George and Lillian Brandt, along with their seven-year-old son Bob moved to Old Homestead Farm Resort in 1936. George had been a milk and butter salesman in Ridgewood, Queens, just a few blocks from where United Revival Mennonite Church is today, making $100 per week. With no opportunity for advancement in the dairy business, the…

One of camp’s neighbors during the earlier years was Otto Skinner. His property bordered the northwest side of camp. Otto guessed he was related to the Skinner clan who in the 1800s lived on the property that is now Camp Deerpark, though he couldn’t tell you the direct lineage. Otto passed away several years ago,…

“When camp was being purchased,” Dale said, “there were two things we were told we wouldn’t own: Brandt Road, the road off of 209 that brings you to camp, and the cemetery. Both of these were owned by the township.” The Camp Deerpark land was a farm in the 1800s that belonged to the Skinner…

Bob Fell was a friend of Camp Hebron who worked in the field of marketing, and he enjoyed doing volunteer work for other camps as well. He did market research for Camp Deerpark in 2010, making several trips to camp and to New York City to meet with the board and pastors of the Mennonite…

Since camp was first purchased, weekend retreats have been a constant source of enjoyment for congregations from New York City. The first retreat at camp was held in May of 1969. Camp hosted the youth groups from the city churches, with about 70 youth attending. Glad Tidings Mennonite Church held the first church retreat in…

Camp Deerpark is where I met the love of my life in the fall of 1969. We’ve been married for over 39 years. I came to New York City as a brand new VSer in the fall of 1969. The VS unit was housed on 19th Street in Manhattan at the time. One night at…

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,…