led the Shrimps. Plus ca change!) Lowers played Barrel Ball and Wiffle Ball, while the Uppers enjoyed assorted lawn games and the Seniors slicked up with sunscreen for a Beach Party. The highlight of the afternoon, though, was the dread Counselor Hunt, when our highly-paid and highly-educated staff flees from the Lodge to find a secure hiding place before hordes of paying customers seek them out like Jack Russells ferreting out a mole. Fun and harmless as it all is, there really is a place in your heart that is reached and racked as you hunker like some helpless critter sought out by waves of yelling boys. You should all try it some time.

Kudos for inventive evasion go to Corey Fauver, who shaved his mountain man-beard and donned female garb in hopes of escaping notice as anything other than a visiting bloomer girl. Unfortunately for Corey, the hunters had seen his “Year of the Beard” video on You Tube (half a million hits and counting – check it out) and knew what he looked like smoothly shorn. Meanwhile music instructor Dorin Dehls donned a Phillies cap and escaped the clutches of one camper who walked up to her, called her “Dude,” and then took her word that there were no staff members – male or female – in sight. So much did Dorin resemble a Senior camper that we’re tempted to send her dad a bill for tuition.

Once the ten minutes of chilling predation had ground ever so slowly to a close, the entire camp proceeded to the Senior waterfront, where the captured staff members were obliged to walk the plank on the high dive. Corey was a figure of Isadora Duncan grace as he fluttered towards the waves in his ankle-length chiffon skirt. First prize for the plummet, though, goes to Carlos Yeung, who backed out onto the very edge of the board before delivering a nearly flawless triple back flip, rarely seen and richly applauded by the boys at lakeside. In response to the constant and compelling calls for “Belly flop! Belly flop!” some wisely ignored the pressure, while others took one for the team, bobbing back to the surface amidst gasps and laughter and wild clapping. In sum, a good is vaguely chilling time was had by all.

Evening brought our second all-camp cook-out, and the entire camp family feasted on pulled pork and/or marinated chicken sandwiches while the sun once again painted the valley in warming tones of green. As Division Heads Ted McChesney, Henry Eisenhart, and others finally closed down the grill, the boys wandered towards the Lodge for our annual Fourth of July vaudeville. MC’d by Ian Axness and Corey Fauver (as fresh-faced now as George Stephanopoulos), it was a banner show, kicked of by the awarding of silver Revere bowls for those campers and staff for whom 2011 is their fifth summer at Pemi. This year’s cast is comprised of: Ian Axness, Thomas Bono, Daniel Bowes, Harry Cooke, Nancy Cushman, Ned Darling, Betty French, Oliver Kafka, Jamie Nicholas, Ezra Nugiel, Carl Pohlman, Zach Popkin, Daniel Reiff, Chris, Sargent, Will Sargent,  Nich Schiciano, Charlie Scott, Per Soderberg, Tommy Tranfo, and Andrew Virden. Now every one of them has an elegant and memory-inducing place to keep their spare change and thumb drives.

The show itself was an extremely entertaining one, launched by the first appearance of the year by the Silver Cornet Band, featuring camper soloists Miles Donnelly, Kevin Lewis, Jackson Smith, Ben Pinheiro, and Noah Belinowitz on Robert Grabill, Jr.’s “Wear Your Pemi Blues” and John Coltrane’s “Blue Trane.” Pounding out the rhythm was J2 camper Emmanual Abbey, for whom this was a first-ever performance on percussion. The show-stealer for serious acts, though, was Thompson Bain, whose smooth and assured rendition of Weezer’s “Island in the Sun” brought down the house. We knew Thompson had a guitar, but none of us had a clue of the vocal and instrumental talent he brings from the West Coast. As always, the evening was brought to a rockingly hilarious close by an appearance of “The Little People” – you know, arms as booted feet and your buddy behind you as arms – with Will Clare and Zander Buteux as the hapless demi-Hobbits variously eating, shaving, and brushing their teeth while (behind them under their ponchos) Henry Eisenhart and Ben Walsh did their best to gag them for the public good. Clean-up lasted longer than the act, but the impact made the mayhem well worthwhile. We’d bet a good dozen boys in the audience resolved to return to Pemi as staff simply in order to take up the torch as the next generation of Little Folk.

Well, that seems enough to have said about an especially solid week at Pemi. As noted, the program has really picked up momentum, and the few cases of minor homesickness we witnessed for a few days have dissolved into laughter and smiles and the sweaty brows of active boys. More in seven days or so.

Staff bios were posted on the Pemi Blog, and if you’re one of the savvy, you’ll have subscribed to the blog by now (see the upper-right corder of the page), so that these epistles and other postings of note are delivered straight to your inbox.

– Tom and Danny

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Photo © Jim Mauchly

Pemi’s greatest asset has always been the remarkable staff that dedicates itself, each summer, to making the Pemi experience rich, unique and nurturing for each boy, and this summer is no exception. While for a few of the staff this is their first summer at Pemi, the vast majority has years and years (and in some cases, years and years and years!) of experience on the shores of Lower Baker. We are grateful for their dedication and work ethic, impressed by their multitudinous talents, and humbled by their dedication to Pemi.

Cabin Counselors

J1— Zach Barnard: I just finished my Sophomore year at Boston University, where I am pursuing a degree in Ethnomusicology. I can’t wait to get involved with the Nature program, as well as return to the Music program, potentially bridging the two disciplines to create some great interest among the campers. I’m excited to be a member of the Pemi family once again!

J2— Ben Ridley: I am from a small town called Hexham in the North of England.  This is my first summer at Camp Pemigewassett and I am looking forward to teaching music, art, and different sports activities, including track/field, rugby, soccer and swimming.

J3— Jeremy Keys: I’m from Downingtown, PA and just graduated from Dickinson College in Carlisle, PA where I took part in many activities from running on the Track Team to doing Improv comedy and singing with an A Capella group.  This is my second year at Camp Pemi in the Junior camp.  I hope to coach come soccer, basketball and track, to teach some music and help the Junior Campers have a good time at camp and develop valuable friendships with other campers.

J4—Alastair Bowman: I’ve spent most of my life in Scotland where I have just finished my first year at University of St Andrews studying philosophy and psychology. This will be my second season at Pemi as a counselor where I will be involved in the music and nature programs. My aim this year is to help and encourage the campers to try new activities.

