2025 Newsletter #3

Hello from Pemi,

At the top here, and following up on Kenny’s communication earlier this week, I’ll begin this week’s newsletter by again acknowledging the pain and sorrow that all of us in the Pemi community feel for the families, camps, and everyone impacted by the recent flash floods in Texas. As Kenny said, the camp world is small and interconnected, and a devastating event such as this touches all of us to our core. We grieve for the families and camps impacted, and we send our heartfelt condolences for their losses. We also deeply appreciate those who have asked how they can support camps, communities, and individuals in Texas. For anyone able and inclined to help, the American Camp Association has compiled a list of organizations that are on the ground and providing support.

I also want to take a moment to reassure all of our Pemi families of the many and varied ways that Pemi mitigates risks and is prepared to respond to the weather challenges that we might see in New Hampshire. Our emergency preparedness plan is detailed, encompassing many scenarios including evacuation plans, lightning and severe storm shelter-in-place protocols, wild- and general fire response procedures, and medical emergency action plans. We meet annually with our local emergency responders to ensure that all of our plans adhere to current best practices, and we train our staff on our plans during preseason each June.

Our team in the office monitors forecasts and weather alerts on a continuous basis every day, and we utilize our mutli-level weather warning system to keep campers and staff safe when dangerous weather is approaching and then upon us. All of our trips out of camp follow Pemi emergency weather practices regardless of where they are, and we take additional weather precautions for our hiking and canoe trips. Every element of the Pemi program is designed with camper safety as our north star.

Our hearts continue to ache for everyone impacted in Texas and beyond.

With all of the above in mind, I’m more grateful than ever for the trust that all our families put in Pemi, and for the safe and joyous summer that our campers continue to experience every day here in Wentworth. I feel privileged each week to share the stories and rhythms of Pemi life with you all, but especially so this week. Please read on to learn more about the goings-on at Pemi throughout this last week.

On Wednesday, July 2^nd Pemi welcomed a trio of visitors from the American Camp Association for our re-accreditation visit. These visits occur once every five years, although Pemi’s most recent visit was actually six summers ago due to a covid extension that the ACA implemented nationwide. The ACA is the only nationwide accrediting organization for all types of camps, and their standards focus on health, safety, and risk-management practices. It’s the gold-standard for camps to follow and receive accreditation from.

The Pemi team has been working tirelessly behind the scenes over the last several months to prepare for our visit, while during the summer our program heads have simply carried on with their usual standards of excellence in anticipation. We submit lengthy written documentation ahead of time, and then during the visit, we have the opportunity to show the visitors around Pemi as they assess our program for compliance with their standards. They were very impressed with the practices, policies, and procedures Pemi has in place, along with the incredible team of program heads, health staff, kitchen workers, and buildings and grounds staff that Pemi is so lucky to employ. I’m thrilled to share that at the conclusion of our visit, Pemi received a perfect score after being evaluated on over 170 standards!

In the midst of the visit, Pemi’s campers went about their day and week in our usual full-steam ahead mode. After a morning full of activities, that afternoon included a 10s baseball game at home, a 15s ultimate tournament on the road, and several groups of Pemi campers out on the trails. A group of Lowers – Jaeden Lopes, Kugbeh Kamara, Dylan Sandral, Corrado Mariani, Benny Candia, Juan Cediel, and Francisco Henríquez Lindeck-Pozza – was atop the Kinsmans Ridge that afternoon, enjoying a spectacular two-night camping experience. Uppers 1 and 2 – Carlos Martinez, Dani Losada, Ettore Mariani, Khan Le, Khiem Duong, Nate Lavelle, Harrison Charlebois, Lucca Silvestri, Mitchell Plante, Cristian Moreno, Mounir Abdelkarim, Chris Castellano, and Oscar Quinn – went up Mt. Cube and enjoyed a beautiful lunch at the summit.

