Greetings from Wentworth!

It’s been quite a week here on the shores of Lower Baker Pond, as the Pemi season continues at breakneck pace. Not only have the boys and staff been all over the place, but the weather has been doing. During the last seven days, we’ve gone from nearly 100º temperatures with mandatory shade and water breaks, along with extra free swims and polar bear dips, to chilly days in the low 60s with mandatory layers for Campfire on Saturday night. Now as I write this on Tuesday afternoon, we’re back into the 80s and are enjoying a run of beautiful New Hampshire summer days. Pemi campers have taken advantage with all sorts of incredible trips, high energy sporting events, performances that inspired and amused us, and quiet moments that help solidify the bonds of our tight knit community.

In our Sunday Meeting two nights ago, Kenny and Deb Kure (Pemi’s Head of Nature) spoke to us about our summer theme of joy. Hearing them talk about both their own personal sources of joy – family, nature, travel, community – and the moments of joy they experience at Pemi served as a powerful reminder of the benefits we all gain from our time together. Daily life at Pemi offers so many opportunities to experience joy and to pass it on to others, and the Sunday Meeting gave us ample food for thought on how we can notice and appreciate the joyfulness of the Pemi community every single day. We’re so fortunate to spend our summers in a place with so much play, discovery, music, and laughter; joy truly abounds at Pemi. For evidence, read on!

As mentioned in last week’s newsletter, last Tuesday a group of campers accompanied Dottie Reed and Nick Gordon on a trip to the Warren-Wentworth Food Pantry to drop off all of your generous Cans From Campers donations. The group – Harrison Charlebois, James Davis, Isaac Flecker, Sasha Honig, Kai Karsan, Jaeden Lopes, Bryce Madom, Connor Smillie, Sam Wasinger, Mason Winell, Rudy Wei, Will Bixby, and Ethan Onysko – helped to load the supplies at Pemi and unload them at the pantry. In the process they learned more about the pressing challenge of food insecurity in our local area and in the country more broadly. It was a chance for the boys to give back and learn about this vital topic. Cans From Campers is one of several prominent community service initiatives that Pemi campers can participate in during the summer, and I look forward to highlighting more such opportunities in the coming weeks.

While we’ve had some hot days and some chilly ones, we’ve been enjoying an overall relatively dry spell of weather, with only a few periodic rainstorms passing through. They’ve been rare enough that when they’ve come, they’ve been welcome breaks from the heat and have helped keep Pemi looking as lush as I’ve ever seen it. This weather has also meant that the 2025 trip program has gotten off to a flying start!

In addition to the Carters four-day mentioned in last week’s newsletter, we had several more overnight trips set out during week 1, including a three-day trip to the Kinsmans with Hunter Ward, Brandon Lyu, Benjamin Desiato, Nicholas Brown, Ashe Pages, Pierce O’Shaughnessy, Caleb Greenberg, and Dylan Sandral. Leaving camp Wednesday afternoon, the boys set out with their trip counselors Thomas Nielsen and Leo Ventimiglia to undertake a marquee New Hampshire hike. After a relatively easy first day hiking into the Eliza Brook campsite, the boys traversed a beautiful stretch of the Appalachian Trail and summited South Kinsman, Kinsman Mountain, and North Kinsman before camping at the Kinsman Pond Shelter on night two. They then heading down the Fishin’ Jimmy Trail on day three and were picked up at the Lafayette Campground. This is a classic New Hampshire hike that offers stunning views and a great introduction to ridge hiking for our Lowers.

We also kicked off our annual AMC high hut trips right away in week one with a group of 13-year-olds heading up to Greenleaf Hut: Charlie Pages, Will Dennis, Tyson Madkins, Baz White, Emmet Greene, Danny Follansbee, Finn Stephan, and Isaac Flecker. The boys trekked to the hut, elevation 4,220 feet above sea level and sitting on the should of Mt. Lafayette, where they were treated to a freshly cooked dinner by the Greenleaf Croo. After filling up on enchiladas and dessert, they had time to explore the surrounding area and read through the logbooks to find Pemi entries from years and decades past while sipping hot cocoa. They spent the night in real beds rather than tents and then had a hot breakfast the next morning before hitting the trail again. Along with this one, we’ll send five more trips up to Greenleaf this summer to enjoy the hike along the Franconia Ridge, summiting Mts. Lafayette, Lincoln, Little Haystack, Liberty and Flume before descending. For boys who have done the Kinsmans Range in prior summers, the Franconia Ridge is the next level up. The top of the ladder in New Hampshire is the Presidential Range, and we’ll have more on that next week when we hear about the two Presidential hut trips for Seniors that left camp today for stays at Lakes of the Clouds and Madison Spring Huts.

