2026 Newsletter #2

Hello from Pemi!

As I write, on Tuesday, July 7^th, the heat wave of last week feels a distant memory already. It’s an overcast and even slightly chilly day here at Pemi, but our program continues in full swing. The last week since the first newsletter has been jam-packed with both routine and special events, and we’re fully into the swing of the summer here. Week 2 activities are under way, and the boys are well and truly settled into the Pemi rhythm. We had an especially exciting weekend, starting with a Friday night Vaudeville to kick off our 4^th of July celebrations. We’ve had sporting events galore, the finale of our Pemi Olympics, successful day and overnight hikes, Nature field trips, and spectacular performances and creations on display from our various arts programs. As always, what I’ll share in this newsletter represents only a portion of all that’s happened in the last week at Pemi. Read on for details!

The back half of Week 1 saw a number of Pemi sports teams kick off their seasons, including 15s archery, 11s basketball, and 10s baseball on Wednesday afternoon. Pemi’s head of archery, Steve Clare, has built the program into a true force to be reckoned with over his 11-year tenure, and the opening shoot of the 2026 summer suggests that his squads will continue to be the cream of the crop in the Baker Valley. Led by Charlie Milgrim (1^st place), Nick McCay (3^rd) and Charles Grundy (4^th), the 15s took home first place in team scoring in commanding fashion. Over at Camp Moosilauke, our 11s hoops team took to the courts with a roster of George Kingdon, Niam Santiago, Charles Golay, Arthur Johnson, Morgan Greene, Remy Archambeault, Jacob Modzelewski, Asher Goldring, and Will Drummond. The boys went winless on the day, but not from lack of effort. Niam controlled the flow of the game, Morgan knocked down several 3s, and Charles put in a scrappy defensive effort while also getting to play some point guard for the first time. Right next to the basketball courts, Doc Nick’s Wonders were out on Moosilauke’s small baseball diamond where they played hard and earned a 4-3 victory. We had great play all around, especially from Anson Norman who had a strong outing on the mound and at the plate, and Sam Schwartz who came up with a clutch hit.

Thursday’s athletic contests were postponed due to the high heat index, but by Friday afternoon we were ready to resume competitions, with some games shortened, halftimes/time between games extended for shade breaks, and additional World Cup style hydration breaks added. At home our 10s soccer team took to the pitch with a large roster ready to rotate through to keep legs fresh. We went 3-0 on the day, with a 5-0 win the first game followed by a hard fought 3-2 win over Walt Whitman in the second. In the final match of the afternoon, we took on Kingswood. After a cagey start to the game, Pemi broke through on a wonder-strike from Nico Piazza and never looked back. Goals on the day came from Oscar Mulholland, Henry Matlack, Ben Dietz, and Nico, along with stellar goalie play from Max Duque Pacheco, Max McBride, and Graham Smigler. It was an all-around excellent showing from every one of the 10s!

In the 12s baseball game, Pemi won in commanding fashion, led by a dominant performance on the mound from Kieran Burke. His efficiency in getting quick outs allowed him to carry a no-hitter into the final frame of a heat-shortened game. While Moosilauke managed to poke-out a single and get a late runner across the plate, the Pemi nine took home the comfortable 4-1 victory.

Over at Camp Walt Whitman, meanwhile, the 15s pickleball squad of Will Dennis, Danny Follansbee, Charles Grundy, Kai Karsan, Ezra Otubusin-Reese, Zach Pierson, Emmet Greene, Graeme Newman, Ben Comey, and Charlie Milgrim had a fun and competitive afternoon. Many of the results didn’t break our way as we came up against strong competition, but the boys played hard and enjoyed themselves, including some who played in their first ever pickleball match. In the end we took third place out of four camps, with highlights coming more from the celebrations by Danny, Will, Kai, and Emmet than from the match play itself.

As I’ve mentioned the heat a couple times now, a quick explanation on how Pemi navigates hot weather feels warranted. We’re of course incredibly lucky to have Lower Baker Pond sitting right next to us when the temperatures spike. During heat waves such as this last one, we add in a number of opportunities to get into the lake via extra free swims, extra “polar” bear dips, and additional water programming. On Thursday evening, for example, we held our first 2026 edition of “Chilling with Lit,” where the boys can lounge in the shallows while Tom Reed Jr. shares a short story with them. On Thursday night Tom selected August Heat by W.F. Harvey, and a large group of boys spanning our full age range enjoyed the chance to relax in the water and take in the tale. Additionally, our sports activities move to our heat mitigation schedule that calls for a maximum of 20 minutes of activity before taking a minimum 10-minute shade and water break. Our normal water coolers are supplemented by Gatorade coolers to ensure that everyone has access to electrolytes to help with hydration. We communicate through the day with our friends at the other Baker Valley camps to make decisions on sporting events, and if necessary, as we deemed it to be on Thursday, we’ll postpone events and seek to make them up later in the session. While we of course continue to ensure that the fun rolls on through any heat wave, safety remains our North Star.