A group of Lowers, meanwhile, set out for a two-day trip to Mts. Firescrew and Cardigan, via the Mowglis, Holt, and Manning trails. The boys – Kingston Bowen, Phil Preiss, Kieran Burke, Arthur Johnson, James Aidi, and Wes McCay – completed the hike in great time before returning down to the base, near the Cardigan Lodge. They camped out there, enjoying delicious pizzas cooked over the fire, before being picked up and heading back to Pemi the next morning.

Wednesday also saw the return of our two trips that set off to the Presidentials Range for stays at Lakes of the Clouds and Madison Spring Huts. The two groups – Madison: Sasha Honig, Vikram Jay, Noah Goebbel, Carlos Martiarena, Sam Wasinger, Charlie Toomey, Thomas McNelly, and Charlie Knapp; Lakes: Noah Katz, Tom Mele, Everett Wooldridge, Angus Eslick, Nick McCay, Rudi Weik, Kai Karsan, and Nico Richards – started at opposite ends of the Presidentials, spent the night on the shoulders of Mts. Madison and Washington, respectively, and then ridge hiked the next day, passing by each other en route to their pickups. The Lakes of the Clouds group enjoyed one of the best rites of passage for a camper in the Pemi trip program: a polar bear dip on Wednesday morning at 5,000 feet! For more details on these incredible trips, check out our Pemi blog post from last year.

Back down closer to sea level, Pemi’s athletes had a great day on Wednesday as well. The 10s baseball players took to our small diamond on a perfect afternoon. The team had great play from George Kingdon and Ben Dietz on the mound; Winter Brucker behind the plate; Niam Santiago, Eliott Tisdale, George Kingdon, George Gugelmann, and Henry Kaminski in the infield; and a large roster of additional fielders throughout the day. Brucker, Kingdon, Santiago, and Dietz contributed with their bats too, as did Henry Zinn, who’s been highlighted as one of the most improved baseball players for Doc Nick’s Wonders this season. Thanks to the efforts of the whole team, the boys came away with a Pemi victory!

It should be noted that immediately after the baseball game, several boys headed straight down to Junior Camp to grab packs and join their cabin, Junior 5, for their trip up Pemi Hill. The group of Asher Goldring, George Gugelmann, Santi Losada, George Ross, Milo Russotti, Henry Schwab, and Henry Zinn had a great afternoon and night up there, especially enjoying the opportunity to explore the woods around the shelter. From Polar Bear to morning activities to a baseball game to a dinner cooked over the campfire, these boys lived a quintessential and full Pemi day!

Over at Camp Moosilauke, we had a plucky team of 13-, 14-, and 15-year-olds that competed in the ultimate frisbee tournament that same afternoon. With so many Seniors out on the Presidential trips, we relied on a younger squad than normal, but they displayed great passion, skill, and sportsmanship. Pemi got stellar play from Oliver Groesbeck, Connor Smillie, and Will Bixby, who did a great job moving and distributing the disc, Tyson Madkins who was constantly getting open and catching passes, and a lockdown defensive performance from Alf Andersson. Despite half our roster being only 13, the Pemi squad pulled off a thrilling victory of Moose while dropping the other two games in hard-fought fashion.

Sticking just to Wednesday afternoon still, we also sent a group of boys out to Mt. Willard and the Crawford Notch with the nature program for a hike to one of the most recognizable viewpoints in New England. The crew of Ben Jones, Bryce Madom, Mason Winell, Julian Blaustein, Johnny Thibault, Sawyer Brez, Henry Danzig, Drew Nelson, and Daniel Desiato enjoyed the relatively gentle walk up Mt. Willard and then soaked in the view looking down the notch that has inspired generations of America’s finest painters and photographers dating back to Thomas Cole and the early days of American landscape painting. Based on the rave reviews when they got back for dinner, it was an opportunity and view they won’t soon forget.

