The Origin of Closing The Friday Night Campfire with The Echo Our Father
By Pati Egan
In the summer of 1982, the Girls’ Staff decided to try a new way to close the Friday Night Campfire. From the 1960s until 1982, the girls’ staff would end the campfire with a song titled Each Campfire Lights Anew. The most remembered verse being…
And as the embers die away, we wish that we might ever stay. But since we cannot have our way, we’ll meet again some other day.
This song had its origin in the Girl Scouts. The Camp staff would come on stage at the end of the Friday Night Campfire and sing this to the campers in hopes of them returning again the next year. Since the campers did not have a role in singing this song, it was felt that a prayer said by the entire Camp Family would be a better choice.
Two 1982 staff members, Michelle (Prkut) Martin and Michelle (Kreppert) Bretscher, brainstormed an alternative to a verbal prayer. Michelle Prkut suggested that The Echo Our Father (which was used at her home parish at the time) would be a fitting way to end the weekly campfire. The campers went to Mass three times a week and all were familiar with this version. The staff would come up on stage and lead the prayer song, and the campers would be the echo. It was immediately clear that this was a hit with both the campers and the staff. No one told the campers or staff to link arms, it happened spontaneously.
From that time forward, the Friday night campfire ended with giving praise for the friends we made, the blessings we received, and for the beauty of God’s creation all around us. The Echo Our Father has been performed for 42 years and will continue for many more years to come.
In July of 2022 Jean Schwartz Weiss and Michelle Bretscher were volunteering along with a number of 1982 staff. We asked if it would be okay if we performed this song along with the current staff. This was a magical experience. It was especially memorable that Michelle’s son, Chris Bretscher, was Program Director (and still is). Chris used the guitar that Michelle used in 1982.
It seems that at Camp good ideas happen because one person gets an idea, the idea grows and spreads, the staff and campers take ownership of the idea and great things happen. I was Program Director at that time. To be honest most staff did not know the old song that was used. The Director told me to quit using it. I told the staff we needed something fresh and new. Someone came up with the idea that a prayer should be used to end the week. Michelle Prkut Martin had an idea, the Campers and Staff knew this version of the Our Father. Michelle Bretscher helped gain support for using it; that wasn’t hard to do, this version of the Our Father was used at daily Mass. A tradition was born!