Pemi 101: Campfire

If you asked 100 Pemi alumni to name the place in the world they most associate with natural serenity, I’d venture that a sizable percentage of them would name Pemi’s Campfire Circle on Senior Beach. It’s a spot that holds special meaning for generations of Pemi campers and staff thanks to both its stunning physical beauty and the beauty of the community bonds that emanate out on summer Saturday nights. Gathered around the campfire, the Pemi family feels complete and connected in a way that’s different from the raucous energy of Monday nights in the Lodge for Bean Soup or the boisterous joy during Mess Hall singing. Saturday night Campfires bring us together to listen to music, stories, poems, riddles, and jokes, but more than that, they bring us together to appreciate one another’s company and the beauty of a Lower Baker Pond sunset. As they close with the singing of The Campfire Song, sung with arms wrapped around one another’s shoulders in a circle, Campfires bring us together to offer up the question that forms the core of Pemi’s ethos: “And 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.” Before talking any more about the spirit of a Pemi Campfire, though, let’s take a step back. What actually happens at one?

Campfires take place on Saturday nights down on Senior Beach. After dinner on Saturday, Pemi’s trip counselors head down and begin to build the fire. While they’re busy with that task, campers head back to their cabins to grab an extra layer, maybe a camp chair or Crazy Creek, and an instrument if they’re performing. Depending on the stage of the summer, it can still be fully bright (in June) or well on the way to dusk (August) as campers and staff head to the Campfire Circle. The circle is ringed about ¾ of the way around with distinctive wooden benches that fit about a third of the community and look out on Lower Baker Pond. A performer’s bench – dedicated to Dudley Reed, one of Pemi’s founders and the man behind many favorite Pemi songs – sits up front, back to the lake. Whoever doesn’t grab a bench seat fills in both in front and in back of the benches, with the youngest campers often opting for a Crazy Creek or a direct seat on the sand, and counselors typically forming an outer semicircle with their camp chairs.

Many people have assumed the title of Campfire MC over the years, and the role currently belongs to Pemi’s head of music, Evan Anderson. Boys and staff sign-up with Evan on Friday and Saturday after meals if they’d like to perform, and Evan puts together the set list. Nearly every week we’re able to fit in every performer who signs up, but occasionally we’ll have so many boys eager to get up there that we’ll ask a staff member to bump to the next week. Some boys will sign up solo, with a friend, as a small group, or as part of a mixed camper/counselor act. as part of an activity group from the preceding week, with Soundpainting, Improv, Guitar, and Sketch Comedy being regular ensemble acts. Other boys will sign up as part of an activity group from the preceding week, with Soundpainting, Improv, Guitar, and Sketch Comedy being regular ensemble acts.

The most frequent acts from campers are songs, jokes, or riddles, with the latter two being especially popular amongst younger campers. For many boys, especially our youngest campers, Campfire will be their first time performing in front of such a large audience. It’s a huge moment for a 9-year-old to stand up before 200 people and sing a cappella or strum his guitar that he’s only just learned how to play. Pemi is the perfect place for these first-time performers, however, as you’ll be hard pressed to find a more supportive audience. Some of the loudest rounds of applause each week inevitably go to a Junior who’s clearly nervous as he starts, successfully powers through, and leaves beaming from ear to ear as his peers and counselors cheer him back to his seat.

Experienced camper performers of all ages, meanwhile, regularly turn in beautiful performances that showcase their immense talent. Our most recent group of 15-year-olds included several of the best musicians we’ve had at Pemi in some time, and they offered up high-caliber, well-rehearsed acts that blew the audience away. From classic Beatles tunes to a solitary saxophonist standing on the water’s edge sending notes rolling down the lake, camper performances can leave you in awe. It’s also a wonderful opportunity to see the diversity of talent in our community, as the same boys who share these stellar pieces also excel on our sports team, spend hours in the Nature Lodge, and go on the gnarliest trips we offer. It’s not at all unusual for a boy to return from a 3-day hike in the White Mountains on Friday afternoon, wake up Saturday morning to go out on a canoe to observe loons, play in two different sporting events later that day, and then pick up his guitar and sing at Campfire that night.

We’re also lucky to have a regular rotation of counselor and staff acts to help anchor the offerings each week. Every summer without fail our staff includes several excellent singers, talented musicians, and story tellers extraordinaire. Tom Reed Jr. has been a camper stalwart for decades, following in the footsteps of his parents, whose songs from the earliest days of camp opened our campfires for generations of boys. In recent summers Tom has frequently been joined by Jud Landis for guitar and vocal duets that introduce boys to American folk music classics from the 60s and 70s. While I’m unsure of its provenance at Pemi (perhaps an alumnus will write in and share!), recitations of Robert W. Service’s The Cremation of Sam McGee have been a campfire classic for quite some time, with a current staff member always eager to step in and carry the mantle by performing it that summer. Similarly, for years longtime Pemi staff member Russ Brummer shared the Akan folklore story of how Anansi became the first spider, and in recent summers Nick Gordon has taken up the reins from Russ.

Then there’s Larry Davis’s Downeast Maine stories. For decades Larry has performed the final act of each campfire before we collectively sing The Campfire Song. His stories are crowd favorites and will leave you in stitches whether you’re hearing them for a first or fiftieth time. Simply say the name of classic tales such as “Beginner’s Luck,” “Maurice Gagnon, World Champion Moose Caller,” “$10 is $10,” and a dozen or so others, and you’re sure to bring a smile to a camper or alum’s face.  With accents, sound effects, and an unmatched ability to deliver a deadpan punchline, Larry captivates the audience, with 8-year-olds and 78-year-olds taking equal delight in his stories. After Larry we finish every Campfire with The Campfire Song.

To help understand what Pemi campfires mean, beyond this description of what they are, I’ve enlisted the help of a few of the aforementioned 15-year-olds from this past summer. Here’s what two veteran campers had to say.

First, from Manfred:

Campfires at Pemi  are a chance to play in front of the most supportive audience imaginable.  The setting sun is reflected on the lake as it dips behind Breadloaf. Campers tell jokes and stories, sing songs, and do performances of their own creation.  Pemi is where I learned to play guitar, and Campfire was where I learned the joy of sharing music with others.  

And from his fellow 15-year-old and musical collaborator, Bryce:

In my time at Pemi one of the most important times was around the Campfire Circle. Many of the best memories that I’ve made have been looking over the pond as the sun sets over Mt Breadloaf, and The Campfire Song comes to an end. Campfires at Pemi are an incredible space for building community, and also for performing anything from a musical act to a magic trick. These times really connected with me while I was at Pemi because I was able to do something that I had always wanted to do in performing music, which looking back, was one of the major highlights of my time as a camper. I think that overall, Pemi campfires are an amazing way for kids to put themselves out into the community by showing off their talent or even something they’ve been working on over that past week. I know for me, that every Saturday night over the winter, I miss sitting on the beach of Lower Baker Pond listening to the music and taking in the view along the horizon, waiting until I can be there again next summer.

Need I say more?