Eventually Wednesday ended, only for Thursday to be an equally full day, with four sports tournaments – 9s soccer at home, 11s hoops at home, 13s soccer on the road, and 15s archery at home – a trip to the Palermo Mine (with Rhys Farmer, Cuinn Limmany, Kingston Bowen, Ben Desiato, Julian Blaustein, Charlie Milgrim, and Harrison Charlebois), another Pemi Hill trip (Junior 2 with Luca Bonanno, Holden Burr, Crosby Danzig, Pierce Golay, Hugh Peterson, and Elliott Tisdale), and a full slate of open program areas throughout camp. You’ll have to check Bean Soup for more details on the sporting events, but a special shoutout goes to Pemi’s youngest campers. A couple other camps ended up bringing 10-year-olds to help round out their rosters, but Pemi’s 8- and 9-year-olds more than held their own, earning a couple wins against Moosilauke and Walt Whitman before falling to a tough and talented Kingswood team.

While I could dwell for several more paragraphs on the details of Thursday’s events, Friday, July 4^th deserves ample coverage, as it was a 4^th of July for the ages at Pemi! With Tom Reed Jr. off camp for the first time in decades, it fell to Charlie Malcolm to deliver our 4^th of July remarks at breakfast, which he did with his trademark combination of optimism, energy, and honesty. Charlie inspired us to think not only about the history of the radical experiment in pluralistic self-government begun on July 4, 1776, but also the future of this endeavor and what we can do to keep striving towards a more perfect union for all. It was a powerful set of remarks that struck home for boys and staff of all ages. 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.” We take seriously our commitment to winning graciously here at Pemi.

After a regular morning of activities, we began a whirlwind afternoon and evening filled with some favorite Pemi traditions: the P-Rade, counselor hunt, Independence Day BBQ, Vaudeville, and fireworks. This was the 102^nd P-Rade, where 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. The Junior Camp presented a meta skit centered on each Junior cabin deciding what to do for the P-Rade. It was a far more involved and rehearsed skit than we often see from the Junior Camp, and it turned out to be a sign of great things to come. The Lower-Lowers also had an especially strong showing, with four top-notch skits, including the marquee skit for the entire camp: Lower 4’s farcical vision of an NFL-style draft between Pemi and Camp Tecumseh (our friends and athletics rivals over on Lake Winnipesaukee), with ESPN style bombastic announcing for each pick. Hy Butler-Scott, Ben Desiato, Parker Korb, Timmy Lorig, Pierce O’Shaughnessy, Ashe Pages, Sebby Richards, and Leo Schirripa, along with counselors Evan Lovine and Jackson Heller, had the audience and judges in stitches. They had their work cut out for them, as right before they went, Lower 3 had put on an excellent skit in their own right, with counselor Charlie Scott and campers Henry Danzig and Sawyer Brez taking an archeological history through Pemi, where they encountered a slew of elements of Pemi’s recent past such as hard plastic frisbees and canvas tents.  

The Upper-Lowers saw a winning skit from Lower 6 – Nicholas Brown, Juan Cediel, Kugbeh Kamara, Dylan Sandral, Bennett Smigler, and Declan Yeung, along with counselor Fernando Hokello – that involved the history of American football. Upper 5 earned a victory for a skit imagining a couple going out to dinner, discussing summer camps, and being overheard by their waiter who had gone to Pemi and told them all about it. Alongside Tyson Madkins as the waiter and Danny Follansbee and Will Dennis as the couple, Finn Stephan starred as a well-seared steak served during the meal, while Oliver Groesbeck had an excellent turn as a chair. Emmet Greene, Baz White, Finn Stephan, counselor Marshall Nielsen, and visiting “professional” Nick Parisrounded out the personae dramatis. In the Seniors we had a mix of the whimsical, the absurd, the historic, and the modern day, but ultimately Senior 1 earned the win. All in attendance agreed that it was the finest P-Rade from top to bottom in recent memory, with many thanks due to Pemi’s creative and dedicated counseling staff for coming up with some truly inspired ideas and to the boys for the fantastic buy-in and performances. Well done, all!

