Uncle Pritch worked at CK from 1910 to 1965. An amazing length of time – and an amazing man. Below are some emails from his granddaughter that should be interesting to all who knew him.
My grandfather was Herman (Uncle Pritch) Pritchard. If you don’t recognize the name – he was well known at Kennebec from 1910 – 1965! All of his grandchildren and great-grandchildren are still very devoted to Kennebec. We still vacation on Salmon Lake! I would be VERY interested in getting a copy of “The History of Camp Kennebec” that Frances Fox Sandmel wrote in 1973. Would you know where I could get one?
Thanks in advance for any assistance you can give me. I look forward to hearing from you.
Carol
Thank you so much for your note! When I was browsing the Camp Kennebec website yesterday, I saw that I could download the book that Frances wrote. However, this is one I would like to have in “hard copy”. I have Louis Fleisher’s book – think I found it on CraigsList. When I have time, I plan to look at some of the yearbooks. One of my cousins still has the paddle that Gramp “borrowed” in 1913 and returned many years later! Kennebec put an engraved brass plaque on the paddle stating what Pritch had done and gave it back to him!
I would dearly love it if you could send me a “hard copy” of “The History of Camp Kennebec”.
In 1910, Gramp was walking across the quad at Swarthmore College where he was a student one night in 1910 when a friend of his called out from his dorm window “Hey Pritch, you want to go to Maine for the summer and get paid for it?” !! Gramp thought that sounded like a fine idea and his first summer at Kennebec was 1910. The rest, as they say, is history!! He was so devoted to camp. He and my grandmother met while canoeing on Salmon Lake and my parents met at Wheelers House Keeping Camps across the lake. As I said, my siblings and I still vacation at Wheeler’s, and Kennebec will always be in our hearts! My older brother has the boat and motor that was given to Uncle Pritch years ago and it goes in the water every summer. What fun!
Thanks for signing me up for the website. I have been perusing yearbooks this morning. Now it’s time to get back to work!
Dan Alexander will be on Parker Spitzer December 29, 2010 at 8 pm. Spitzer will be interviewing Dan as a significant person in his life when Spitzer was at Horace Mann. You may recall that Dan was head soccer coach at Horrace Mann for many years.
Kennebecers—I just returned from a week in Maine—-80-90 degrees and NO HUMIDITY….perfect weather! Spent three days in the Moose River Valley at Attean Lake Lodge (www.atteanlodge.com) For those who took the Moose River trip in the 60s and probably 70’s, Attean Lake Lodge was where we left supplies as we took the Moose River Bow. We then picked them up before we continued down the river. Linda and I did white water rafting on the Kennebec…..WOW! Have now stayed at that resort twice……it’s really a wonderful place and I recommend it highly…..climb Mount Sally, canoe to Holeb Falls, enjoy the beaches on the uninhabited Attean Lake. Go to sleep to a symphony of loons! Incredible.
Then went to Belgrade and met up with Mal Dawson. We drove to Skowhegan where we met the current owner of the “Kennebus”…the 1950 Chevrolet Wood sided bus that transported many of us on trips. It is being restored and looks great. Even has “The Kennebec Camps” lettering on the doors. I’ve uploaded some pictures of it to the photos section of the website. Enjoy the views.
Saturday night was the annual reunion of those Kennebecers who still have homes on Salmon Lake and nearby areas, and a few of us who journey there for the annual summer soiree. Excellent evening….a bit smaller group than last year….people had conflicts. Among others saw Dan Alexander, Mal Dawson, Hal Weisbein,Bob Rader,Bruce Tumper, Curt Lakin, one of the Kendigs (can’t keep them straight!), Charlie Sandmel, David Sandmel, Ed Morris, Pete Geiger, Moxie Rogers, and more. Great time….you all should try it.
Join me and raise your glass to our wonderful memories!!
Just a nostalgic note…..the last week of June is here. It used to be the third Thursday in June that we all journeyed to North Belgrade for our wonderful summers there. The years are long past, but the memories are still fresh for many of us. Last week I had the priviledge of delivering “The Camper Sermon” to a new camp in North Carolina. Remember C-ompanship, A-ccuracy, M-odesty, P-urity, E-nthusiasm, R-reverence? A piece of Kennebec lives on……
To all….have a great summer.
On January 6, 2010, Richard Blumenthal-camper (First Section 1961), and counselor in subsequent years, announced that he will run for the US Senate from Connecticut. Richard has served as Connecticut’s Attorney General since 1990 and has an execllent reputation.
Just a note to let you know that Alvah Watson’s daughter, Grace
Wendell, passed away last night at the age of 93 or 94. She was a neighbor
of ours on the lake and a friend for years. Grace had many memories of
Kennebec, Roger and Beanie. You may want to let Hart know. I think he would
have memories of Grace and her husband, Ray Wendell who enjoyed many summer
vacations next to the Gatehouse along the lake shore. She would often tell
us about the many buildings that her Dad built at camp. She was proud of
Kennebec but disdainful of the years after Hart’s ownership. Much of Modin
is on land leased from the Watson Family Trust.
