As I have a fair amount of trouble remembering events such as: the previous week, why I went into the kitchen, or what I may or may not have done to upset my wife and children – it is with some trepidation that I cast my mind back 25 years ago to a small community about 4000 miles away from where I am currently sitting (Spreyton, Devon, England).  But to kick start some thoughts, I thought a list of lessons that I learnt from being a Bean Soup editor is as good as place to start, since the experience of writing, speaking, and listening to the journals of the Pemi community was a fairly influential part of my existence – up til now.  Or at least that’s what my therapist says.

Anyway a list of jumbled and ill-thought-out comments follow below, which already does much to remind me of the mind-set that I experienced as an editor all those years ago.

Pemi Editor List:

1. Giving yourself time to write an article is generally a good thing but a situation that never seemed to occur due to enormous amounts of “faffing” (an English word – not sure if it exists across the pond?!),  idleness, and constant belief that the whole thing might go away if you waited long enough;
2. Giving yourself no time at all is stressful, scary, and not necessarily a good thing but remains my ongoing professional and social modus operandi.
3. Not being funny is generally a bad thing and can lead to mental scarring;
4. Tom Reed Jr’s standard of article writing means that at least one part of Bean Soup can compete with the best writing in the world. I’m currently working with a couple of vaguely famous screenwriters and I bet they couldn’t have written the epic oeuvre “One Armed Brake-person”;
5. Sitting on a precariously balanced metal chair 4 feet up on a rickety table over a group of bemused looking 8-year-olds is not advisable;
6. Having a co-editor who can write very funny articles at a drop of hat is a bad thing, and the noise of a highly appreciative audience’s laughter at his very funny article is a terrible thing to hear when you realize that the article you are about to read parodying an event involving a canoe, a camper, and a cake might not work as well as you initially hoped;
7. Any article that contains a list is probably a good thing as there is an expectation from the audience that at least one item must be funny.  Even if none of the items do succeed in hitting the spot, the audience do at least appreciate that you can count.  It also allows you to include the word “pagoda,” which never fails to amuse, unless you try and use it in front of a room full of accountants as part of a detailed business presentation or as a way to break the ice with a potential girlfriend;
8. Reading an article, finishing, and then being able to hear a pin drop is character forming;
9. Being in the Lodge hearing 200 people laugh at an article and feeling the electricity of a unique camp community buzz all around you and realizing that you are part of one of the great communities in the world is a good thing;
10. Parodying a Pemi song is life-affirming:

A Song that could be parodied:

Bloomer Girl

In the style of Rakim, KRS – One, Snoop Dogg, and Dr Dre:  Very much unaccompanied with a fair amount of blowing and self-inflicted drum beats with a slight look of wariness and humbleness combined with a pinch of macho pride.

****: ****; *****:  ! ! !
Bloomer Bloomer Girl;
*******; ******:
***;
********; *****,
Bloomer Girl.

A new song called “Pagoda” – in the style of Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance.”

I would hope that if we could get the Junior camp to memorise the words it might go viral very quickly.

Oh-oh-oh-oh-oooh!
Oh-oh-oooh-oh-oh!
Caught in a bad smell

Oh-oh-oh-oh-oooh!
Oh-oh-oooh-oh-oh!
Caught in a bad smell

Rah-rah-ah-ah-ah!
Pago-Pag-o-dah!
Ga-ga-ooh-la-la!
Ooh what a bad smell

Rah-rah-ah-ah-ah!
Pago-aha-da-ah!
Ga-ga-ooh-la-la!
That’s quite a bad smell.

Were you at Pemi during the 1980′s?  If you are interested in receiving one issue or more from 1980-1989, please let me know. I will be happy to send you any given issue or issues in PDF form.  You may contact me at alumni@camppemi.com. Stay tuned for future releases.  ~Nikki Wilkinson Tropeano

Here’s the deal. We’re going decade-by-decade, generally working from the present back into in the past. In case those moths and worms have been active in your own personal bookshelves, any of you who were eligible for a print copy of our esteemed journal in any past year can request a searchable pdf copy of the same. Blast notification will go out as each decade becomes available, and if you want to exercise your digital option, simply email Nikki. We will also occasionally re-publish select sections of various numbers for celebratory or informational reasons – and anyone interested in a legitimate historical or familial project that requires access to larger portions of the archive is welcome to request that. We’ll do our best to oblige in ways that appropriately respect the privacy of past campers and staff.