After the conclusion of the P-Rade, 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 what they were found in. Many counselors demonstrated their veteran cunning and knowledge of campus and evaded capture. One staff member demonstrated his veteran cunning and knowledge of campus by pointing a group of campers directly towards my hiding spot after they’d quickly discovered him. Thank you, Henry McLeod. Luckily, we had a beautiful day on our hands, so the plunges into Lower Baker Pond were quite enjoyable. We headed from there to a wonderful cookout prepared by our kitchen crew, with a classic American menu of burgers and dogs, and a less-classic DJ set by Steve Clare providing the soundtrack.

After dinner and some free time, it was off to the Senior Lodge once more for our annual 4^th of July Vaudeville show. We had a couple great musical acts kick us off, including beautiful performances from Finn Stephan (bass), Sebby Liebel (drums), Carr Polsinelli (electric guitar), and Winter Brucker (drums). Baz White then wowed us with a piece on the piano by Phillip Glass that he performed with such obvious mastery that the crowd leapt to its feet at the end for a standing ovation. We had an intermission to present patches and awards to our two-week campers (more below) before continuing on with the show. Luca Bonanno (piano), Ben Dietz (electric guitar), Charlie Mellet (piano), and Asher Goldring (piano and vocals) performed a series of fantastic individual pieces, really highlighting how much young musical talent we have in our ranks.

With all due appreciation and respect to these acts, however, the highlight of the show unequivocally came from a group of 15s, accompanied by assistant counselor Leo Ventimiglia on the drums. Connor Smillie (acoustic guitar), Manfred Creane (electric guitar), and Bryce Madom (bass and lead vocals) performed The Strokes’ Last Nite. I’ll admit that I’m occasionally prone to using superlatives somewhat liberally in these newsletters. While I stand by my descriptions of excellence that we see so frequently here at Pemi, I worry that simply using my typical language to describe their performance would do it a massive injustice. It was, quite simply, the cleanest, best rehearsed, and most technically sound Vaudveille performance by a band that I’ve seen at Pemi. The boys put on a masterclass, and the audience responded appropriately with rapturous applause at the end. They’ve set a new bar for Pemi music.

We finished the set with a couple crowd-pleasing performances by staff members, before heading down to the waterfront for a stunning fireworks display. All-in-all it was a 4^th of July that won’t soon be forgotten at Pemi!

The next day marked the end of our inaugural two-week session, as we said goodbye to 16 boys who enjoyed their first Pemi experience this summer. These young guys were excellent community members, contributing across the spectrum. You’ve seen their names dotted throughout our first several newsletters, as they dove right in and went on trips, played sports, performed at campfires and Vaudeville, engrossed themselves in the nature program, and made the absolute most of their time at Pemi. While we wish that they were with us for longer (and hope that they will be next year!), we’re so glad that they got this first taste of the Pemi community.

Just like that, we’re entering into the final days of first session. There’s so much more that’s gone on here that I haven’t had space to mention – including our first ever inter-camp chess tournament! Life at Pemi moves at a rapid pace, and we pack so much into every day. In the next edition, you’ll be able to read about our capstone trip for full-session 15s to the Allagash Waterway in northern Maine, the arrival and departure of our 16-year-olds for Pemi West, the annual counselor baseball game vs. Moosilauke, more trips and sports and art projects, our concluding events of the first session such as the Birthday Banquet, our special events for full session campers on Saturday and Sunday, parents visiting weekend, and the opening days of second session. There’s never a dull moment here at Pemi!

I’ll sign off by expressing my immense gratitude to each and every member of the Pemi community – campers, parents, families, alumni, staff, and friends of Pemi – for your support in all that we do here. We’ve been reminded, in the most devastating way imaginable, of just how lucky we are to be here and do what we do each summer at Pemi. To our families especially, thank you for entrusting us with the care of your boys.

With deepest appreciation, and with thoughts on all the families and camps in Texas,

Pat Clare