For most people in the Pemi community, the phrase “the last day of camp” would be easy to define: it’s the day when the boys leave. For well over a century, that’s been a relatively uncontroversial definition. Sure, some might have claimed that the counselors left the next day so that was the real “last day,” or that with the creation of the Rittner Run, the camp season extended yet another day; but those arguments wouldn’t have gotten you very far. By 2024, however, we may have reached the point where the appropriate titleholder for “last day of camp” has shifted convincingly. In its fifth summer, Pemi’s Family Camp has reached a stage where it’s become not just a fun escape for a group of families but has also grown into an indispensable part of the Pemi program. This year’s Family Camp saw old friendships rekindling, new bonds forming, campers and staff from multiple continents, established competitions taking place, and 5-year-bowls being awarded. In short, it had so many of the hallmarks of what makes the Pemi experience special. As such, it’s only fitting that Family Camp now joins the main part of the summer in garnering its own write-up in the form of a Pemi newsletter. Read on to learn all about unique Family Camp traditions, the ways in which Pemi traditions are built into the week, and the unbridled joy and camaraderie that formed this unforgettable week!

Families began arriving on Monday afternoon, August 12^th, and were greeted by Family Camp director Dan Reed along with many members of the Pemi staff (more on them throughout). Families moved into cabins stretching from Junior Camp to Upper 5 and from the Lake House to lodging “up the hill.” As a note, most families stay in regular Pemi cabins for the week, but there are also a few “real” houses available with fancy amenities such as doors, window screens, and indoor plumbing. Down in Junior Camp this year, we had veteran Family Campers who have now well outlasted the typical three-year maximum stay in Junior Camp as a camper. Returning to their Junior Camp enclave were the See and Bagg family, the McCue and Jaskolka family, the Glahns, and the Rossetti and D’Amato family. They were joined this year by Family Camp newcomers the Thomson Family, though it should be pointed out that Justin Thomson is certainly no stranger to Pemi, returning to camp for his first stay since our 100^th summer celebration in 2007. To help keep this motley crew in line for some of the week, they were watched over by Danny and Julia Kerr, who returned to their old haunt in the Lake House once again.

After families took some time to settle in, it was up to the Mess Hall for Pemi’s traditional opening meal of pizza and ice-cream. We were truly lucky this summer that two of Pemi’s chefs, Tom Ciglar (head of dining) and Michael McMurray, stayed for Family Camp, as did the entire kitchen crew. This meant that our quality of food throughout the week far exceeded what one might expect when thinking of typical camp fare. While the back-of-house looked largely the same for Family Camp as it had all summer, the dining room itself got a bit of a makeover, as has become the norm. Instead of eating in our typical arrangement with single tables of ten, we ate at three long banquet tables, consisting of multiple tables lined up together. Campers and staff alike are instructed to fill in at the start of the first table when they arrive and proceed down the line of tables from there. Or, as Dan Reed famously described it, the group fills in the tables the same way you eat a piece of the corn on the cob. This style of communal dining means that families often eat together, but that they’re also regularly intermixed. Members of different families will eat together, staff will be right there with them, and kids might seek out their friends (as might adults) and grab seats next to each other. It makes for a fun and varied mealtime experience, with opportunities throughout the week to have family time, time to catch up with friends, and time to meet new people.

After the opening dinner, everyone headed down to Senior Beach for orientation and introductions around the campfire. Dan and the staff introduced themselves, and then one member of each family stood and introduced their entire crew for the week. Attendees ranged from seven-decade Pemi veteran Sandy See to four families – the Davidsons, the Pezzulli and Blyers, the Garnseys, and the Rodman/Feldman/Gamboa cabin – joining Pemi for the first time. The family introductions are a wonderful Family Camp feature that quickly establishes the warm, outgoing, and friendly nature of this week. We certainly know that adults and family groups can wonder, just as the boys do at the start of their summer, whether they’ll make friends in this new setting, but it quickly becomes obvious during the opening meeting that the Pemi spirit of inclusion is ever-present at Family Camp. With introductions and some key announcements about schedule, facilities, water safety, etc., completed, families lingered around the fire on the beach or retired back to their cabins to enjoy the crisp New Hampshire air as they drifted off to sleep.

