Management Tradition

We believe that Camp Pemigewassett is the oldest summer camp in the country under the same continuous family ownership and management. Three close friends, Drs. Edgar Fauver, Edwin Fauver, and Dudley Reed, founded Pemi in 1908. All graduates of Oberlin College and Columbia Medical School, they had worked as counselors at a nearby camp and decided to start their own. After a long search, they chose the present site on the shores of Lower Baker Pond.

While serving on the faculties of Wesleyan University, the University of Rochester, and the University of Chicago, respectively, they remained as Pemi directors until their deaths in 1946, 1949 and 1955.

Dr. John H. Nichols, also an Oberlin graduate, joined them in 1910, serving first as a counselor, then as a director until his death in 1979. "Doc Nick" was also a college educator, first at Ohio State and later at Oberlin, where he was director of the department of Physical Education for decades. The high standards set by these "Four Docs" prevail at Pemi today.

Beginning as campers in the 1920's, Al Fauver (son of Edgar Fauver) and Tom Reed (son of Dudley Reed) served as counselors and Assistant Directors, becoming Directors and owners in the 1950's.

Al Fauver received a B.A. from Oberlin and a Master's degree from Wesleyan. He continued as a director until his retirement in 1980, and is still active in Pemi affairs, along with his wife, Bertha. Al is a member of the Board of Directors and serves as treasurer.

Tom Reed also graduated from Oberlin and received a Ph.D. from Harvard, serving on the faculties of Brown University and the Rhode Island School of Design. He was Director until 1988, and continues his involvement, along with his wife Betsy, in the day-to-day life of camp in a number of roles.

Rob Grabill was Director of Pemi from 1988 through our Centennial Celebration in 2007. He graduated from Oberlin College and earned an M.S. from University of New Hampshire. A 37-year veteran of the Pemi staff, beginning in 1970, Rob served as counselor, division head, and then assistant director before succeeding Tom Reed, Sr. as Director. He and his wife Debra have two children, Katy and Robert, both staff veterans.

Jonathan Fauver was Founding Director of Pemi West in Colorado in 1997 and subsequently served as Director at Pemi through the 2008 season. His long association with the camp includes experience as a camper, division head, program head, and associate director. A graduate of Brown University, Jon received an M.B.A. from Dartmouth's Amos Tuck School of Business, and a J.D. from the University of Connecticut Law School. Jon and his wife Janet Duchaine are the parents of Jameson, a Pemi veteran camper who also served as counselor and division head.

Director Tom Reed, Jr. has been at Pemi for close to 50 years as a camper, counselor, division and program head, and head of Pemi's outstanding trip program. A graduate of Yale University, he is Professor of English at Dickinson College. Tom is joined on the Pemi staff by his wife Dottie and their two children, Abigail and Daniel.

Danny Kerr joins Tom Reed as Director of Pemi, assuming the fulltime position in June 2010. A dedicated and experienced career educator, Danny comes to Pemi from nine years at the helm of Horizons Day Camp of the Aloha Foundation, one of the nation's leading camping organizations. He has been a member of the history faculty and varsity baseball coach at the George School in Newtown, Pennsylvania, since 1993, having taught earlier and at both the Indian Mountain and Long Trail Schools as well. Danny and his wife Julia have three sons, Christopher, Robert, and Michael.

The Fauver family continues to be actively involved at Pemi in making valuable contributions as Board members, officers, and in filling other roles as needed.