Pemi’s Board of Directors and I are thrilled to share some exciting news about the future of Camp Pemigewassett and its leadership team.

In July of 2020, when Danny Kerr announced his upcoming retirement at the end of the 2021 summer, we began a thoughtful process to ensure a smooth and successful transition. Over the next few weeks, we’ll be sharing a number of details. For now, though, it gives us great pleasure to announce the appointment of a new Assistant Director.

Pemi mainstay Charlie Malcolm will add to his many ongoing contributions to camp by moving into a new directorial role. Charlie has long been a key member of Pemi’s senior staff, and he’ll now provide leadership and guidance in more substantial ways as an Assistant Director. Going forward, he’ll play an expanded role throughout Pemi’s off-season with campers, families, and staff, in addition to continuing his work as head soccer coach and history teacher at Northfield Mount Hermon.

The Malcolm family began their relationship with Pemi in 1938, when Charlie’s father, John Malcolm, attended Pemi as a camper, having Tom Reed Sr. as his counselor. Charlie continued the family tradition by coming to Pemi in 1976 and spending three summers as a camper. Soon after, he began his years on staff, serving as a counselor and Division Head before becoming Pemi’s Athletic Director in the 1990’s. 

As Charlie notes, “In Pemi History, I am the longest-tenured Pemi boy not named Reed or Fauver. In 1976, my father sent me to Pemi as an 11-year-old in Lower 2.  Fred Seebeck, Tom Reed Jr., Fred Rittner, Bill Pruden, David Withrow, Ander Wensberg, Cole Fauver, Roger McEniry, and Rob Grabill were my counselors, coaches, and mentors along my initial Pemi journey.  After my final year as a camper in Senior 3, I loved camp so much that I came back to clean the bathrooms.

“Since 1987, my senior year in college, I have spent all but two summers on the shores of Lower Baker, thirty of those years as camp’s Athletic Director.  In these summers, I met my wife Kim, raised a family at camp, and have been blessed with the most incredible community of friends.  I discovered my passion for teaching and coaching there, a vocation that kept Pemi firmly in my family’s foundation.“

Over the years, Charlie has mentored hundreds of Pemi counselors, helping many of them discover and develop their talents and passions. His time with campers is equally special. Boys flock to Charlie, knowing that any time they spend with him will be joyful and educational. Charlie’s empathetic nature and genuine concern for others make people feel good about themselves, enabling them to develop self-confidence. He strives to create meaningful ties between everyone at camp, reminding us all that, “It’s the sum of all of our relationships that make camp such a special place.” I’m certain countless Pemi alumni remember listening to Charlie’s inspiring words, feeling them deep in their core. Charlie provides a unique ‘Malcolm Mojo’ to Pemi. Always sensing the mood and needs of the community, Charlie has a rare gift: an innate ability to address the moment or situation at hand with just the right dose of Pemi spirit. No one embodies the soul of the Pemi spirit more than Charlie Malcolm.

Charlie’s eye for detail and his dedication to the Pemi standard have kept Pemi’s athletic facilities and grounds in excellent shape and the envy of peer camps. Routine tasks like cleaning out the bullpen are fun with Charlie, simply because he leads from the front. His transition to Assistant Director opens the door for Pemi’s Head of Tennis, Chris Johnson, to assume the role of Athletic Director. Stay tuned for more information about Chris in future news.

Charlie holds a Premier License from the National Soccer Coaches Association of America and has guided NMH to multiple New England Prep Championships in soccer. His wife, Kim, has diligently served Pemi for thirty years as an administrator working in the Pemi office. In 2021, she is overseeing our COVID-planning efforts to ensure a safe, healthy and fun summer for all. Charlie and Kim’s son Patterson, a Junior at Swarthmore College, was a camper and counselor as recently as 2019. Their daughter Victoria, a student at NMH, attended camp in Maine for many years. 

For the second announcement about Pemi’s new and evolving leadership, we’ll share news on March 5th about recent appointments to Pemi’s Board of Directors. Following that, on March 12, we’ll fill you in on an exciting new administrative hire.