Tuesday morning began, as all Pemi mornings do, with Polar Bear at Junior Camp, the Intermediate Squish steps, and Senior Beach. We even had a few brave campers who did their first of a week’s worth of Pink Polar Bears in the stream down in Junior Camp. Breakfast at Family Camp runs a bit differently – coffee is available in the Small Dining Room starting at about 7am (thank you Dottie and Deb!), and the meal is served buffet-style from 8-8:45am with morning announcements taking place at the end. This schedule allows folks to linger out on the porch over a cup of coffee or tea, sometimes in conversation with others and sometimes simply in silence as they look out over camp and enjoy one of our most peaceful views with the mist lifting off the fields and out of the valley.

The morning’s activities are announced each day, with a combination of open program areas and specific games/projects/events offered in every morning and afternoon session. Families can visit program areas as a group or divide and conquer, although parents of young children are asked to accompany them to most activities other than a designated “kid solo event” each day. Daily activities at Family Camp include archery, waterskiing, a variety of options in the Nature Lodge (wild foods, geology exploration, mushroom walks, birding, and so much more!), art projects, and a rotation of sports and waterfront options. Each morning and afternoon had a smattering of offerings across these activities, with the one constant being that each and every day you were sure to see Hugh and Tristan Peterson running all over the place with Clayton Peterson and Christine Mauro gamely doing their best to match the boys’ energy levels.

In addition to these regular daily activities, we had a number of special events throughout the week. On Tuesday, for example, we had a fan favorite after dinner: wiffle ball under the lights. Phil Landry once again constructed a stadium that goes above and beyond whatever you might be envisioning, aided this year by new light poles and fencing. I challenge anyone to find a better DIY wiffle ball stadium. As it always does, this event brought together teams of all ages. We lined up and were randomly split into teams for a round-robin series of short games, ensuring that everyone got multiple at-bats, played in the field, and cheered from the sidelines. There were too many highlights to name them all, but some include late game heroics from Noah Blyer with a walk-off hit to win one game, steady play from Cameron Rodman throughout, power hitting from Tom Mele, and incredible perseverance from Mac Nevius as he did his best to get a hit in his first ever game. With Mac at the plate, the entire group rallied around him, cheering him on as he took cut after cut. His determination was a sight to behold, and he was eventually rewarded with solid contact on the ball and a massive cheer from all in attendance!

The following evening saw another Pemi/Family Camp favorite: our first of two campfires. As is always the case at Pemi, we had quite the variety of performances, ranging from the comedic to the sublime. Highlights of campfire included, but certainly weren’t limited to, a twist on a recent Pemi favorite, some amazing singing, and a truly mind-blowing recitation of geopolitical knowledge. The quartet of Grace Rossetti, Marlena See, Stella Glahn, and Stella McCue performed as “The Four Wise Girls,” a play on the “Three Wise Men” skit that has been a campfire staple for several years now. They took questions from the audience and then went down the line answering one word at a time, often to hilarious effect. Family Camp newcomer Lettle Thomson wowed us with a vocal performance for the ages, demonstrating incredible talent and bravery to get up there and sing a cappella. It’s a performance that no one in attendance is likely to forget any time soon. Asa Mele is no stranger to the Pemi campfire circle, and he once again impressed us with his knowledge of world capitals. Campfire MC Steve Clare had even printed off a list to double check Asa’s answers, and without fail, Asa took a country called out by an audience member and nearly-instantly named its capital. (It should also be noted that Asa was put on the spot later in the week at a meal and was asked to name every flag in the Mess Hall, which he successfully did). As all Pemi campfires do, this one concluded with a story by Larry Davis (Beginner’s Luck) followed by the Campfire Song. There’s always a special feeling when we stand in that circle, arms wrapped around each other, singing the words that cut to the very heart of the Pemi spirit. At Family Camp that feeling was magnified as one looked around and saw former campers and counselors with their arms draped over their daughters’ shoulders, grandparents standing and singing with three generations of their family present, and people who might once have described themselves as “Pemi spouses” or “Pemi parents” but who are now forever Pemi campers in their own right.