J5— Matthew Turner: I am from Birmingham in the UK and am currently studying Law at the University of Nottingham. I will be teaching in Pemi’s nature program and assisting with trips as well as serving as a cabin counselor. I want to make sure that the campers have a really great time at Pemi, as they learn and try new things, have fun, and develop as individuals.

J6—Zander Buteux: I grew up in Madison, NJ and am entering my Senior Year at the University of Denver. This is going to be my ninth summer on the shores of Lower Baker. As a lacrosse and soccer coach and as an art instructor, I hope to be a link between the arts program and athletics.

JT— Conner Scace: I just finished my first year as a graduate student working with Dr. Larry Davis at the University of New Haven and currently live in West Haven Connecticut. This will be my second year as a nature occupation instructor and camp counselor. Last year I ran insect occupations (with a particular interest in the ant occupation) as well as basketball occupations and was a Junior basketball coach. This year I would like to add Mound Builder Ant and Ant Lion activities to the insect occupations.

L1— Dan Reed: I grew up in Carlisle, PA, and enjoyed 2 academic years in Christchurch, New Zealand. I am a rising sophomore at Middlebury College, where I am focusing on Geology but am enjoying an array of other subjects.  This will be my 19th summer at Pemi: eight summers as director’s son, eight as camper, one at Pemi West and two on staff.  I hope to teach photography, nature, archery, and some tennis, and I look forward to another great summer.

L2— Henry Eisenhart:  I’m from Natick, Masschusetts and am a rising senior at St. Lawrence University.  There I am majoring in Environmental Studies and minoring in Music.   This is my ninth summer at camp and third on staff.  This summer I’ll be the Lower Division Head, and will spend time teaching athletics and music.  Pumped for a great summer.

L3—Sean Munck (Co-counselor): I am a native of Carlisle, Pennsylvania and am a rising sophomore at the Schreyer Honors College of Penn St. University.  This will be my first season at Pemi.  As an instructor, I will focus on wood shop and the music department, but I will also be assisting with various other occupations.  I really hope to teach guitar to as many campers as possible, and I am very excited for the season to begin.

L3—Robert Kerr (Co-counselor): this is my first summer at Pemi.  I am originally from outside Philadelphia but my parents recently moved to Keene, NH.  This winter I will be a sophomore at Colorado College.  Some of the areas in which I will be working this summer include Baseball, Arts and Sailing.  I am super excited for this summer, and cannot wait to meet all of the campers.

L4— Charlie Shiverick: I graduated from Colgate University last spring where I studied Mathematics and spent this past winter in Vail, CO operating a Snocat. This will be my sixth summer at Pemi, and my second as a counselor. This summer I hope to be helping out on the waterfront, as well as coaching baseball, and teaching waterskiing.

HT— Peter Siegenthaler: from Providence Rhode Island.  I’m a graduate of Roger Williams University, where I studied Photography and Art History.  Fourth summer on Staff; instructor in Nature and Arts; Emergency bugler.

L5—Nick Ridley: I am back for my 3^rd summer on the staff this year.  I knew immediately after camp closed last year I’d find it difficult to stay away.  I live in the UK. Chemistry at Edinburgh University, however I’ll be in the states until August 2012 completing an internship in Chicago with the Ridgley Company.  I’ve have really enjoyed the relationships I’ve built with the boys in my cabin in the past.  I can’t wait to get going with the guys in L5 this summer

L6—Willy Rittling: I live in Boston MA and am a rising sophomore at Clarkson University. This will be my 6^th year at Pemi including Pemi West. I will be helping out in the woodshop and windsurfing. This year I hope encourage campers to try new things and get everything possible they can out of Pemi.

L7— Will Clare: I am from Manhattan, New York.  This is my 11^th summer at Pemi.   I am 21 years old and am looking forward to another great summer teaching Lacrosse, Waterskiing, and a variety of other sports.

U1— Fitz Stueber: I’m a native of Cleveland, Ohio. This is my 7th season, 2nd on staff. I am going into my senior year at Washington & Jefferson College where I am on the Mens Soccer Team. With the skills I have acquired over the years, I will be teaching soccer and other athletics this year along with anything else I can help out with. Creating a fun and interesting summer for the camp community is my main goal for this year.

U2— Sean Denson: I live in Clementon, NJ and am a rising senior at Dickinson College in Carlisle, PA. I am excited for my first summer at Pemi, where I will coach campers in Track and Basketball, my two favorite sports. I hope to help each camper realize his full potential.

U3— Ted McChesney (Co-counselor): I am 22 years old, from Richmond, VA, and just graduated from the University of Virginia (and am looking for a job.)  This is my 11^th summer at Pemi, 5^th on staff.  This summer I will be the Upper Division head and involved primarily with the sports program.

U3—Galen Ryan (Co-counselor): I was born and raised in Riverside, IL and I am now a rising sophomore at Carleton College in Northfield, MN. This will be my first year at Pemi and I am looking forward to it. I love to swim, play ultimate Frisbee, and lead an energetic life in general. My goal for the summer is to teach campers the importance of leading an active life.

U4—Ben Walsh (Co-counselor): I am excited to spend my 10th summer at Pemi; this will be my 4th on staff.  I am a rising Sophmore at Carleton College where I played on the Soccer and Baseball teams and did homework on occasion (you can take this last part out).  This summer I hope to share my appreciation of camp with campers old and new.

U4—Carlo Yeung (Co-counselor): I’m from Newcastle in England, and graduated from the University of Essex last year where I did Sport and Exercise Science. This is my first time at Pemi and in the U.S.  I’m a specialist table tennis coach but what I really love is Xtreme martial arts and mental stunts.  I hope to inspire the kids to do something they would never normally do.

S1—This will be my twelfth season at Pemi, including Pemi West. I will be the head of the windsurfing program this summer, in addition to coaching soccer and ultimate Frisbee. I’m a rising senior at Carleton College. “This year I hope to assist the senior campers in taking leadership roles across camp.”