Nikki informs me that each decade’s release will feature a preface (or perhaps a legal disclaimer) from a distinguished Bean Soup editor of the past: the likes of Justin Thompson-Glover, Sky Fauver, Brad Saffer, or Karl See. For this first notice, she’s asked what Rob Grabill would alternatively call “an extinguished ex-editor” – that would be me – to do the honors. Well, I was indeed an editor for portions of three decades, beginning in the late sixties and ending in the late eighties. (If you don’t believe me, look at how much hair I’m missing.) Adding to that my earlier years as a camper and counselor and subsequent years as a director, I can say that I have laughed (and sometimes grimaced) my way through over fifty years of “Monday Night Fever.” When I think about Pemi, I think about campfires a lot. I think about Gilbert and Sullivan and singing in the messhall. I think about Tecumseh Days and hut trips to the Presidentials. But, in many ways, Bean Soup is the single thing that – if it could indeed be described to anyone – I would offer as a window into the soul of Pemi. Sure, part of the reason is because it documents a lot of what we actually do and say and think at camp (and a lot, too, of what we most certainly never did or said or thought!) But it’s the flow of good feeling, and common engagement, and masterful language, and often wicked humor that we witness every Monday up there that says it all – or, if not all, then at least so, so well. In the words of Doc Reed’s Campfire Song, Bean Soup often enough documents “mistakes of the head” – and it may, in fact, be guilty of a few of its own. (There have been times when a few folks here and there may have thought the Beans had been traded in for the Means. In fact, way back when, new campers were told to carve those wooden spoons because there would indeed BE bean soup served up at 7:30 in the Lodge. It was a bald-faced lie!) But “good will in the heart” has almost always prevailed, and more boys (and now gals) than I are likely to have learned how to be observant, and smart, and cutting but caring as much from Bean Soup as from anywhere else in life. What a blessing to come to a place like Pemi where you can do so much, meet so many worthwhile and welcoming people, grow in so many ways – and all with the constant reminder that you can care a lot about a lot of things without taking yourself too seriously.

So, let’s all take a moment to celebrate the Joe Campbell’s, and Rollie DeVere’s, and Bill Westfall’s, and Rob Grabill’s who have over the years invented the sport of Gummidge, and the Adventures of  Doorlock Sholmes, and Things to Look For, and the Ol’ Perfessor and Clive Bean. As Doc Nick used to say about Pemi’s history in the first Sunday Meeting of the year, “Yea, it is a goodly heritage.” (I think, in fact, he was plagiarizing from the Bible!) So it is with Bean Soup’s own storied history. Here’s to its rebirth in a form such that “age cannot wither it, nor custom stale its infinite variety.” (I think I may be plagiarizing, too. Just can’t quite remember.)

And now, on with the Soup.

~      Tom Reed, Jr.

Were you at Pemi during the 1970′s?  If you are interested in receiving one issue or more from 1970-1979, please let me know. I will be happy to send you any given issue or issues in PDF form.  You may contact me at alumni@camppemi.com. Stay tuned for future releases.  ~Nikki Wilkinson Tropeano

Here’s a  delightful article by Rob in The Daily Beast describing his recent experience as a contestant at the USA Memory Championship, held in NYC.

Rob is a reporter for Newsweek and The Daily Beast, a former instructor for Columbia University’s Undergraduate Writing Program, and his work has also appeared in The Boston Globe. Prior to that, of course, he was Bean Soup editor.

Following Joshua Foer to the USA Memory Championship

Sorry. I did it. I used a marketing ploy to get your attention. No, you can’t send two boys to Camp Pemigewassett for the price of one. But you can count on your son’s summer camp experience of gaining independence and your summer camp experience of strengthening your “letting go” skills as a legitimate 2 for 1 deal. See? Camp tuition really is a bargain.