On top of time-tested Pemi staples like campfire, Family Camp has also been building up its own repertoire of traditions and traditions-to-be. Chief among these are the kids vs. adults soccer game and the Amazing Race. With the adults having come out on top in 2023, the kids were looking for vengeance on the pitch this year, and they wasted no time in making a statement. Right from the opening kickoff, seven-year-old Tristan Peterson took the ball, dribbled through four unsuspecting adults who figured they didn’t have to worry about him, and cooly slotted the ball past Zach See for a 1-0 lead inside of a minute. Tristan and Mac Nevius continued to cause problems for the adults all day, forcing Zach into several key saves. The kids also had strong performances from Tom Mele in the middle of the field, and Marlena See and Grace Rossetti on the left. The adults managed to battle back, despite a second goal from Tristan, and knotted the game at halftime. Unfortunately, that’s when the skies decided to open up and the thunder rolled in. We had to settle for a 2-2 draw, meaning that the kids will surely once again be out for revenge in 2025.

The newest Family Camp tradition (which technically needs one more year to satisfy our Pemi definition of a tradition being something that’s happened three summers in a row, but I feel confident on this one) is the Amazing Race. The brainchild of Donovan Laas in 2023, this competition sees teams running around camp following clues and completing tasks in order to be the first to arrive at the finish line. After the Mele/Aarons Family won in 2023, Nicco Mele 3D printed a Pemi Kid trophy that will go to the victors each summer. The 2024 version was an incredibly close race in all aspects but one – the costume contest was a blowout victory for Team Lower Baker – Alison Bagg, Edgar See, and Elizabeth Garnsey – who all dressed up as actual bakers. The race itself was a nailbiter as teams moved through challenges involving archery, canoeing, basketball, blind taste testing, and more. The Mele/Aarons Family looked like they might repeat as champions, but in the end the all-adult team of Laura D’Amato, Brooks Glahn, Shannon Hutteman, Zach Rossetti, and Zach See edged them out for the victory, sprinting to Senior Beach and snatching the trophy out of the Rat’s Nest. Congrats to the victors, and huge thanks to Josh Scarponi for taking on the complex organization and logistics in order to make the second Amazing Race such a success!

You’re probably getting the sense by now that, just like during a normal week at Pemi, there’s too much going on to squeeze it all into one post. Additional highlights from the week that deserve longer mention than they’re about to receive included Greg Bowes inspiring a large group of swimmers to brave a windy and choppy day to complete a double distance swim, Allyson Fauver convincing attendees that it would be “fun” to carry 60lbs rolls of roofing up to the Pemi Hill Shelter – special thanks to Elizabeth Garnsey, Nishi Davidson, Andy and Teeden Boss, Nicco Mele, Zach See, and our fastest hauler Devon Nevius with moral support from Oliver Nevius for believing Allyson’s claim – and a first-ever Family Camp Banquet complete with a turkey parade and a full complement of sides and fixings. We also had another hugely successful evening “Paint and Sip” thanks to Megan Cardillo, a trip to Moose Scoops spearheaded by Deb, daily morning yoga led by Michaella Frank, and a mushroom walk with Larry Davis and Reilly McCue. On top of all that, we had daily free swims, happy hours on the beach, a cookout dinner, an optional day hike organized by Jud Landis, early morning birding, and so much more!

Family Camp has quickly become a highlight of every Pemi summer, and we want to extend our deepest thanks to all of the families that have turned this vision into a reality. A special shoutout goes to the families that received their Family Camp five-year bowls this summer: the See/Bagg Family, Greg Bowes, the Glahn Family, and the McCue/Jaskolka Family! They’ve been with us all five summers and have done an incredible job of helping to establish the warm, welcoming, and fun-loving culture that permeates Family Camp. It’s a truly special week that involves the best of Pemi mixed with a few added comforts and amenities to make it an accessible experience for campers of all ages. If you want to learn more, or if you’re considering Pemi’s Family Camp for 2025, please reach out to me to talk further. We hope to see you on the shores of Lower Baker next August! Until then, a huge thank you to all of the Family Camp staff and campers for another amazing summer!

Wishing you all good luck, long life, and joy,

Pat Clare