S2— Sam Johnson: I’m from the South East of England, and just finished my final year at the University of East Anglia in Norwich where I studied History and International Relations. I play several sports including soccer, field hockey, and golf, and I like to think I am a pretty good table tennis player too! This summer I will coach soccer and help out with drama, and I hope to share some British culture along the way. My goal is to teach kids new skills as well as to encourage them to learn from one another, and doing so, experience the reward that comes from helping others.

S3— Alex Reese: I grew up in Wyomissing, PA and will return to Johns Hopkins as a junior next fall. This is my 9th summer at Pemi, 4th on staff.  I look forward to spending lots of time on the tennis courts preparing for Tecumseh Day.  Among my goals are to enable each boy to maximize his experience, to find new avenues for returning campers, and to welcome first-year campers into our rich and diverse community.

LT— Dwight Dunston: I am originally from Philadelphia,PA.  I recently returned to America from Norwich, England where I completed an MA course in Creative Writing. This will be my third consecutive summer at Pemi. I will be coaching basketball and track, and I also will be leading poetry and comedy improvisation occupations. I hope to once again provide an exciting and safe atmosphere for the campers, where they are in the best position to learn from counselors, and also from each other.

Assistant Counselors

J1— Jay McChesney: I am from Richmond, Virginia and recently graduated from St. Christopher’s High School.  I am 18 years old and I play squash and Lacrosse,. In the fall, I will attend school just a few hours from here, at the University of Vermont.  This is my 8^th summer at Camp Pemi and I’m very excited for the upcoming season.

J2— Adam Sandler: I am 18 years old, from Westchester, New York.  This will be my 9^th summer at Pemi, and my second summer as a staff member.  This summer I look forward to contributing in lax world, on the waterfront, in the art program, and with frisbee.

J3—Wesley Eifler: I grew up in New Canaan, Connecticut and this will be my 9th summer at Pemi. I just graduated from Choate Rosemary Hall, and will be attending American University where I will be studying journalism. My goal this summer is to coach baseball and instruct in sailing and photography. I also hope to promote everything Pemi has to offer.

J4—Andrew McChesney: I am from Millburn, NJ and I will be a freshman next year at Trinity College. This will be my 6th year at Pemi and my second on staff.  My goal this summer is to teach sailing, lacrosse and to help the campers have the best summer possible.

J5—Richard Komson: I am from New York City, just graduated from Loyola High School, and will attend Boston University in the fall. This will be my 9^th season at Pemi and my second as assistant counselor. I will be doing the majority of my occupation and work as part of the Nature staff and will also be part of the archery program and help the physical fitness occupations. As an assistant counselor I hope to aide on a few trips as I also went to Pemi West two years ago.

J6—Mike Plecha: I will teach basketball, baseball, soccer, and swimming, A capella, and anything else I am asked to help with.  I graduated this spring from Lake Ride Academy in North Ridgeville, OH, and will be studying Music Industry at Northeaster University in the fall.  As a first-time counselor at Pemi, I am excited to work with the wonderful kids and staff that make this camp special.

L2—Charlie Pannell: I’m from Tiburon CA and will attend UMass Amherst in the fall. This summer I’ll teach in the Nature and Art programs, help drive the ski boat, and serve as lifeguard. I’m looking forward to an awesome summer.

L4—Ryan Fauver: I’m from Chatham NJ and will be a freshman at Skidmore in the fall. I’m the camp bugler and will be teaching music. I’m very excited for a great summer.

L5— Payne Hadden: I am 17 years old and grew up in Weston, MA.  I am currently enrolled at St. Paul’s School, a boarding school in Concord, NH, where I will be a senior in the fall. Though this is my ninth summer at Pemi, it is my first on staff.  I am excited about helping out with the lacrosse, soccer basketball and swimming programs.

L6— Andrew Brummer: I live in Chatham, NJ and I am a rising senior at Newark Academy, where I play Varsity Soccer and Tennis. This will be my 8th summer at Pemi. This summer, I hope to help instruct campers in tennis, soccer, and swimming as well as encourage them to try something new in an unfamiliar field.

Bridget Ruf: I’m from Southport, CT and this will be my third summer at Pemi. I just finished my first year at Wellesley College, and I am looking forward to teaching music occupations, performing at campfires, and spending time in the junior camp. I’m excited to be back again this summer and hope to encourage the campers to take advantage of all the opportunities at Pemi.

Kelsey Wensberg: this will be my third year at Pemi.  I am from Darien, CT  and will be attending Villanova University in the fall.  This year I will work in the art and music departments, and will help out with swimming and various other occupations. I am looking forward to an amazing summer with the boys and can’t wait to see how this season unfolds.

Olivia Walsh: My family lives in New Canaan, CT but I go to boarding school in Northfield, MA (NMH). I just finished my Junior year there and am beginning the college search process. This is my second summer at Pemi as an assistant counselor (though I don’t live in the cabin) and I join two of my brothers. I look forward to spending time on the waterfront teaching sailing and swimming, as well as playing soccer.

Trip Leaders

James Andrews: I grew up in Columbus, OH, and will be entering my senior year at Kenyon College. This will be my 13th season at Pemi, and third year as a trip counselor. Going on hiking trips with Pemi as a camper made a huge impression on me, and I hope that I can continue to teach younger generations to enjoy the outdoors.

Sam Day: This is the first time I’ve ever been to the USA! I grew up near London and study History at the University of Leeds. My life’s passion is travelling and adventures; I travelled the world last year and am a trip leader this summer. My goal over the next few months is to share new sights and experiences with like-minded, adventurous campers at Pemi.

James Finley: I am an instructor and doctoral student at the University of New Hampshire, studying American Literature. This will be my seventeenth summer at Pemi and while I regret that my time here will be limited, I’m looking forward to leading the Katahdin trip, fifteen years after climbing it as a camper.

Sylvia Parol- I’m from Worcester, MA and I just finished my first year at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. I’m studying Interactive Media & Game Development and I also play on the Varsity field hockey team. I attended Pemi West in Olympic National Park in Washington two years ago. I’m very excited to be a trip leader this summer. I hope to foster a love of the outdoors and backpacking in campers and to have a lot of fun!

William Sargent: I am from West Hartford, CT and just finished my freshman year at Union College.  This summer I will be a Trippie.  I am very excited to take campers out this summer to hike in and explore the White Mountains.