While most boys at Pemi complete an overnight trip during the summer, every single camper goes out on a day hike to one of our nearby mountains, and those trips started in earnest in week 1 as well. The boys of Lowers 1 and 2 – Teddy Bea, Will Drummond, George Kingdon, Charlie Millet, Logan Ramsey, Arthur Johnson, Niam Santiago, Sahith Anumolu, Hagen Baugher, Max Dennett, Miller Grandbois, Russell Howland, Isa Husen, and William Moore – ascended Rattlesnake Mountain on Wednesday, enjoying a leisurely lunch on the summit and yet still beating their scheduled van pickup back to the trailhead by nearly an hour. The next day Lowers 3 and 4 – Henry Danzig, Wes McCay, Kingston Bowne, Drew Nelson, Sawyer Brez, Phill Pries, Kieran Burke, Timmy Lorig, James Aidi, Parker Korb, Hy Butler-Scott, and Leo Schrippa – went up Mt. Cube, taking the Cross Rivendell Trail up and coming down the Appalachian Trail to Route 25A just down the road from camp. Continuing our great run of day hikes, another group of campers summited Cube on Friday: Colin McLean, Micah Tolber, Jacob Stilliard, Charles Grundy, Joe Riemer, Luca Ilardi, Vicente Henríquez Lindeck Pozza, Wills Waitzkin, Lope de Hoces, and Brian Lorig.

On top of all these hikes out of camp, our Junior trip program up to the Pemi Hill Shelter has seen Juniors 1, 3, and 4 complete overnight camping experiences of their own. The boys make the roughly ¾ of a mile hike up to our Adirondack-style lean-to shelter on the hillside above camp, learning how to read trail markers and about proper trail etiquette along the way. Once at the shelter, they spend time learning additional aspects of camp craft such as how to read a map and compass, principles of Leave No Trace, safe fire building techniques, and more. They also enjoy cooking dinner over the campfire, roasting s’mores, and sleeping out in the woods. It’s a wonderful introduction to overnight trips that helps ease first timers into the awe-inspiring world of camping and backpacking. So far we’ve had the following boys complete this trip: Henry Beals, Foster Bowen, Bentley Bowen, George Tice, Gavin Sullivan, Dan Koffler, Theo Barker, Dylan Bose, Alex Harcout, Cuinn Limmany, Conor Sullivan, William Tice, Ben Dietz, James McFarren, Franklin Pyle, Graham Smigler, William Stewart, Riley Stroud, and Oliver Wilson.

With all these trips up Pemi Hill and out of camp, 76 Pemi campers set out with the trip program in week one alone. Already in week 2 we’ve also had Juniors 1 and 2 – Henry Beals, Bentley Bowen, Foster Bowen, Dan Koffler, Gavin Solomon, George Tice, Luca Bonanno, Holden Burr, Crosby Danzig, Pierce Golay, Hugh Peterson and Elliott Tisdale – climb Rattlesnake, Lower 5 – Dash Bowman, Benton Candia, Caleb Greenberg, Francisco Henríquez Lindeck-Pozza, Corrado Mariani, Moses Pyle, Hunter Ward, and Xander Wasinger – ascend Mt. Cube, and four more overnight trips depart camp today. In the first ten days of camp, over 100 boys have either completed or set out on hiking trips! It’s been a banner start to the summer for the Pemi trip program.  

Pemi’s creative arts program has also kicked off with a bang here in 2025. We’ve had amazing projects in the woodshop; visual art activities ranging from self-portraits to hat weaving to cartoon drawings; musical offerings and jam sessions on a whole host of instruments; and an incredible mix of drama activities such as monologues, improv and skits, and a new one for Pemi (at least in recent memory): Fun with Accents. Under the tutelage of head of drama Dave Johnson, boys have had the chance to work on the theatrical skillset of adapting different regional and national accents for theater productions. It’s simultaneously a great introduction to a highly technical theatrical skill and a ton of fun – a perfect Pemi combo!

Campers’ artistic and creative talents were on full display at our Campfire on Saturday night. To kick things off, a group of Juniors put on truly one of the best ensemble performances that I can remember from our youngest campers in quite some time. In a well-rehearsed and planned out musical skit, Henry Kaminski, Charles Golay, Pierce Golay, Campbell Brett, Carr Polsinelli, Jeffrey Eng, and Rhys Farmer performed “Let It Grow” from Dr. Seuss’s The Lorax movie. These boys all have an incredibly bright future on the Pemi stage! Carr jumped right back up with an awesome solo guitar performance, before Hy Butler-Scott, Leo Schrippa, and Ashe Pages took to the bench to tell a series of jokes. Wills Waitzkin, Charlie Milgrim, and Graham Smigler put on a series of skits that they’d practiced in their Improv activity throughout the week, mixing in a collection of physical, deadpan, and farcical comedy. Next came a Pemi musical classic, Soundpainting, which is a musical improv activity. The group of Charles Goaly, Johnny Thibault, Manfred Creane, Brian Lorig, Rudy Wei, Connor Smillie and head of music Evan Anderson were conducted by Charlie Knapp and created a mosaic of sound that kept us highly entertained as it rolled across the lake. Holden Burr told a seemingly scary story that ended with a comedic punchline before Tom Reed, Jr. and Jud Landis gave a great guitar duet, followed by stories from Tom and then Larry Davis. Larry busted out one of his greatest hits, “Beginner’s Luck,” to the great delight of the crowd, and then we closed with our arms locked ‘round one another as we sang the Campfire Song.