In spite of my opening tease, we don’t label a 3.5 or 7 week Pemi experience as a product for purchase, nor do we think of our parents as blind consumers. We like to imagine Pemi as an anchor for families in a fast-paced, hectic, and complex world; where boys, parents, and Pemi staff alike can discover skills and passions, engage in civic endeavors and sound decision-making, and recharge for the busy year ahead. We consider the Pemi experience as an educational investment with lifelong dividends, and Pemi parents as our partners.

Today’s accessibility and immediacy of communication is a double-edged sword. But putting efficiency and safety aside (two undeniably positive outcomes), our digital world has handed parents yet a new challenge “to parent” effectively. Where once kids would relate their daily predicaments and how they found their way out of them after the fact, now they call Mom or Dad in the moment, and in most cases Mom or Dad is instinctively ready to offer the “right” solution. Opportunities for our children to think creatively, to sort through options, and to consider the most appropriate person to turn to for guidance given a particular situation are becoming scarce. One of the best parenting lessons I ever received was witnessing my sister-in-law respond to my 15 year-old nephew’s dilemma with a calm, “So what do you think you’ll do?” I was shocked at her response, as the answer was crystal clear to me. How could she not see and how could she then not tell him what to do? What unfolded was a give-and-take conversation where my nephew came up with multiple options and, with his mom’s help, sorted through the merits and pitfalls of each, eventually arriving at the solution that made the most sense. As challenging as it can be not to cut right to the chase in this busy world in which we live, guiding rather than managing allows children and young adults to develop their own inner compass and to be invested in the outcome of their own decisions. However, we hear more and more of young people who land safely at the college gates, only to struggle mightily with uncertainty and a lack of the resilience necessary to navigate this major life transition.

Where does Camp Pemi fit into this? For one, our Mission Statement includes the line: For parents at home, Pemi offers support and guidance, sets clear policies, and communicates honestly and dependably as parents navigate the essential art of “letting go.”

We like to think that many of the policies and procedures that we have in place support this goal. Our “seasoned parents” can probably add to this list, but here are a few of the ways in which Pemi offers parents their own summer camp experience of gaining life skills:

• Blast emails, our web site, Facebook page, and our blog are perfect platforms to post information and recommendations on articles and books that support effective parenting. Many of you have written to say that you’ve pre-ordered Homesick and Happy, which is being released this May. (And while we’re at it, you might also pick up Letting Go with Love and Confidence: Raising Resilient Teens in the 21st Century. FYI – don’t wait until your son is a teen to get this!)

• Our Parent Handbook has an extensive section on “Communication” that includes our policies, and in most cases, why we’ve chosen to put them in place.

• Parents of returning campers might have noticed a new question on the pre-season Parent Questionnaire. “What goals do you have for yourself for when your son is at camp?” It is easy to get so wrapped up in the busy lives of our children that we forget the importance of taking a step back and looking after ourselves. We hope this question inspires you as you plan for the precious 3.5 or 7 weeks that your son is safely ensconced at Pemi; whether that takes the shape of enjoying in a new way a younger child, taking those piano lessons you’ve been talking about, or relaxing with your partner on a well-earned getaway. I chatted recently with Dr Ethan Schafer, child psychologist, past Pemi camper and staff member, and recent recipient of an ACA award for his significant contributions to the camp profession. “For some reason,” Ethan said, “parents fall into this guilt thing, like they aren’t supposed to enjoy themselves if they’re doing something without their kids. They seem to forget that they had lives before they became a parent. What better way to get children thinking about their own future than by showing that you make time for—and are excited by—your own interests?”

• This next one is hard. We ask parents not to help unpack and not to make up their son’s bed for him on opening day. “But he doesn’t know how!” “He won’t know where things are!” “How do I know he’ll be able to sleep?” Please know that we understand. With over 100 years of experience, though, we see this “handing over of the reins” as a pivotal, visible sign of trust in both Pemi and in your son, though this gift to your son can be a tough pill to swallow. We hope our explanation in the Parent Handbook helps: When you arrive at the cabin, take as much time as you need to meet your son’s counselor and speak with him. We ask, however, that you depart quickly once your son’s baggage has been delivered to the cabin, and we request specifically that you do not help him unpack and make his bed. His counselor is eager and prepared to do this. Unpacking and making his bed is your son’s first opportunity to bond with his counselor and cabin mates, and it will greatly enhance his initial adjustment to let this occur.