Fortunately, we were still able to send out all our planned hikes at the end of Week 1 thanks to a couple earlier-in-the-day departures and the cooler forecasts at higher elevation. On Thursday the boys of Juniors 5 and 6 headed up Rattlesnake in the morning, enjoyed lunch on the summit, and were back on the shaded and relatively gentle trail down before the temperatures had even peaked. That group consisted of Santiago Losada, Henry Matlack, Max McBride, Oscar Mulholland, Gabe Swanson, Saleem Usman, Campbell Hill, Armaan Kapur, Jacob Mains, Felix Malone, Anson Norman, Hugh Peterson, and Yaseen Usman, accompanied by Noah Spinar and Sandra Anzures. The next day Lowers 4 and 5 – Ethan Comey, Will Drummond, Asher Goldring, Henry Keller, Logan Ramsey, Niam Santiago, Jaxon Wildgen, Henry Zinn, Charles Golay, Morgan Greene, Arthur Johnson, George Kingdon, Charlie Mellet, and Jacob Modzelewski with Luke Sahyoun and Giacomo Turco – headed up Mt. Cube on a similar schedule and enjoyed a great morning and early afternoon in the mountains. That same night a number of our youngest campers headed up Pemi Hill for their inaugural Pemi overnight: Jack Muller, Alex Ponomarev, Leo Trojan, Winston Moore, Bo Burke, Alex McBride, Elliot Karasko, and Arthur Poore. The boys had a blast, especially enjoying their dinner cooked over the campfire, and they were back down in time for breakfast in the Mess Hall the next morning.

Certainly not to be outdone, the Nature program kept right on up with its stellar programming to round out Week 1 as well, including the first trip of the summer to one of our marquee field trip locations: the Palermo Mine. For those in-the-know in the geology world, the Palermo Mine has international renown and is a true destination for mineral collectors due to the more than 110 different types of minerals that have been found there, including ten that haven’t been found anywhere else in the world, and one (Palermoite) that even bears the site’s name. Due to our longstanding relationship and excellent stewardship on our visits, Pemi actually has a key to this incredible location given to us by the owner, allowing us to visit when we please. On Friday the group of Benjamin Desiato, Julian DeLisle, Max Herrod, Elliot Karasko, Jack Peradotto, Oliver Wilson, Alex McBride, Elliott Tisdale, Henry Stafford, Simon Kemp, Christopher DeGregorio, Teddy Bea, and Charlie Woolley headed over for an afternoon of exploration and collection. Other trips on the week included a visit to nearby Washington, VT for exploration of vernal pools that hadn’t emptied for the season yet and where the boys could see blue-spotted salamander larvae. Benny Candia, Thomas Fordham, Lucca Silvestri, Ronny Guerrero, Ollie Dudra, Kenai Russell, and Simon Elalouf joined Deb Kure and Reilly McCue for a full afternoon and evening there, enjoying dinner out on the trip before returning to camp just head of bedtime. The afternoon before Ollie Dudra, Dylan Thibault, Graeme Newman, and Charlie Toomey had joined Deb and Reilly for a much more local trip to the far banks of Lower Baker Pond to install wood duck boxes. These special man-made habitats have been crucial in bringing wood duck populations back to stable levels after humans almost wiped the species out in the late 19^th century. The boys got to engage in a highly successful conservation effort while learning from Reilly about the species and the work to protect them. Reilly’s knowledge on the topic surpasses all but maybe a small handful of folks nationwide, so this was a special opportunity for these campers.s