Program

Ian Axness (Head of Music):  I will be teaching piano, ensemble improvisation, and Gilbert & Sullivan occupations this summer, in addition to accompanying singing in the Mess Hall, auditioning acts for Campfire, and writing/editing Bean Soup.  Born and raised in Los Angeles, I attended Oberlin College and moved to New York City, where I work as a freelance pianist and music director.  I’m currently doing a close reading of Beethoven’s 32 piano sonatas— plenty of material for Sunday meetings! This will be my fifth summer at Pemi.

Andrew Bale:  I was born in Hummelstown, PA and I am a fine art photographer and photography teacher.  I became a photographer because a teacher challenged, inspired and encouraged me to see the world differently through the lens of a camera.  It is my goal to pass along that same creative eye to campers.

Deb Kure (Associate Head of Nature Programs): After studying Geology at the University of Rochester and learning how to teach kids in the outdoors— at Pemi’s first Nature Instructors’ Clinic in 1993—I’ve been grateful to have taught outdoor science in rural, urban, and wilderness regions, all over the US. I currently live in Austin, Texas, and teach with Camp Fire USA, but I’ll take moose over armadillos any day!  Glad to be back for my fourth summer with Pemi!

Larry Davis: Director of Nature Programs and Teaching. A.B., A.M. in Earth Sciences, Washington University in St. Louis. PhD in Geological Sciences University of Rochester. Professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences at the University of New Haven. This is my 42nd year on Pemi’s staff. Flutist, caver in chief, wild foods chef, collector of waterfalls, lover of all things “natural.”

Dorin Dehls: I am from Woodstock CT, and I am very excited to student teach in the fall as a Music Education major! This will be my third summer with Pemi, and I am so happy to return as a member of the music staff. In the past I have worked with the Gilbert & Sullivan productions that are performed at Pemi each year. I can’t wait to start working with the rest of the camp staff and the talented boys coming to camp this year as we prepare for The Mikado!

Emilie Geissinger: I grew up in Darien, CT but now live in Bismarck, ND. I am a rising sophomore at Bates College where I study Biology, swim, and play water polo. This is my first summer at Pemi and I will be working on the waterfront as a swim instructor, sailing instructor, and lifeguard.

Jeff Greene: (Director of Tennis). This is my 13th consecutive summer at Pemi. I first coached at the high school level in 1985, and then went on to coach at the intercollegiate level for 20 years. During the winter, I teach tennis at Queens College and during the spring and fall, I run an after-school tennis program in Westchester County, NY. Described as having “a distinctive raspy voice and a unique sense of humor,” I am always on the lookout for Pemi’s next tennis star, but enjoy teaching and encouraging campers at all skill levels.

Harry MacGregor (Head of Shop) – I grew up in Lowell, MA and for the last 30 years have lived in Canaan, New Hampshire.   I have had a long career in commerical, industrial and residental construction.   I have owned my own business focusing on custom woodworking.  My focus at Camp Pemi will be to bring my knowledge of woodworking to the campers.

Brian Mitchell: I will be returning for my 12th summer at camp where I have had the opportunity to serve many different roles.  This summer I will be back to help coach soccer and lend a helping hand where ever it is needed for two weeks in July.  I recently completed my seventh year of teaching and my second at The Boys’ Latin School of Maryland.  At BL, I am the 9th Grade Dean, I teach Upper School Mathematics and I coach both soccer and lacrosse.

Ken Moore – Assistant Director and Head of Program Born and bred in Lakewood, Ohio, I teach 9th grade history at Lake Ridge Academy where I also serve as Director of Alumni Relations.  This is my 19th summer at Pemi, some as a boy, counselor and Division Head, and more recently as Waterfront Head and this year taking the role as Head of the Mess Hall, Head of Program and Assistant Director.  My BA is from Kenyon College and my MAED is from University School’s Teacher Apprentice Program.  My primary goal for the summer is to create an instructional program that allows our boys to try new activities as well as to learn and develop specific skills in a specialized area.

Deb Pannell (Head of Arts): I am delighted to be teaching art at Pemi this summer! I live with my husband, Jim, and our sons in Tiburon, a small town north of San Francisco where I teach elementary school. I am the mother of Ethan (13), a Pemi camper, and Charlie (18) a Pemi counselor. My goal this summer is to get to know every single boy at camp and to involve as many boys as possible in the creative fun that will be taking place in the art studio.

Abby Reed (Co-Head Junior Camp): I’m from Carlisle, PA, and just graduated from Middlebury College. In the fall, I’ll be attending a master’s program in literature at the University of Cambridge. This will be my (7th?) summer at Pemi, including Pemi West. In addition to being co-head of the Junior Camp, I also will teach swimming and nature.

Paige Wallis (Head of Swimming): I grew up in Norwich, Vermont and will be a senior at the University of Vermont this coming fall. I spent the past semester studying abroad at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland. This will be my second summer at Pemi and my first year as the head of swimming. This summer my goal is to encourage and inspire campers to develop  their skills in and out of the water.

Johanna Zabawa (Head of Staff, Co-Head Junior Camp): I’m from Afton, Minnesota and work as a family support worker at the elementary school in West St. Paul, MN.  This is my 7^th summer at Pemi.  I’m looking forward to a new role as Head of Staff along with continuing as Head of Junior Camp.

Photo © Jim Mauchly

New this year: Order cabin photos, the all-camp photo, and the staff photo directly from Mountain Graphics Photography.

No more photos stuffed into duffles and coming out crumpled at the end of camp! We now direct you straight to the web site of professional photographer and longtime Pemi friend, Jim Mauchly of Mountain Graphics Photography. Jim has been photographing Pemi’s cabin and group shots for 23 consecutive years, since 1988.

Order your 5×7 cabin photo, 11×14 all-camp photo, and 8×10 staff photo online by clicking on the link above.