• Some camps upload photos multiple times a day, every day, and others even have web cams installed on their property. They hire several professional photographers who comb the grounds taking photos, stopping kids to get their names and checking them off a roster. Another set of folk then tag the photos with names so that just those photos of their child go into a parent’s online account so they needn’t look at any other photos. Frankly, all I can imagine are the anxious parents of those campers glued to their computers at home, refreshing the screen hourly in order not to miss a glimpse of their child. Wow. Seems to me that at the end of camp, a camper who returns home with newfound confidence and independence (if he’s able to get to that point with cameras around him all day), will only be reunited with parents who are still stuck in communication-dependency mode! We KNOW how much you miss your son and how you ache to see him! This is why Pemi purposefully uploads photos on a dependable schedule, every Thursday and Sunday, so that you know when new photos are available, and more importantly, you might be motivated to engage in something else (perhaps some of those personal goals you’ve determined from the questionnaire?) on those built-in “off” days. We upload photos without tags and without captions, because our goal is to convey a sense of all that is going on at camp (and to which your son has access), and because it’s “okay” not to know every detail. This is a far cry from the camp described at the beginning. But we’ve heard repeatedly on our post-season parent-surveys that while they were disappointed on occasion not to see their son in the photos, our parents could sense the warmth of the Pemi community in the images, appreciated having a concrete schedule for viewing the photos, and that once camp was over and their son was home, that they had a meaningful time together looking through the photos, using the photos as inspiration for their son to convey all the details and thus be the authority of his own experience. Patience is a virtue?

• You’ve undoubtedly noticed when you’ve logged in to your online account a section called “Credit Card for Email & Photos.” As mentioned above, we use the photo system. But we opted not to activate the email system that allows parents and campers to send and receive emails. For one, we simply do not have staff who can spend the day receiving, printing, and distributing emails that 300+ individual parents might dash off to their sons. But more central to the decision, we support the writing process for both adults and children (and the US postal service)! Campers are required to write home once a week, and though campers can write whenever they have free time, we ask parents not to require their sons to write home every day (another one of those tough pills to swallow), as this pressure might lead to his feeling he must forgo spontaneous games or skip optional opportunities that are part of the rich camp experience. Instead, let him know you’ll look forward to his weekly letters and encourage him to take advantage of all that is going on at camp. (Parent Handbook). Just as important, we provide letter-writing tips in our Parent handbook and ask our parents to write and mail letters as well so that parents are modeling for their children what it is that we are asking of them. Again, Ethan Schafer had a professional take on this: “Email, by nature, is meant to be quick and efficient, but pausing to sit and handwrite thoughtful letters to your kid at camp says so much more. It’s important for the child, but it’s just as important, if not more, for the adult to take the time to make that happen.”

When faced with “letting go” while their boys are settled at Pemi, by and large, Pemi parents just seem to “get it” – they understand that a constant drip-feed of information, or being a virtual fly-on-the-cabin-wall, or anguishing 24/7 while their son is at camp isn’t healthy for anyone, and certainly won’t place them in sync with their son and his newfound life skills when reunited at the end of camp.

Each year, especially as pre-season questionnaires flow our way, we are reminded of the fortitude that it takes to hand your son over to the care of others especially when, at times, that can feel counter-intuitive. As always, it is an honor for us to be on this journey with you, and most of all, we appreciate your trust.

~Dottie Reed

Ethan Schafer and his son, Andy.

It is our great pleasure to announce that the American Camp Association (ACA) presented Dr. Ethan D. Schafer with a 2012 Hedley S. Dimock Award at their national conference in Atlanta last week. This award, given annually, honors those who have “made significant contributions to the camp profession through related fields such as outdoor education, conservation, recreation medicine, education, architecture, or the social sciences through administrative, legislative, or professional contributions or by participation in local, state, or national program development.”

