Peddie Day

Blair-Peddie Rivalry

Since 1903, Blair Academy and The Peddie School have competed in football; their rivalry constitutes New Jersey’s oldest continuous prep football competition. Each November, the two schools vie for the coveted Kelley-Potter Cup by playing against one another in a fall sports competition involving all types of fall sports, including football. As a result, coaches and athletes from both schools have forged friendships based on mutual respect and a true spirit of sportsmanship.

Peddie Week and Bonfire

During the week leading up to Peddie Day, frivolity abounds at Blair. The campus is bedecked with banners hanging from windows, often poking fun at the Peddie chicken mascot. On Peddie Day “Eve,” a spirited pep rally, torch procession and stories-high bonfire pave the way for a day of athletic competition.

Archival files indicate that the first pep rally and bonfire lit the spirit and the skies of the Blair community in 1895. An article in the Spring 2002 Blair Bulletin (page 24) noted that the bonfire – a rite of passage for Blair seniors – has taken on greater proportions in recent years. An excerpt follows:

The November 10, 2001 edition of The Blair Breeze featured an article by Drew Bishop ’02 on “the essentials and historical facts of the Blair Academy bonfire, lit each eve of Peddie Day...” Drew interviewed Dennis Peachey ’62, assistant headmaster for external relations, to gain some insight into a tradition that is literally burned into the memories of many alumni.

“Ironically, [the bonfire was] both a bonding and a hazing venture in its earlier days,” Dennis told Drew. “The underclassmen would be shaken out of bed in the early hours of morning to work on the bonfire.” Back then, no chainsaws or other equipment were utilized either. “It was very low-key,” he said. Years ago, the bonfire was built by “the new boys” under the direction of prefects over a time span of a few weeks. While it is still guarded against raids by Peddie marauders, this protective measure is now a privilege for four-year seniors, not a chore forced on freshmen.

In the late ’60s and ’70s, things began to change, though. Drew wrote, “It was at this time that Blair hired a young man by the name of Professor Joline. Joline, then a biology teacher and head of both the outdoor skills program and the ski team, is responsible for initializing the growth of the Peddie Week bonfire that has led to its current proportions. Mr. Peachey describes the bonfire then as being a focal point to direct spirited energy in a worthy and respectable fashion.”

These days, a pep rally in Walker Gymnasium fires up the Blair community immediately before a torch parade – led by Headmaster Chan Hardwick and members of the senior class – shepherds onlookers down the track to the football field. In a nearby area stands a structure of logs with an effigy of a Peddie player topping it off. Built by a crew of faculty members and seniors, the bonfire, as described by Drew, is a structure of both pride and hopeful anticipation of the events to take place in the upcoming weekend. Parade members hurl their torches into the pyre, and the logs are soon a blazing inferno defying anyone to stand too close. The culmination of a week of fun and pranks, the sight is impressive, to say the least, despite the fact that the State of New Jersey intervened in 2003 and asked that the bonfire be downsized. School spirit could not be diminished. Go, Bucs!

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