Enter: Event Name: pemi / Password: pemi (case sensitive)

Order online by 7/18 to receive discounted pricing (plus shipping).
Orders will arrive by the end of July/early August:

• 5×7 cabin photo: $4.00
• 8×10 staff photo: $6.00
• 11×14 all-camp photo: $9.00

After 7/18, photo prices (plus shipping):

• 5×7 cabin photo: $8.00
• 8×10 staff photo: $12.00
• 11×14 all-camp photo: $18.00

Pemi parents “in the know” will visit Jim’s studio, photo gallery, and custom frame shop in nearby Fairlee, Vermont when they are near Pemi. Consider visiting his online galleries of stunning landscapes and wildlife when you’re looking at the cabin photos, and stop by in person when you’re in town. In addition to the annual group shots, Jim also has photographed Pemi’s Gilbert and Sullivan production a number of times, as well as various sporting events. He was on hand at Pemi’s 100th celebration to record the events and has created aerial images of camp. In 1999, while living in Colorado, Jim actually flew back for the specific purpose of shooting cabin photos! To read about Jim’s professional background, click here.

Fantastic news!

Your emails, letters, and calls have made a difference!  This is the power of a grass roots movement!

Northern Pass has proposed to the Department of Energy that they be allowed to withdraw the alternate routes from their proposal, including that which would have crossed Pemi land. Maps showing the revised proposal can be found here.

The Concord Monitor was the first to make this public.

Many of us think that this project is not worthy of support, regardless of route, and will continue to oppose it. Let us know if you would like to be updated on the status of the scheme so you can continue to send your comments at strategic moments.

Naturally, if word emerges on yet another alternate route that would directly affect us, we’ll alert you all once again. But for now, profound thanks for your conscientious efforts.

-Camp Pemi

Ed Bemis, left, with fellow Pemi driver Butch Pease.

We recently received word of the death at age 88 of long-time Pemi employee, Ed Bemis. Given Ed’s many years of service – and well over a half century of neighborly friendship with us in the Town of Wentworth – it seems only fitting to say a few appreciative words about him here.

Ed first came to work as a driver when we were still transporting boys in the back of open trucks. For close to two decades, well after we relegated the big stake-body to moving laundry and switched over to van and bus transport, Ed was as safe and responsible in that position as anyone we have ever had. Far more than that, however, Ed was unfailingly cheerful and friendly with anyone from the youngest Junior camper to the oldest ex-director or alumnus. His sunny and out-going disposition in turn brought the warmth and good cheer out of others, who could never see him drive by without yelling “Bemis!” and giving their own version of his sanitized but plucky raised-arm “salute.”

I supervised Ed’s driving for most of the years he was with us. Ed was absolutely dependable. If you asked him to have a bus in the Junior Camp at 10:30 to take two cabins to Mt. Cube, Ed would be there with two packs filled with lunches.  If you told him to pick up a 2-day at Mt. Cardigan at 3 PM, he would be there. If, however, he knew he didn’t have any other responsibilities that afternoon other than getting the troops back for supper, the van wouldn’t roll in until 5:55 and then disgorge a crowd of happy boys right in front of the mess hall. “Where were you Ed?” “Well, you didn’t say what time to get them back, so I took them for a tour of the dowel factory in Plymouth.” What could you say?

Ed was a tireless but enthralling conversationalist, the Ancient Mariner of New Hampshire roads. He was, in fact, a Navy vet – a Seabee in the South Pacific – and he’d sometimes share his rich and often hilarious tales of service during WW II. More frequently though, as you’d ride with him, say, over the shoulder of Moosilauke to North Woodstock, he’d fill you in on every person in every house along the whole route – what they did, who they’d married, what kind of car they used to own, something funny that had once happened to them or to their kids. Ed knew everyone in the area – as everyone knew him – and he had an inimitable talent for talking about them in a way that might have brought a hint of a blush if they’d been listening but that was always filled with underlying affection and charity. If we’ve ever been “all in it together” with anyone, it was with Ed. To know him was to like him. For him to know you was to be liked by everyone with whom he spoke.

Part of Ed’s voluminous local knowledge came from his role in the off-season as the guy who hauled the mail from Warren and Wentworth to Plymouth. Part of it came from his running, for decades, the Texaco station at the junction of 25 and 25-A: everyone got their gas there, and kids flocked to the cooler for the chilly bottles of birch beer that you couldn’t find anywhere else. Part of it came from the fact that “Bemis Septic Service” pumped the tanks and cess-pools of virtually everyone in the area, and Ed clearly saw and learned a whole lot as he’d chat with clients while the infamous Poopa-Scoopa (aka “The Honey Wagon”) chugged away. Ed later turned this colorful business to minor additional profits when he came out with his famed “Bemis Septic Service” tee-shirt, with its storied motto blazoned beneath the image of a winning poker hand: “A Royal Flush Beats a Full House.” These are now treasured collectors’ items. Look for them soon on Antiques Road Show.

Extolling Ed’s virtues would not be complete without mentioning what Ed did at camp between driving assignments. If he wasn’t pulling the gang-mower around camp on the old Ford tractor or spreading gravel in pot-holes on the road to the Junior Camp, Ed was always to be found on the porch of the Lodge, playing ping pong with anyone who cared to pick up a paddle. It was always “I play the winner” for Bemis wannabes, and as enthusiasts from the youngest denizen of Junior One to Tom Reed Sr. lined up to slap a ball around, Ed was only rarely knocked out of the competition and away from the table. That was fine by everyone, though, because the person they all really wanted to play with was Bemis. He was as steady as a brick wall and as cheerful and supportive as a Cub Scout den mother. He played just hard enough to beat whomever he was up against, and he was always – here and everywhere else – the vivid, knowledgeable, and hilarious color commentator on his own athletic performance.

Ed was an original. Anyone who ever knew him could tell you that as well as I. It was our distinct honor and privilege to have him as a friend and colleague for as long as we did. So here’s to Ed, and to everything he was and did for us.  Somewhere in another Valley, higher up in the Whites, he’s ready with a story and a grin. He’s freeing his arm for that sanitized salute.

“Hey! Bemis!”

– Tom Reed, Jr.

NOTE:

A memorial service for Ed will be held at 1 pm on May 15 beginning at the cemetery opposite his old garage station in Wentworth and followed by a reception at his daughter’s home at 650 Atwell Hill. All are welcome.

Ed’s children have established a scholarship fund in Ed Bemis’s name for a Wentworth high school graduate who hopes to continue on to higher education. Donations can be mailed to:

Please write “Ed Bemis Scholarship Fund” on the check.

