Camp Pasquaney Tree Talks and Chapel Talks

“We’re not at Pasquaney to escape from life. We’re at Pasquaney to prepare for it.”

In the final Chapel Talk of 2026, Director Michael Hanrahan reflects on the seven-week season as a mountain climbed together. He challenges campers to remember the view from the summit, remain loyal to their values, and carry their gratitude into the world through friendship, service, and the choices they make at home.

In the final Tree Talk of Pasquaney's 132nd season, counsellor Crash Ackerly shares a personal reflection on how smartphones and social media quietly consume our lives, and what it looks like to fight back by ‘binding ourselves to the mast’ like Odysseus.

In this chapel talk, Mr. Michael traces Pasquaney's history through each of its directors, detailing times of crisis they faced, from the Great Depression, the hurricane of 1938, and World War II to economic recessions and the camp’s closure in 2020. Their stories reveal an enduring inheritance of leadership, resilience, and devotion to Pasquaney. Drawing on that legacy, Mr. Michael challenges us to meet a cynical and uncertain world with earnestness, selfishness with service, and adversity with kindness, fellowship, and hope -- reminding us that Pasquaney is not an escape from the world, but a place that prepares us to change it.

In his seventh-week Tree Talk, Chase Carmody speaks to the boys and counsellors about what it means to buy in and how that commitment can make all the difference in a person’s life.

“Buy-in,” Chase says, “is what remains when the excitement wears off. It is the decision to keep showing up, keep trying, and keep caring, even when nobody is watching.”

Long Walk Song 2026 by Pasquaney

In his inspiring Tree Talk, Waterfront Director Porter Barnes reflects on a family mantra born during the three years they lived aboard a sailboat: “Be crew, not passengers.” The saying encourages taking responsibility rather than passively letting life unfold. He connects this lesson to life at Pasquaney, urging campers to contribute actively and showing how doing so builds respect and influence.

Townley Chisholm reflects on how the limited time we have at camp, and in life, creates joy, meaning, and responsibility to be kind to one another.

Third-year counsellor Elliott Randolph IV speaks campers and counsellors about turning personal struggles into strength through self-acceptance, continuous improvement, and serving others.

Second-year counsellor Wyatt Winstead stresses the need for individuals to stand up for what is right, even if it is unpopular, and encourages the boys to be bold, question everything, and take action.

Mr. Michael shares a story about his experience as a kitchen porter in Ireland to illustrate honesty and integrity, and encourages the boys and counsellors to keep adding “bricks” to their foundation of integrity by choosing honesty even in a world where many people are dishonest.