Romance and Weddings
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 the dinner table the unit leader said that Brooklyn Spanish Mennonite Church wanted to use the VS van for their church retreat at Camp Deerpark. For insurance reasons that meant a VSer had to drive the van. One of the older VSers poked me in the ribs and said, “Brooklyn Spanish has some good-looking girls attending.” I immediately spoke up and said I would drive the van for the weekend.
On the Saturday morning of the retreat I got to the church early. I stood at the top of the church stairs and watched all the folks coming in. Sure enough I saw this beautiful young girl, Connie Inesta, coming up the side-walk to the church. When she looked at me, my world kind of stopped. Years later Connie confessed that she too knew something special had happened when she saw me. She said the thought occurred to her that “this was the guy she was going to marry.” But I still had to chase her all over New York City till she married me.
It took me all day Saturday to get around Connie’s older brother’s defenses, but I was finally able to talk with Connie by Saturday campfire. Thank goodness for Camp Deerpark campfire services. We spent the rest of the weekend getting to know each other and exploring camp. For the next three years we dated off and on. We visited Camp Deerpark whenever possible. We were married in Brooklyn Spanish Church in 1973.
I was fortunate to spend the summer of 1970 or 1971 on staff at Camp Deerpark. Connie and I have been gone from New York City since 1975, but Camp Deerpark holds a special place in our hearts.
Lowell Jantzi and Ruth Villanueva: October 15, 1977
I first noticed Ruth as she sat on the front porch of the main house wearing a red pull over sweater, but I was too shy to talk to her. That July she took two weeks of vacation from work and came to camp to counsel the 8–9year-old girls. I took a two week break from building the cabins on the hill to counsel the 8–9 year-old boys. Jerry and Leonor Kennell, summer camp directors put us in the same activities group and our attraction became stronger. That August she came with her church, Burnside Mennonite to camp for their summer retreat. At a campfire I worked up the nerve to let her know how I felt and what followed were weekend train rides by Ruth to Otisville and rides by me to New York City in camp’s 1951 green Chevrolet pickup truck to deliver firewood. Somehow, it always took two days to unload the truck and return to camp.
We planned an outdoor wedding on the front lawn of camp for October 15, 1977. Blustery, rainy, and chilly is how the morning of our wedding day greeted us. After a few frantic minutes we decided to move every-thing indoors. Camp staff, guests and family who had arrived the day before pitched into convert the chapel into a wedding chapel. The wedding arch covered with flowers was dismantled and rebuilt inside, chairs were set up, a white runner was put down and the piano was rolled into position.
The unexpected continued with a phone call from Paul Landis, Ruth’s bishop, who baptized her and agreed to officiate the ceremony. He apologized but said he could not come because his brother had a fatal car accident the night before. We were heartbroken for him and panicked for ourselves. Fortunately Dale Stoltzfus, camp administrator and a licensed New York State minister, graciously agreed to fill in.
Lorraine Weaver, who catered the reception, adapted too. She and her staff did a masterful job moving the tables and chairs inside to the chapel basement, covering the block walls with aluminum foil, hanging streamers and on each table placing candles in wood holders made by Isaac Grable, who stayed up most of the night making them. And she found a way to carry all the food from the kitchen to the chapel and serve it hot to 100 plus guests! And we still remember the gracious toast offered by Ruth’s boss President John Burkhart from Chase World Information Corp.
By noon, everything was set, the rain stopped, the sun peeked out, and when the music began it all turned to magic. Forty one years later and counting it still sparks magic.
Ken Bontrager and Deborah Sharp: September 9, 1990
On a cool late summer morning in September of 1990, Ken Bontrager and I gathered with our families and friends at a fireside ring at Camp Deerpark called Shalom. At that time we had not the slightest notion that we were pledging our lives to one another in the very place that we would one day call home, and that we would also pledge our lives to the ministry of Camp Deerpark for over two decades.
Michael Banks officiates, September 9, 1990.
Our marriage was only the first of many landmark events that have taken place at camp. Four of our six children were born in our home here, and one of our daughters is buried in the graveyard at the end of our driveway.
Who could have known on that beautiful day in September the days that God had in store for us in this place. Days of great rejoicing, days of toil and care, days of sadness and despair, and ultimately days of feeling the hand of God resting upon us and helping us, loving us and giving us hope.
It was the loveliest of beginnings, and a great hope remains for what will be in the end. I can see now that everything will have been worth it when this chapter closes and we look back to marvel at the goodness and faithfulness of the One who called us here and sustains us. It is an honor. It is a joy. We don’t deserve it, but we are grateful for the fruit of our marriage in a place called Camp Deerpark.
Orville Egli and Marian Sauder
I became Camp Deerpark administrator on March 1, 1990. In 1993 we needed a new director of maintenance. Orv was offered the job and he came to camp in October 1993 for an 18-month assignment.
Orv and I worked well together. I was impressed when he would invite neighbors for a meal and when he entertained a college work team who came during spring break. We liked each other’s independent spirit. We appreciated each other’s friendship. And as we listened to our hearts, “love came softly” and we were married April 29, 1995 at Redeeming Grace Fellowship by Lester Sutter.
I wonder if people thought at the time: why didn’t we get married at camp? I remember how I sat down at your wedding, Ken (Bontrager), ready to enjoy the service and the day. Ten to 15 minutes before the wedding began, the batteries went out in a speaker or something and Richard came to me and asked if we had batteries in the snack shop. I didn’t have the key with me and neither was I wearing walking shoes. (I was at a wedding.) But I hurriedly went up to the office to get the key and then got the batteries in the snack shop and took them to Shalom.