Artist's rendering

Dear Pemi Family,

Last fall, the Fauver and Reed families learned of a proposal to run a high-voltage direct-current transmission line from the Canadian border down through New Hampshire to southern New England.  The project, as well as the coalition of corporations proposing it, is called Northern Pass.  While the reasons why any such transmission line is a bad idea would fill many pages, this became very personal when we discovered that the preferred route would slash through the heart of the White Mountain National Forest, and the alternate route would cut directly across the head of Lower Baker Pond, up over Pemi Hill, and eventually through the heart of Al and Bertha Fauver’s home farm in Plymouth. This map and the one at the bottom illustrate the routes.

Our first step was to put together a committee of Pemi board members to identify our resources and to brainstorm how best to bring these resources to bear against this proposal. The first resource we identified, and it didn’t take but a split second, was the hundreds of loyal and passionate alumni who have spent some of their most formative, impressionable summers in the iconic New Hampshire landscape and its rich natural environment.

So we are reaching out to you. Whatever your reasons may be–whether you lament the contamination of our visual landscape or fear that hundreds of acres of prime wildlife habitat might be destroyed; whether you philosophically oppose importing more power from another country or abhor the idea of slashing a transmission line the length of the White Mountain National Forest (including the end of Lower Baker Pond and up Pemi Hill); or whether you cannot fathom using 19th-century technology to solve a 21st-century challenge—whatever your reasons may be, please join us and the vast majority of the citizens of New Hampshire, as well as The Nature Conservancy, Conservation Law Foundation, The Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests, the Appalachian Mountain Club, and the Sierra Club in opposing this project as currently designed.

Northern Pass has several permitting hurdles to leap. The first is to get a Presidential Permit to cross the international border with Canada.  The Department of Energy (DOE) is currently holding hearings to take public input on matters that will affect the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) required as part of the Presidential Permit evaluation process. The EIS covers environmental, economic and social impacts. DOE will also receive written comments until April 12, 2011.

Here are some things you can do:

–Learn about the project by visiting some of these websites:

• Bury the Northern Pass: A citizens’ blog
• Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests
• Conservation Law Foundation
• HydroQuébec
• Northern Pass

–Send your written comments to:

–Call any of the organizations listed above, and volunteer your time and expertise

–Contribute to the war chests of these organizations

The Pemi Board is united and is marching boldly into the fray. We will be proud to have you at our side!

Our deepest thanks,

###

The route of the entire project is shown below. Click here to see these maps in greater detail and to access maps of 46 individual cities and towns affected by this proposed project.

The American Camp Association has just launched “Explore 30,” a program designed for camp communities to address the issue of summer learning loss by encouraging reading while at summer camp. It will come as no surprise to those of you familiar with Pemi’s daily schedule, traditions, and even facilities, that the Pemi ethos has long valued and supported the practice of reading. From time set aside—daily rest hour, self-scheduled afternoons, bedtime—to a well-stocked library, to a 250-page “summer’s record” publication mailed annually to each community member, we like to think that Pemi has played a role in cultivating for many a boy a lifelong habit of reading.

Tom Reed, Jr., Professor of English at Dickinson College and a Pemi director, takes a look at the cherished ritual of “reading after taps.”

For as long as I can recall – thinking back over a half century as a camper and on staff – one of the most winning aspects of Pemi’s bedtime ritual finds the counselor reading to his cabin after lights-out. The practice likely goes back to the very first years of camp, when the stories would have come from Booth Tarkington or Horatio Alger and not, as in my own early days, from the Hardy Boys or, more recently, Harry Potter or Lemony Snickett.

There’s never any trouble getting younger campers to buy into the practice. So keen are most to recreate with their new “family” the rites of their real homes that a clever counselor can often get his charges into bed and quiet even before the bugle sounds “Taps.” He simply promises to begin the reading as soon as all teeth are brushed and everyone’s clambered into their bunks, lowered their mosquito nets, and pulled their covers up to their chins.  Older boys – maybe on the 13-14 cusp – may appear to need some convincing: being read to might imply that they were still as young as the rapt listener in The Princess Bride, which might not be cool. Then again . . . ! So, we recommend that even our Upper Intermediate counselors at least try reading for the first week – and the majority of cabins seem more than happy to lock in for the duration. Seniors? They are privileged to chat quietly for a while after Taps has blown, and then to read quietly to themselves until ten o’clock or so – or until the rewarding labors of a long day take their sweet toll and they drop off one by one.  I honestly recall, though, being a Senior for the first time and secretly missing what can be among the richest communal moments at camp:

You’ve all had a remarkably active day and, after the mad rush of getting ready for bed, almost all of you are securely tucked-in. Maybe one boy is a little late getting back from the washroom, and you remind him (amiably, we hope) that he should hurry so the story can resume. Or maybe it’s been a rainy day, and you’ve all been in the cabin for an hour, but it’s still incredibly comforting to slip into the double cocoon of bug-net and bed and, as the raindrops pat evenly on the roof above, wait while your counselor switches off the overhead light, walks back to his bed, props himself up against the wall, flips on his headlamp, and opens “the book.”  A hush throughout – and he begins.

Some counselors read better than others. I recall having a Scottish counselor in one of my cabins who made Tom Sawyer sound like a Robert Burns poem. Some books are better than others. I can also recall a cabin mutiny when one of those ponderous James Fennimore Cooper novels got off to a such a slow start that we had to convince our counselor to switch to a (carefully censored!) reading of From Russia with Love. But both reader and reading matter quickly fall into the patterns of soothing routine, and one of the more fleeting but memorable parts of the cabin experience takes off for the summer.

It’s a little like a campfire, but you’re safely in bed. The light cast by the counselor’s headlamp dances on the rafters almost like firelight, as his head turns ever so slightly to follow the words – or he looks up to see a Luna moth attracted to the illuminated page. Sometimes, a boy who drifted off prior to last night’s conclusion will need an update – but the boys are normally right back up to speed with no need for a reminder. If the story is gripping, as it usually is, one or another of you may be tempted to read ahead at rest hour, say. But tempting as this may be, it’s not really how it’s done at Pemi. We’re all in it together, be it Tecumseh Day, four-day hikes, or nightly reading. And to quiet down and listen raptly and all advance together under the spell of an engaging fable is one of the dependable if simple pleasures of our communal life. Fifteen or twenty minutes, a chapter or two. We may want more. Then again, it’s been a tiring day – and if we move too quickly through the book, it will soon be over. That would be too bad.