A practicing child psychologist in Ohio, Ethan serves as consultant for two private schools and as adjunct Assistant Professor of Psychology at Case Western Reserve University. He has shared his professional expertise with the camping world since 2003, visiting camps across the country to lead pre-season staff training sessions. On the regional and national level, Ethan has created numerous workshops for ACA conferences and events which address topics such as: working with adolescents, partnering with parents, staff training, behavior management, understanding mental health issues, and stopping risky behavior. His current role on the Summer Crisis Intervention Team places him as a first responder to assist camp management should a major challenge or tragedy occur. Throughout this time, Ethan has contributed numerous articles to ACA’s Camping Magazine, two of which were honored with a Golden Quill Award signifying excellence in written contributions that address the needs of camp professionals: The Psychology of Learning and Behavior Management: What it Means For Camp and Staff Training and Training Your Staff to Manage the Challenges of Adolescence.

Ethan’s Pemi career began in 1986 with a 6-year stint as camper. He returned as an assistant counselor in 1993 (serving, also, as Head Waiter) and was a cabin counselor from 1995 to 1998. He wore the additional dual hats of Division Head and Bean Soup editor in ’97 and ’98. Ethan launched his camp-consulting vocation at Pemi in 2003 and continued to assist with Pemi staff training through the 2007 season and again in 2010. In 2005, Ethan stayed onsite for two weeks as the first Head of Staff for that season.

When asked about his recent ACA award, Ethan replied, “My whole camp career as a psychologist is basically just my trying to export what I learned at Pemi. I combine the lessons of Pemi—fair play and character development—with some basic psychological science to help make more camps do ‘on purpose’ what Pemi does by its nature.” He adds, “I can think of many kids (patients and students where he has worked) for whom camp would do wonders, far more than years of therapy, or in some cases, even traditional school.  I think kids learn more life skills in an afternoon damming up the junior stream with their buddies than they do in a week of school.”

Ethan and his wife Kelly live outside Cleveland with their sons Andy (3) and Adam (6 months). Please join us in congratulating him on having been honored with this well-deserved, prestigious award. Ethan’s continued focus on staff training for camps improves the camping experience for all.

By Steve Baskin

When I started my career as a camp director in 1993, my mother (the “Silver Fox”) shared the following thought with me: “summer camp is like college, but just a little bit early”.

Being a strong believer in my mother’s wisdom, I found myself thinking about this statement fairly often. Summer camp had been a huge part of my personal development as a young man, and had even found its way into my college and graduate school applications. Yet the idea that “camp was like college” did not seem to make sense to me at the time.

Over the past 16 years, I have found that this idea is actually a profound one.

Three years ago, we were talking with a friend whose daughter was in her first year at college. Both mother and daughter had struggled mightily with the separation. “During the first semester, we would talk everyday, sometimes 5 or 6 times. She was so sad and uncomfortable away from home. It really affected her grades and social life. She is better in her second semester, and she only calls once or twice a day. I still worry about her though.”

This conversation reminded me of a speech I heard by Dr Wendy Mogel a few years ago. Dr Mogel is a nationally-known clinical psychologist and educator who wrote the best-seller parenting book “The Blessing of a Skinned Knee”. She shared a story about a good friend of hers whose daughter was a freshman at college at Sarah Lawrence.

Unlike my friend, this woman’s daughter thrived in her first semester in college. She earned exceptional marks (making the Dean’s List) and she became president of the freshman class. During Parents weekend, her mother met the mother of a senior who was president of the entire student body and was weighing various job offers. The two mothers were sharing stories about their daughter’s college experience when the mother of the senior shared an unexpected thought:

“I bet your daughter went to overnight summer camp.”

“She did, but what makes you say that?”

“I am not surprised. I have noticed that my daughter’s friends who had strong freshman years all went to overnight camp at some point. The ones that really struggled did not.”

The contrast of these two freshman experiences (our friends and Wendy’s) compelled me to think about why this might be true. Here is what I came up with.

Going to college presents many challenges, three of which jump out at me:

• Increased academic rigor (college work is simply harder than high school work)
• Being away from home and your traditional support system (family, friends, familiar places)
• Dealing with large amounts of uncertainty (what will classes require, how will I fit in socially, can I deal with this new roommate)

Of course, overnight camp does little to deal with the first challenge of academic rigor, but it helps substantially with both of the other challenges.

Camp helps students adjust to being away-from-home by giving them practice being away-from-home. Campers coming to camp (often as young as Kindergarten or 1st grade) get to experience being separated from home successfully. Certainly, most campers have some homesickness, but the supportive camp community and the fun activities help ease them through this initial challenge. Homesickness is natural. Children will miss their parents.

