On a Sunday afternoon in the early spring of 1969, Glenn and Florence Zeager took Mim and I to Westbrookville, New York to see the camp property. We traveled in the 1948 Packard that Glenn had recently bought from our neighbor, Mr. Davis. I was very excited about the plan to buy camp. I thought…

Wes Newswanger was a member at Good Shepherd Mennonite Church in New York City when he heard rumors about the Mennonite leaders in the city wanting to buy some property for a camp. When Camp Deerpark opened in 1969, Wes was one of the first persons to work with the children’s summer programming. He also…

One afternoon in the summer of 2008 I found a strange car parked along Brandt Road and saw a young couple walking in the cemetery. Of course I made it my business to find out what they were up to. It turned out that they were descendants of the Skinner family who had traveled from…

Camp Deerpark has benefited greatly from hardworking staff and volunteers since New York City church leaders first visited the property in1968. Belief in the mission of camp has inspired many people to go above and beyond what is asked of them by contributing gifts of labor, vision, knowledge and expertise, donations of equipment and materials,…

In September 1968, I continued my voluntary service under Eastern Mennonite Board of Missions in New York City following a summer at Camp Hebron, where I was the assistant director. Pastors of the Mennonite churches had begun to dream about a camp for city children and families. I believe it was in 1969 that the…

Camp Deerpark from its inception has been committed to training and developing young adults as leaders. The summer camp program director position has been fertile ground for growing leaders. From 1969 to 1985 the camp administrator was responsible for providing overall direction to the summer camp program while each weekly session had a different director…

These values articulated in the fall of 2009 are used as a decision making tool and as a guiding reference point for the summer camp program. They are not in order of importance. 1. Responsibility •Responsibility for one’s own self •Responsibility to the family •Responsibility to the community 2. Peacemaking •Resolving conflicts and healing broken…