After all of the excellent programming throughout Week 1 on the athletics, trip, and nature fronts, Friday night represented a chance for a number of Pemi arts programs to shine, in particular music and drama. To kick off the 250^th anniversary celebrations, we moved our annual 4^th of July Vaudeville to the evening of the 3^rd, allowing us a marquee event to send us into our festivities. The amount of talent on display was astounding, as campers shared a wide range of offerings, from the sublime to the absurd and everything in between. The program began with the “Improv-ment” improv troupe of Pierce Golay, Holden Burr, Elliott Tisdale, and Graham Smigler playing a game called “What Are You Doing?” with help from Russell Howland whom they plucked out of the audience to be their contestant. Pierce also demonstrated his supernatural abilities with a series of magic tricks, ably assited by his older brother Charles. Dan Koffler took to the piano next for the first of several amazing solo musical acts. Other standout solos included Nick McCay on the saxophone playing Frank Sinatra’s “My Way,” Carr Polsinelli playing Green Day’s “Good Riddance” on electric guitar, Ian Chandra on the piano, Asher Goldring wowing us with Billy Joel’s “Vienna” which he played on piano and sang, and Dylan Thibault giving us an incredible a Capella version of Bruno Mars’ “You Can Count on Me.” For their show-stopping efforts, both Asher and Dylan received not only standing ovations on Friday night but also Bean Soup Camper of the Week honors on Monday night. We also had excellent ensemble work from Baz White (piano), Jasper Ghandi (drums), and Charlie Milgrim (base), accompanied by Nolan Katcher (guitar) who performed an original piece that they’d collectively composed that week. 14-year-old Finn Stephan joined staff members Nolan, Gavin Solomon, Will Katcher, Ben Ross, and Pierce Haley for a crowd-pleasing rendition of the Grateful Dead’s “Uncle John’s Band,” and then Finn jumped back in with another group of counselors to close out the evening’s musical offerings. From there we filed out of the Senior Lodge for the night’s final skit: “A Day in the Life.” This long-standing Pemi tradition never fails to leave the audience in stitches. Words won’t do it justice, but be sure to ask your son about it!

Our next small bit of holiday celebration came in the form of a half-hour sleep-in on the morning of the 4^th before getting festivities back going again. We wrapped up breakfast with our annual singing of “My Country, ‘Tis of Thee,” which allows our counselors from the United Kingdom to simultaneously sing “God Save the King.” Tom Reed Jr. invited veteran English counselor Steve Clare up to join him to lead our singing, remarking on the enduring importance of our special relationship with our friends across the pond – a friendship that continues to serve Pemi exceedingly well.

After breakfast Juniors headed to the Junior Lodge and the rest of camp to the Senior Lodge for the annual counselor hunt. The staff has five minutes to hide anywhere throughout camp that’s not on, under, or inside either a manmade structure or water. The campers then have ten minutes to scatter across camp and find us. Staff can hide wearing whatever they want, but if they’re caught, they have to walk the plank and jump off the high dive at Senior Beach in whatever they were found in. Safely hidden away down the bank of an empty stream bed in the woods behind Junior Camp, I idled away most of those ten minutes in relative peace, right up until I heard, “let’s just go a couple more steps and turn around.” Those two extra steps were all it took for Henry Stafford and Santiago Losada to discover me and begin to march me down the road to Senior Beach. Given that we were still at the tail-end of the heat wave, all of us captives were more than happy to serve our punishment.

With the whole camp already gathered at Senior Beach, we flowed from the counselor hunt directly into the finale of the Pemi Olympics. Olympic Chairman Charlie Scott split each team up into sub-groups and sent them off to a number of locations around camp. Each smaller team had to compete in a race to finish a specific task at their location, and upon completion they received a portion of a clue. Teams had to reconvene at a central location that their clue led them to (the flagpole, as it turned out), piece together the clue fragments, and then travel as a full team to their final task. The first team to arrive claimed the victory on the event, and thanks to an opaque set of rules that would make FIFA jealous, that team also automatically earned enough points to be declared the overall Olympic gold medalists. Congratulations to the boys of TTT on their victory!

Following the morning events, we headed up to the Mess Hall for a 4^th of July BBQ. Planned as a cookout, we shifted indoors when a small rain cell passed over us for just about the one hour of the day when it could disrupt our plans. Nonetheless, we enjoyed a delicious meal of ribs, potato salad, watermelon, and then Saturday candy for dessert. Spirits high and stomachs full, the boys headed back to their cabins to plan their floats for our 103^rd annual P-Rade. Each cabin is charged with putting on a brief skit that focuses on Pemi history, American history, or current Pemi events. Cabins parade in front of the panel of judges, present their skit, and enjoy watching all of the other performances from a nice shady vantage point.

