Dale was working for the New York City Department of Social Services as a case worker when the Mennonite city churches began to consider buying land to start a camp. When a property they wanted to purchase was found—now Camp Deerpark—they quickly needed to raise money. The desire for a camp for the youth and…

Camp Deerpark Newsletter Fall 2004 “An Act of God, the Acts of God’s People” The following are excerpts from the Times Herald Record from Tuesday, August 31 through September 5, 2004: “Local flash flood worst in 49 years” “Homes evacuated, roads closed, people rescued in heavy flooding” “Driving rain turned tame streams into torrents” “By…

While I was one of the original four from Pennsylvania who went to look at the property prior to the purchase of Camp Deerpark in 1968, and continued to support it financially over the years, it wasn’t until around 2000 that I became aware of how much repair work was needed on the buildings. I…

Forest History Camp Deerpark was founded in 1969 when the New York City Mennonite churches purchased the Winkler’s Country Club, which was previously owned by the George Brandt family. In the mid 1970s some logging was done at Camp Deerpark in the Orange Trail area on the south side of Brandt Road. Unfortunately, at that…

Forever God is Faithful: The Story of Camp Deerpark is an anthology-style History book published in 2019 to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of Camp Deerpark. The book is currently being added to the KB knowledge base on this Website starting on this page (Table of Contents below). KB entries related to this book use the…

Emanie Colon spent 15 summers at Camp Deerpark, both as a camper and a staff member. She also attended camp for weekend retreats with her church, United Revival Mennonite Church. Emanie was a camper when summer camp transitioned from the 10-day camps for specific age groups to the rolling one-week camps open to all ages,…

The llamas, Nadora and Bernice, were both born at Camp Deerpark. A few hours after her birth in June 2007 Nadora fell into the old pool. Sean McConaghay observed her mother Ono looking highly upset and ran down to help. Upon arrival he climbed into the water saving Nadora’s short life. In Spanish the word…

When camp was purchased, there was a nine-hole, par 3 golf course, a horseshoe pit, a small basketball court, a see saw and a small swing set (the one that is still there). Eventually the horseshoe pit and the holes in the golf course were filled in and the golf course came to look like…

In response to the events of September 11, 2001 Camp Deerpark, in partner-ship with the Restoring Hope Project, formed a drama group to help young adults from New York City share their stories with their peers and the larger church community. Following are reflections from that experience. The Making of a Drama Group For me,…

It’s the year 2000. I am 16. I’m so nervous. The concrete around the Camp Deerpark pool scorches the bottoms of my feet as I stand in line, waiting my turn for the plunge. I hear drums in the background, thundering to the rhythm of my heartbeat. The women are singing in high-pitched voices. I…