Pemi’s Nature program continues stronger than ever in the 101^st summer of our formal nature study program. Deb Kure and her incomparable staff help boys learn about the world around us as they get their hands dirty in the processes of discovery and science. The nature offerings so far this summer have included activities such as Animal Evidence, Birding, Birds (different than birding; ask a camper!), Environmental Sculpture, Insects, Mineral Kingdom, Rock Cycle, Space!, Botany, Plate Tectonics, Ponds and Streams, and, of course, Weird Science and Wild Foods. Believe it or not, that’s only a partial list of the offerings across weeks one and two!

Additionally, we’ve had a number of nature field trips go out in the afternoons. Last Friday our first trip of the summer to the Palermo Mine set off with George Ross, Hugh Peterson, Graham Smigler, Arthur Johnson, Teddy Bea, Charlie Mellet, Wes McCay, Julian Blaustein, Ben Jones, Nick McCay, and Johnny Thibault. This nearby mine is a world-famous mineral location that’s not open to the public. We’re fortunate enough to be friends with the owner, who’s given us our own key and allows Pemi to visit whenever we like. Boys spend the afternoon scampering around and collecting quartz, feldspar, mica, beryl, apatite crystals, gem-quality aquamarines, and more. The next morning we had our first edition of Birding Before Breakfast, and this one actually included a “beyond breakfast” component as well, as the group – Ben Desiato, Brandon Lyu, Wade Fleming, Julian Blaustein, Daniel Desiato, Baz White, Vikram Jay, Sasha Honig, Ben Jones, and Johnny Thibault –traveled north to Bethlehem, New Hampshire to see what they could spot. This extended morning trip provided ample time for seeing a whole range of thrushes, warblers, and other species, many of which don’t make it down as far as Pemi.

Throughout week one Pemi’s athletes also took to the courts and fields to kick off the 2025 athletic season. We had a number of competitions with our nearby friends at Kingswood, Moosilauke, and Walt Whitman – three camps that share our values of sportsmanship, participation, and spirited, friendly competition. We’re so lucky to have these other camps right by us, and collectively we compete in our Baker Valley Tournaments on a regular basis, providing Pemi campers with regular intercamp games in a wide range of sports. So far this summer we’ve played other camps in baseball, basketball, soccer, ultimate, tennis, pickleball, and track and field, and before the week’s out we’ll have added archery and lacrosse to that list, with swimming and chess (yes, chess – more on that in a subsequent newsletter) the following week.

The intercamp season began with a 14s hoops game at Pemi on Thursday evening (after it was pushed back by an afternoon rain shower) that showcased some of the best of the Pemi spirit. With a rare after dinner game, the Pemi community came out in droves to watch the 14s take to the court, and the fans weren’t disappointed. Pemi’s 14s, including Noah Katz, Thomas McNelly, Kai Karsan, Charlie Toomey and James Williams put on quite a show, but they were led by a performance for the ages from Tom Mele. Tom’s scoring output may have been prolific, and he may have thrown down an exceedingly rare dunk in open play during a Pemi hoops game, but neither of those aspects were what made this game a truly excellent one from Tom. Instead, it was the leadership he demonstrated. When a few Pemi campers started a “scoreboard” chant that sought to poke fun at our friends from Kingswood, Tom instantly and loudly shut it down from right on the court. It was a beautiful learning moment for our younger boys and a clear demonstration of the cumulative value of the Pemi experience, as Tom passed on the lessons he’d learned from his Pemi role models when he was a young camper himself. Our 14s played hard and clean, and most importantly, they demonstrated the exact type of leadership that we love to see from our Seniors.

I’m running out of time, and if you’ve made it this far, you’re likely running out of patience, so you’ll have to check this winter’s Bean Soup and/or your son’s detailed and thorough letter home for more highlights from our athletic competitions in week one. Additional games included 10s and 12s soccer tournaments on Friday, a full day of competition with Kingswood across all age groups on Saturday, 15s tennis and the BVT track meet yesterday, 9s and 12s basketball, and 11s soccer today.

For those keeping score at home, that means that today, Tuesday, July 1^st, at Pemi saw: four overnight trips hit the trail, Junior 5 head up to the Pemi Hill shelter, 9s hoops go on the road while 12s hoops and 11s soccer compete at home, a nature excursion head to the far end of the pond to see our new loon chicks, and there will be a full read through of the play tonight. And all that happened after lunch!

It’s been yet another full and joyous day at Pemi!

• Pat Clare