This is of course all wise and good in a developmental sense. What could be better, amidst the full-bore active life, than to pay this regular attention to the life of the mind and of the imagination? It’s also (as you all clearly realize) a terrific way to quiet the lively masses for the night, something dearly appreciated by those staff who will monitor the cabin areas on “Night Patrol.” But if it’s a smart and practical thing to do, it’s also spiritually unifying. Whatever our days have involved, whatever trials or successes or irritations or joys, everyone in the cabin is carried along together in the momentum of carefully crafted words, offered by an “older brother” who is tuned in to the common welfare in a comfortingly dependable way.

More evenings than I can say, as I and a few senior staff stand on the Intermediate Hill or in the Junior Camp after the bugle has blown, I’ll walk down the line of cabins as the last glow leaves the western sky and a thousand stars brighten. I move from one voice to the next, one soft and another louder, one British and one with a Louisville twang, one reading a timeless tale of Poe, another a Roald Dahl. Passing by each porch, I can feel the power of every story, weaving the listeners closer by the moment. Tomorrow, they’ll rush off in their own directions. There may even be squabbles about who has to carry the trash all the way to the recycling area today. But for these hushed moments, something magical happens. It’s hard to pull away.

–Tom Reed, Jr.

“What is the best age to start camp?” asked a prospective camper’s mom yesterday. It’s a great question, and given that it was asked in three phone conversations this past week alone, seems to call for some conventional wisdom offered to a broader audience.

As a simple but dependable guideline, a child is usually ready for overnight camp when he can successfully spend one night away from home with a buddy. On average, sleepovers start at age 8 or 9, as the social skills and independence that emerge in 1st and 2nd grade provide him with the confidence to spread his wings. For some, this might not happen until age 11 or 12 or later, but the bottom line is that one productive night away from home sets the stage not just for surviving but, in fact, for thriving in a 3.5 and, yes, even 7-week session. This “rule of thumb” (and over 100 years of institutional experience) often serves as an eye-opening, if not comforting, benchmark for parents who might otherwise assume their children are too young for sleep-away camp, and for boys who aren’t sure if they’ll be able to manage.

You may experience a major disconnect between your head and your heart before your child goes to camp for the first time. We know that we want our children to be happy and not sad; to be successful and strong; to say and do the right things so they will make friends; to be comfortable in their own skin as well as respect the uniqueness of others. We reason that if we keep him by our side, provide the answers, and safely pave each step of the way, we can be pretty sure he’ll land where we want. But what happens beyond that landing pad? Ultimately, he’ll struggle both academically and socially if his “inner compass” for solving problems, making decisions, and establishing relationships—all necessary skills for a successful and satisfying life—has never been activated. You certainly don’t want that to occur at the college gate. Letting go can feel like cutting off your right arm, especially when there is the potential for your child to experience homesickness or uncertainty, or make a mistake, or not eat because he is a picky eater. You might intellectually recognize that your son will benefit from (not to mention enjoy!) an experience away from home, but, boy, the parental heart pounds at the very idea of letting him go.

“Independence Education” follows a learning curve similar to math, or reading, or sports. A teen or young adult doesn’t understand calculus, or write a cohesive term paper, or consistently throw strikes without having acquired essential building blocks along the way. Similarly, a teen or young adult doesn’t wake up confident, independent, and eager to try new things on a specific birthday. So how does he get there? When adults offer appropriate doses of independence at appropriate times, and have the courage to say, “Go for it. I know you can do it.” Certainly there are many ways to offer such opportunities to your child. Excellent summer camps, however, were established to partner with parents in this very mission.

If you do determine that this summer is the time for sleep-away camp, it is totally natural for both your son and you to be nervous… and even more so as summer approaches. For better or worse, know that it will be harder on you than on him. While you’re at home “letting go,” he’ll settle in and, under the guidance of supportive and caring staff, be doing all the things you hope for: making new friends, trying new activities, living in a gorgeous and healthy place. And if he feels homesick—which most everyone, regardless of age, experiences in an unfamiliar setting—your heart might ache but your head will know that overcoming homesickness will launch him to the next stage of independence, giving him the confidence to embrace further adventures, knowing that if he’s done it once, he can do it again.

Believe it or not, camp sessions fly by. And once you have him back home and listen to his stories, hear him sing the camp songs, and sense his pride in all he has done and accomplished, you’ll know in your head and your heart that you’ve given your child a wonderful gift.

-Dottie Reed, Head Administrator, Camp Pemigewassett

(Great thanks to Ned Whitman, Pemi camper of eight years, who happened to Skype me while this article was taking shape. In the midst of a gap year before heading to Harvard, Ned was in Laos, on his way to Cambodia and then New Zealand. We “chatted” about what he was doing, the new cultures he was experiencing, and the life skills that he gained through his summers at camp, starting at age 8. A few of his astute comments made their way into this article.)

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With 2011 applications ready to go on-line in a week, it seems an appropriate time to cast a glance back at the past season – this time in the company of a group of stellar Seniors for whom 2010 was the last of many rich years together as campers. It’s become a Pemi Week custom on the last Sunday of the season for a representative sampling of our fifteen-year-olds to speak to the assembled camp family about their time at Pemi. Over the last half-dozen years, we’ve made substantial efforts to enhance the natural mentoring role of our older boys with various programmatic offerings, like the Senior-Junior campfires or special mountain trips and cook-outs matching our youngest cabins with our oldest. As a nine-year old said just recently, “Pemi is a place where anybody can talk to anybody else,” and the Seniors’ willingness to reach out to the younger boys plays a crucial role in forging that sort of trusting and caring community.