Winning skits came from the Lower-Juniors (Juniors 1-3) with their enactment of the “Pemi Bill of Rights” that represented one of the best Junior P-Rade efforts in recent memory. From the Lower-Lowers (Lowers 1-3), the boys of Lower 2 – Theo Barker, Ben Dietz, Charlie Eppes, Winston Nye, Harrison Parvin, Nico Piazza, Sam Schwartz, and Ollie Turnbull – won with “The Great Pemi Candy Rush” where they depicted a farcical gold-rush style discovery of candy buried at camp. The Upper-Lowers prize went to Lower 7 (Miller Grandbois, James Hermann, Russell Howland, Timmy Lorig, William Moore, Carr Polsinelli, and Whit Verymylen) for their not-so-accurate reenactment of the first game of frisbee running bases in Pemi history. In a run-away victory, Upper 4 (James Brennan, Parker Brown, Chris Castellano, Iñigo de Hoces, Julian DeLisle, Linus Herrod, and Sebby Liebel) told “The Story of Charlie Scott,” and while your author isn’t quite sure what it was all about, the judges were clearly impressed. In the closest race of the day, Senior 3’s skit “Pat Clare and His Motley Crew Cross the Delaware” lost in a nailbiter to Lake Tent’s “The Retreat” (a depiction of four Founding Fathers taking a well-earned break from the hard work of revolution to relax on the shores of Lower Baker Pond.” Congratulations to Nick McCay, Thomas McNelly, and Graeme Newman on their victory!

Having Vaudeville on Friday allowed us to hold our traditional Saturday Campfire on the night of the 4^th, and despite the impressive roster of acts the previous evening, it was an equally deep and talented set of performances down at the beach. We had a series of jokes from Aahren Bhandari and Ian Chandra, a lightning-fast solving of a Rubik’s Cube by Albert Wolkowitz, a dramatic-comedic sketch created and performed by Arthur Poore and Charlie Woolley, and an improv performance by the counselor duo of Archer Knight and Simon Taylor, joined by new addition to their crew Charlie Woolley who did an excellent job as Godzilla. The standout act of the night, however, had to be Junior 1’s Grant Hannon getting up and delivering a beautiful, confident performance of “A Million Dreams” from The Greatest Showman. After several fantastic staff songs and a double serving of short stories by Larry Davis, we finished with “The Campfire Song” before remaining on Senior Beach for a fireworks display worthy of this anniversary year. After such a full day, everyone was ready for a good night’s sleep and a sleep-in Sunday the next morning.

The quiet Sunday morning was followed by a full slate of athletic events on Sunday afternoon to replace what would typically have been a Saturday sports day on the 4^th. We played a series of games with Kingswood across all age groups: 10s baseball, 11s soccer, 12s hoops, 13s soccer, 14s hoops, and 15s ultimate. In addition to all these games, we had a series of open program areas, with boys busy waterskiing, exploring the Nature Lodge, making projects in the art building, and more. That evening we held our inaugural Sunday Meeting of the summer. This calm, reflective gathering on Sundays features a number of musical offerings and a talk given by a member of the community. Kenny gave a two-part talk, first delivering a series of fun stories on Pemi history and then, after a musical interlude, talking about our theme for the summer: integrity. Kenny charged the full community with thinking about our actions, doing the right thing even when no one is watching, and letting the truth guide us even when we’ve made a mistake and need to own up to it. We’d spent ample time during preseason on this theme as a staff, and on the opening Sunday evening of the summer, cabin groups had their social contract conversations revolve around this topic as well. It’s a crucial virtue that we hope will guide every member of the Pemi family all summer long.

We kicked off Week 2 activities on Monday with beautiful New Hampshire weather. Boys began their new schedules for the week, and then we shifted the evening programming slightly to build in time to watch the USA v. Belgium match. We wish we hadn’t done that. An early dinner flowed into our all-camp photo followed by an early Bean Soup, and then a screening of the first half of the match for all campers in the Senior Lodge. The boys blew the roof off the building when the US equalized, but our joy was short lived. Fortunately, we get to keep right on going with our Pemi summer so there’s no time to dwell on the result.

Today’s schedule includes a day-long tennis tournament over at Pierce Camp Birchmont (Danny Follansbee, Will Dennis, Dennis Taft, Kai Karsan, Emmet Greene, Emmitt Baggish, Zach Pierson, Parker Brown, Niam Santiago, Dylan Thibault, Colin McLean, Sebastian Liebel, Chris Castellano, and William Tice), a number of overnight hiking trip departures, an archery BVT, a trip to the Quincy Bog, and much more! Off on a three-day trip to the Kinsmans are Arthur Johnson, James Hermann, Jake Black, and Benjamin Desiato, while Kingston Bowen, Benny Candia, Jaeden Lopes, Phill Preis, and Nick Brown are headed to the Carters for a spectacular four-day that includes the best views of the Presidentials that you can get. Anson Norman, Max McBride, Gabe Swanson, Max Duque Pacheco, Sam Schwartz, Winston Nye, and Ollie Turnbull will also be headed up Pemi Hill tonight.

With all of that going on, it’s time for me to get back out and about! I hope you’ve enjoyed this glimpse into the Pemi summer, and we’ll be back next week to share more about Week 2 and the start of Week 3. The non-stop action and fun continue here at Pemi!