Further, we live in a society that sometimes suggests to children that they are only safe within eyeshot of their parents. Yet, we parents want our children to grow in confidence and independence so that they can live productive, fulfilling and joyous lives. Camp enables children to experience successful independence. Like college, they are away-from-home. Unlike college, they are in a community committed to their physical and emotional safety.

Camp also helps campers deal with uncertainty. The first week of camp is full of uncertainty: Who are these counselors? What are these traditions? Where do I go? Who will be my friends? Will I be successful? Just like college, there is schedule-related uncertainty (where to go and when) and social uncertainty (who, among this group of relative strangers, will be my friend).

The camper gets to experience overcoming this uncertainty. I like to think of it as strengthening the “resilience muscle.” Having done so, the next experience of uncertainty is easier to handle. The camper who comes to camp for several years gets multiple opportunities to strengthen his or her resilience muscle. By the time they go to college, they are much more confident and resilient.

So the former summer camper arriving at college as a Freshman can focus his or her energy on the challenges of academic rigor, but not worry about being away from home and the uncertainty of a new environment. Other students face all three challenges. Seen this way, it is not hard to understand how camp can help later with college.

Last summer, a long-time camp mom shared her thoughts about her oldest son going out-of-state to college. I asked her how she felt. “I’m going to miss him.”

“Are you worried about his first semester?”

“No way. He has already gone to camp for 9 years, so I know he will be fine. He is so excited to face this challenge. Camp has also helped me – I have had practice being separated from him. He is going to shine at school!”

Later that evening, my wife and I agreed on three things: First, this was one of the nicest endorsements of camp we had heard. Second, we are so happy to think that the campers who have become such an important part of our lives will have an advantage in college. Finally, the “Silver Fox,” once again, was right.

___________________

Amazon book description: “An insightful and powerful look at the magic of summer camp—and why it is so important for children to be away from home . . . if only for a little while. In an age when it’s the rare child who walks to school on his own, the thought of sending your “little ones” off to sleep-away camp can be overwhelming—for you and for them. But parents’ first instinct—to shelter their offspring above all else—is actually depriving kids of the major developmental milestones that occur through letting them go—and watching them come back transformed.

In Homesick and Happy, renowned child psychologist Michael Thompson, PhD, shares a strong argument for, and a vital guide to, this brief loosening of ties. A great champion of summer camp, he explains how camp ushers your children into a thrilling world offering an environment that most of us at home cannot: an electronics-free zone, a multigenerational community, meaningful daily rituals like group meals and cabin clean-up, and a place where time simply slows down. In the buggy woods, icy swims, campfire sing-alongs, and daring adventures, children have emotionally significant and character-building experiences; they often grow in ways that surprise even themselves; they make lifelong memories and cherished friends. Thompson shows how children who are away from their parents can be both homesick and happy, scared and successful, anxious and exuberant. When kids go to camp—for a week, a month, or the whole summer—they can experience some of the greatest maturation of their lives, and return more independent, strong, and healthy.

_____________________

To further whet your appetite, here is an excerpt from Homesick and Happy, from the 2012 January/February issue of Camping magazine.

We are delighted to announce that the Geological Society of America has named Larry Davis as a Fellow of the society. Larry, who spends the off-season as Professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences at the University of New Haven, is in his 43rd year at Pemi where he serves as Director of Pemi’s renowned Nature Program.

The Geological Society of America (GSA) cited Larry for “distinguished contributions in building the public’s awareness of geology and its impacts on environmental problems; his extensive service to GSA’s Geology and Public Policy Committee, Northeastern Section, and to the Geology and Society Division; and his assistance to local government agencies in solving environmental problems.” The society has over 24,000 members worldwide. GSA members are elected to Fellowship in recognition of distinguished contributions to the geosciences, an honor that is bestowed on the best of the profession.