Hence, on the morning of August 8^th – at the dawn of yet another of the perfect summer days that seemed especially to grace the 2010 season – we all filed into the Lodge to hear from a group tapped by Charlie Malcolm to speak about their years at camp. Charlie kicked things off by reminiscing about the recent wedding of long-time Pemi camper and staff member James Finley, who proposed to his bride on Rte. 25A between camp and Wentworth and who invited roughly twenty-five members of the Pemi family to the July festivities in York Harbor, Maine. Charlie recalled the entire group serenading Kate Gillen, the bride, with Pemi’s own “Bloomer Girl Song,” and remarked that many of the closest friendships in his life had been forged at our camp. At a gathering such as James and Kate’s, he said, the ease with which those friendships are resumed after years of separation is truly remarkable. He then turned to Nick Barber, Matt Cloutier, Harry Eifler, Alex Fauver, Teddy Gales, Peter Ionno, Nate Kraus, Timmy Ogle, Owen Ritter, and Gus Walsh to answer a few questions. They were simple and direct ones, and the first answers were predictably spare and cautious, as boys unaccustomed to addressing 250 others found their footing.

Charlie: “So, did any of you experience homesickness when you first arrived?” Nick Barber: “I did.” (Quiet chuckle around the room as one of the most confident and accomplished young men at camp admits to this so readily.) “But I was in the Junior Camp, and I got comfortable pretty quickly being part of a little community within the big community.”

Charlie: “What’s the biggest change you’ve experienced at Pemi?” Peter Ionno: “I got a lot taller.” (A bigger chuckle) “So I guess I get to be part of things like this.” (Charlie nods.)

“What advice would you give to the younger guys?” Owen Ritter: “To make the most of every opportunity here. Say, the Nature Program. Every day I see things I should have done and wish I had more years to take advantage of.” Matt Cloutier: “Yeah, the Nature Program has been terrific for me – pinning a butterfly – or, even better, helping someone else up there. I learned to step outside my comfort zone here, and maybe to help others do the same.” Harry Eifler: “All sorts of things open up here, even if you feel you’ve done them already. I took four years of classical music lessons, but the chances to do other kinds of music here have been amazing.”

“How would you compare athletics here to athletics at home, or at school?” Timmy Ogle: “There are more opportunities here – more sports, more levels. You can prepare for, say, the soccer season at home and broaden yourself in other ways.” Matt: “It makes a difference sharing a cabin with your team-mates – different in the cabin, and different on the field.”

“If you could start all over at Pemi, what would you do more of?” Teddy Gales: “I absolutely hated hiking until I got to Lower 6.” (More chuckles) “Now I love it. Katahdin? The best trip ever, man. And the Allagash? It was just amazing.” (Other boys on those trips nod enthusiastically. Younger boys seem to take note, file that away.)

“What do you think about the difference between the half and full seasons?” Alex Fauver: “This is my first full season, and it’s just lots more of a good thing. I got to work much harder on soccer, and my water-skiing really improved.” Nick laughs: “I had an argument with my Mom. She wanted me to go to a jazz camp too. I told her that at Pemi you can do everything. Love everything. Try everything – sports, music, shop. It’s so varied, every day can be different.”

“Why do you think this year’s fifteens bought in to Pemi so completely? I mean last year’s Seniors were great, but you guys really leaned into it!” Owen: “For me, the Allagash canoe trip was key. There we were, out in the middle of nowhere. Nobody else around. The interdependence, the togetherness, it was just amazing!” (More nods from Owen’s trip-mates up front. You can begin to feel the atmosphere in the room take on some kind of charge. The words start to summon facial expressions that speak for themselves, the emotions to radiate palpably.) Teddy (an eight-year veteran who will win the Founder’s Citizenship Trophy in just four more days): “I have a family at home. I have a family at Pemi. And this is my last year.” (He looks at all the others sitting there with him) “I just love you guys!” (Shy smiles all around, and more than one forefinger dabs at an eye.) Peter: “The 14s and 15s are much closer this year. I don’t know why. We just are, and it’s great.” (Charlie turns to this year’s 14s in the audience: “You guys got that, right? Next year. You’re the fifteens!”) Nate Kraus: “Like Peter said. I think being positive is infectious!” (Nods all round, in front; in the audience.)

Charlie: “So Pemi’s been going through some transitions for the last several years. What do you think are the enduring Pemi qualities? What do you want to see here in thirty years?” Owen: “Traditions. Whatever. Polar Bears. Singing in the Messhall. The tennis fence.” (Everyone laughs.) “I want to drive in here in thirty years and see the tennis fence right where it is – and kids playing.” Matt: “Everyone can come back in thirty years. You can always come back.” Nick: “Pemi has no expectations. You can try new things, just be who you are. But there are expectations.” Charlie: “What are they?” Nick: “To be the Pemi Kid.” (Major laughter throughout the room). “Try new things, like I said. Reach out to the younger campers. Do it all.” Charlie: “Be leaders!” (Nick agrees.)

“So, lots of you guys were Juniors. What Seniors did you look up to then?” Peter: “Teddy was actually my idol in Junior 4.” (Teddy looks shocked, blushes, laughs.) “Seriously!” (Teddy laughs some more.) “I wanted to be that kind of spark for everybody else that Teddy’s always been,” (Everyone at the front of the room nods. Everyone in the Mess Hall will nod when Teddy’s name is read on Thursday night when he is tapped as “The best all-around camp citizen who has given the most to camp beyond the line of duty.”) Nick: “Brian Forster. Brian played the sax. He was so much better than I was, so much older. But he never talked down to me. It was like I was his equal, almost.”

Gus Walsh breaks in spontaneously to ask the other boys if they’re planning to return to Pemi as staff members. Owen: “Definitely! Definitely!” Peter: “Are you kidding? When you can be part of all this . . . and get paid!” (More laughter. But it’s true. Pemi does pay its staff!) Matt: “I don’t think anyone here wants to grow up.” (Matt looks around. The room has gone completely quiet. Perhaps the birds are singing outside, but all eyes are on this remarkable group of young men, and it’s almost like we’re all holding our breaths together. This strong and fearless athlete, this infectious enthusiast of the Nature Program, this wonderful waiter to the boys at Junior Two goes on.) “I couldn’t live without Pemi.” (Teddy nods at Matt and leans over to embrace Harry, for two years his fellow performer in the wonderfully comedic mime group, Geese in the Shadows.) “I want to perform with this kid forever. I want to come back,” says Teddy, the tears flowing from his eyes, “. . . and do this all over again!”

How we wish they could. But the torch must be passed. Who better to be passing it than these boys?

Charlie nods at the group, who hug each other now like the quiet celebrants of a great mystery. “Thanks, guys. Thanks.”

–Tom Reed, Jr.