It’s always unfortunate when children have to pay for mistakes their parents committed. This was one of those situations: Two campers sat on the porch. Their bags were packed and heads hung low. They were being sent home early. No, not because of a fight. Not because they were sick or ill-behaved. Unfortunately their mom…

From when camp was purchased until the present time, many people have dreamed of new camping facilities. The vision included new cabins and a separate dining hall for children’s camps and converting existing buildings, such as Spruce Lodge, into an area solely for congregational retreats and family vacations. When the Brandt Road property was purchased,…

Jim Baer was 18 years old and working at Agway, a vegetable seed packaging company in Pennsylvania, when he was briefly laid off. At the urging of his former high school shop teacher, Wes Newswanger, Jim went to Camp Deerpark for three weeks in June of 1977 to help build the new pool. “After my…

We joined the Camp Deerpark staff as co-assistant directors in late April 1975. Perhaps the most memorable staff times were living with Lowell Jantzi, Isaac Grable, Frank Freeman and Maynard Shirk. Those were years of growth for camp, with 10-day summer camps, often with up to 80 campers, punctuated by weekend church retreats. We remember…