If we had planned to get married at camp, I could imagine something happening like a main water break an hour before the wedding was to begin and we would be involved or have to advise what to do. It was wonderful having others taking care of the church facilities.
William Ramos and Delma Escobar: June 22, 2002
Will and I met in February 1995. Will had grown up in a different church so he’d never been to Camp Deerpark before. It immediately became one of his favorite places to go to. There’s something about being surrounded by God’s creation, the warm breezes and the swaying of the trees mingled with the laughter of kids playing and the sounds of people talking and relaxing on the porch swings. It makes you feel connected to something special.
After dating for seven years, Will and I decided to get married. At first, we didn’t have a real idea of what our wedding would be like. As we considered different venues, neither of us were overly excited about any of the prospects. I can’t remember who suggested it first, but I do remember that the first time we talked about the possibility of having our wedding at camp we were both super excited. We immediately envisioned what the day would look like: the string quartet, the horse drawn carriage, flowers everywhere and a ceremony by the gazebo. It would be the stuff of cheesy Hallmark movies; it would be perfect!
The weekend of the big day arrived and almost immediately things went wrong. The night before the wedding the tent’s lighting shorted out so the florist was forced to decorate using only her van’s headlights. The rental company sent square tablecloths for the round tables. The baker forgot the netting for the cake (and so for a while the cake threatened to look like a sugary gnat graveyard). The string quartet’s car broke down on the way to the wedding. The servers hired by the caterer didn’t show up, and the caterer forgot to order the drinks to be served with the meal (it was a hot June day).
Still, in the midst of all of that, Will and I saw God’s faithfulness as every issue and every problem found a solution. Two of Will’s cousins happened to be electricians and they rewired the tent, the round tablecloths were delivered bright and early, the gnats were kept at bay with some tulle (I still don’t know where it came from), the musicians called the office and some-one jumped in a van to go pick them up, the camp staff strapped on aprons and volunteered to serve, and someone ran down to the local store to get drinks for our very thirsty guests.
In the end, it was a day full of unexpected challenges but more than that, it was a day when God reminded us of just how much He cares for us. He cares about the details of our lives, about the things that are important to us, about the things that bring us joy. Camp has always been a place where we’ve felt God’s love and peace—a place where we’ve felt His presence both in us and all around us. But His love overwhelmed us on that day.
Joshua Martinez and Sara Santiago: July 23, 2016
The first time I went to Camp Deerpark was in the year 1996 with a youth group from Love, Power, and Grace Church in the Bronx. I was only 11 years old and this was my first time being away from my parents, camping with a group of teenagers and young adults. I remember sitting at the bottom of the slide on Sunday morning, softly shuffling the autumn foliage with my feet, just thinking, “I don’t want to leave this place.” I fell in love with the grounds. I could literally feel God in everything out there. I knew that Camp Deerpark was a special place on earth; a place where God’s presence could be felt in the breeze.
As a young adult I was ordained as pastor of the Red Letter Church. I was the only pastor I knew who wasn’t married. In the fall of 2014, I decided to do a retreat with my church, this time not as a youth member but as a leader. I wanted my church to experience the same thing I had experienced that weekend in October 1996. Sara had become a member of our church and we had begun a courtship in March. I was able to sit with her and tell her about my first time at Camp Deerpark. She also shared how she had fallen in love with the camp that weekend, and that she too felt the same way I did. After our engagement in March of 2016 we began looking for venues for our wedding. We saw many places that were top contenders, but it felt like something was missing. We couldn’t exactly point out what. I don’t remember when and how the topic of getting married at camp came about. We both agreed to camp because of our spiritual connection to the place. We were then faced with the question: Who is going to marry us? We said, “Well, let’s have Ken do it.” This seemed like a crazy idea at first, because although Ken was a great host every time we went to camp, we didn’t really know him like that.
We went to camp to speak with him and hoped that he would accept. We sat at the table with the Bontragers, eating Camp Deerpark’s delicious food, and I mustered up the courage to ask. Ken wanted to do it, but he did not have the credentials. I was disappointed at first, but Ken was able to give me a glimpse of hope when he looked at me with that classic Ken Bontrager grin and said, “Let me see what I can do.” To make this long story short, Ken was able to get his credentials to marry us. We wanted Ken because in our hearts he was and is the pastor of Camp Deerpark. For one weekend or more a year we came to his church and felt God’s manifold presence there.
On our wedding day on July 24, 2016, I remember getting ready at the Promise Woods cabins and just feeling extremely nervous. Once I was dressed I stepped out to the top of that hill and prayed. It was there where God spoke to me and said, “I will bless you and your children for generations to come.” And He reiterated, “Yes, I said children.” I knew at the moment that getting married at Camp Deerpark was the right choice. It had to be like 96 degrees that day. It was hot! I was wearing a three-piece suit and I was boiling. Once we reached the chapel I was standing at the altar waiting for my bride when Ken leans over to me and says, “I guess it’s my job to keep you calm.” I personally feel like he might have been a little nervous himself. It’s safe to say we were both nervous.
After a special meal prepared by the camp staff we decided to go back up to our cabins and get into our swimwear. It was too hot. We jumped into that pool as husband and wife and have been happily married ever since. Now we take our son, Isaac, to Camp Deerpark. My hope is one day he will have the same connection with Camp Deerpark and it will be part of his story.
Thank you Camp Deerpark; you are forever ingrained in our hearts.