Grace was healthy until the moment of her passing as she hosted her
children and grandchildren for the holidays. She had recently returned from
the Middle East and was planning a trip to South America. She was a world
traveler until the end. Grace’s husband was an executive with American Water
and they lived in Bryn Mawr for many years and raised their children there
and “on the farm” on North Belgrade.
A memorial service is planned for July 3rd on the shores of Salmon Lake.
Mal Dawson
Hi Kennebeckers – Happy (almost) New Year. FYI in case this book might interest you and/or others you know (see below or http://northernwoodlands.org/wood_lit/winter-2009)
Notes on a Lost Flute: A Field Guide to the Wabanaki
By Kerry Hardy
Down East Books, 2009
N. Scott Momaday writes, in The Man Made of Words, “The storyteller’s place, within the context of his language, must include both geographical and mythic frame of reference. Within that frame of reference is the freedom of infinite possibility.”
In Notes on a Lost Flute, Kerry Hardy’s first book, infinite possibility abounds. A fine storyteller and ardent researcher, his essays incorporate philological scholarship and linguistics that are evidenced in the current language and place names of New England’s – and especially Maine’s – once primary inhabitants, the native Wabanaki tribes. The esoteric and the mundane become, on every gloriously illustrated page, fertile fodder for him. He is eager to share his fascination with language, forestry, gardening, environmental science, and old Native American customs and knowledge that can be relevant to our lives today.
Hardy challenges the reader in enjoyable ways. Instead of footnotes, Hardy enriches the text with sidebars, photos, and drawings that enchant: a subtle urge to readers to flip the pages slowly. The book contains elements of language, cultural history, and vital information, such as how to build a mobile home (a wigwam), the names for the moons of each month, a Hardy-imagined chart showing the Wabanaki food for each month depending on availability, plant medicines, the fur trade, and how to fish for that now-too-rare delicacy, the sturgeon. There are numerous notings on different trees and their uses and on edible plants.
His prose is inventive: “If I had to choose just one place to tell the story of Maine’s human history, I’d take Damariscotta. That very name is enough to send archaeologists into raptures… Damariscotta, along with the rest of mid-coast Maine is the landform equivalent of ribbon candy.”
Where does the title come from? “I wanted something cryptic,” Hardy says. “Something that left an unanswered question.” Hardy includes a sidebar about what many consider the world’s oldest musical instrument. A recent Wall Street Journal article describes the discovery of what is believed to be a 35,000-year-old flute made from a wing bone – highlighting “a prehistoric moment when the mind learned to soar on flights of melody and rhythm.”
Notes on a Lost Flute is filled with Hardy’s irrepressible sense of wonder, with the challenge of life once lived in ways that have brought us to the present moment. “What fun,” he writes, “to wander through time each night, filling notebooks with nuggets of history as easily as one might forage mushrooms while rambling in his own woodlot. In the pages that follow, I will collect, jiggle, sort…share glimpses of a vanished people and their landscape.”
Hannah Merker
Purchase this book:
IndieBound | Powell’s Books | Amazon
Regards – Russ Cohen (CK 1967-72)
Just a brief report on the very fitting memorial service for Uncle Harry held on Friday, October 30, 2009, at 12:30 pm at Congregation Rodeph Shalom in Philadelphia. There was an excellent turnout of Kennebecers, too numerous to mention them all here. I’ll name just a few: Mickey Langsfeld, Maury Garten, Mal Dawson, Jeff Binswanger, Jack Adler, Jeff Sternfeld, Mickey Snellenberg, Bernie Lemonick. The Alumni Association sent a very nice flower arrangement with a placard showing the CK Logo and a photo of Harry in his maroon CK T-shirt. Kennebec and Harry’s positive influence on it were mentioned several times and there were several marvelous photographs of Harry in full Indian dress and war paint as the Sachem. Gene and Hank Meyers along with three grandchildren spoke movingly about their father and grandfather. It was a very nice tribute. We will all miss him.
I was visiting camp a few days ago with my daughter and grandson. Joel was most welcoming (as he always is when we walk or canoe to camp from Passy Beach). During the conversation with Joel I noticed many members of the staff wearing Kennebec t-shirts. Joel mentioned that beginning next season he was going to revive the Kennebec brand name and possibly move the camp activities closer to the Kennebec we all remember. The camp will remain co-ed.
Bill Brandeis
I just spent three great days in Maine, attending the annual “reunion” on the last Saturday night in July. It is essentially a pot luck dinner at the Belgrade Center for All Seasons, near the town of Belgrade Lakes. The reunion started for counselors who still have summer homes in the Belgrade area. There were lots of people there….about 35-50 men plus spouses. More former campers are starting to show up as the word spreads. Among the familiar counselor and camper names in attendance were: Perry Lakin, Mal Dawson; Pete Geiger, Ed Brunswick, Artie Clark, Adam Goldstein, Danny Alexander, Hal Weisbein, Joe Rader, Bruce Trumper, Moxie Rogers, Richie Stotter, and more…..
The event, as always, was a huge success.