In recent years, as the citation notes, Larry has served on GSA’s Committee on Geology and Public Policy, which writes position papers for the organization. Of special note is his contribution to the position paper on climate change, one of the strongest statements of its kind from any geoscience society and which reflects the scientific consensus that has developed around this challenge. He also helped write position papers on several other topics including Land Use Management, Diversity in the Geosciences, and Natural Hazards. He is currently the vice-chair of the Society’s Division on Geology and Society and will become chair of this division in October, 2012. Larry also serves as the Chair of the Science Committee (the “Chief Scientist”) for the Northeastern Cave Conservancy.

Larry has long advocated for summer camps as ideal venues in which to promote true outdoor education and stewardship of the environment. A member of the Children and Nature Task Force of the American Camp Association (ACA), Larry will chair a panel on Models for Nature Programs at Camp and More: In Summer and After School; Rural and Urban Settings, part of the “conference within the conference” on Children and Nature at the American Camp Association national meeting in Atlanta this February. Participants also include Pemi’s Associate Director of Nature, Deb Kure, representing Campfire International.

Most recently, Larry was invited to apply for participation in a National Science Foundation sponsored workshop/conference at the Smithsonian’s Natural History Museum in February. Limited to 100 participants, the conference is entitled 21st Century Learning in Natural History Settings: A Conference to Initiate Research-Driven Innovation in Informal Natural History Learning. At Larry’ suggestion, conference organizers have also invited Pemi counselor, Conner Scace, to apply. Conner is planning a career as an environmental educator.

Please join us in congratulating Larry, not only on this significant honor of having been elected as Fellow of the Geological Society of America, but for a lifetime of sharing his expertise and passion with others, especially the campers and staff at Camp Pemigewassett.

I am thrilled to write to you as the new Alumni Community Coordinator for Camp Pemi. I first visited the shores of Lower Baker Pond at the age of 8 along with my mother Kay, my brother Grant, and my stepfather Scott Withrow. Pemi holds a special place in my heart like no other. The memories I have of working hard and playing hard at Pemi—with friends both new and old—are woven into the fabric of my life. One of my favorite memories is how Tom Reed, Sr. would introduce me at the annual opening staff meetings as the person who had held the most varied number of positions at Pemi – even though I was never “a boy.”

From its very first days when Gar and Win Fauver and Dudley Reed convinced a dozen venturesome families to entrust their boys to their care in the Northern wilderness, Pemi has always been a place that forged a remarkable sense of community for those who were fortunate to spend a summer (and in many cases, many summers!) at Pemi. I always enjoyed seeing an unfamiliar car drive slowly past the Senior Beach, park in front of the Lodge, and have men of all ages step out to introduce themselves…alums from the thirties, forties, and on, who have come back to Pemi to “water their nostalgia plants” (as my mother would say).

Pemi’s regular reunions have always allowed us to reconnect with our extended camp family, but I am particularly looking forward to the 105^th, which is slated for August 17-19, 2012. We’re looking forward to celebrating the tried and true—vaudeville, sports, trips, campfires, etc.—but we’re also looking forward to adding a variety of workshops offered by visiting professionals (many of whom are already members of our community). Perhaps activities such as comedy improv, night photography, and fly-tying may find their way into the daily program of events.

Let us not forget Bean Soup, which even as I write is entering the 21^st century. From the very first 1910 edition to the most current serving, Bean Soup will be digitized so that you might read them on your own computer. We also plan to further develop and expand the Alumni section of the Pemi website and the Pemi Blog to provide more opportunity to exchange information, announcements, and accomplishments. We really look forward to becoming a comprehensive resource for the Pemi family.

Other ideas? How about events held in cities far and wide? How about travel? Imagine descending into the Grand Canyon with Larry Davis, exploring historical London with Tom Reed, Jr., or participating in the Gilbert and Sullivan Annual Festival in Buxton England. Suffice it to say there is plenty of room for brainstorming, and I hope you will share your own ideas by sending an email to me at alumni@camppemi.com.

I am eager to hear from you, to develop this new opportunity, and to support the extended Pemi community. As in the words of the Pemi Campfire Song, I wonder if anyone’s better for anything I’ve done or said, and whether good will in the heart may offset mistakes of the head. Perhaps when life’s mem’ries are gathered the camp ones will be with the rest…. Let us set out together to rekindle those memories and share in developing new ones for each new crop of the Pemi family.

Good luck, Long life, and Joy.

Warmest wishes

Nicole Wilkinson Tropeano