This. This is the best of Deerhorn. Blake is 9 and Mike is 15. At home, they would unlikely be friends. They wouldn’t even go to the same school. Where in life would you ever see a 3rd grader friends with a sophomore in high school? At Deerhorn. Friendships like this are the norm, not the exception. Leaders who are 16 will talk in their water campfire speech about 12 year olds they look up to. Games of knock-out on the lower basketball court will involve 8 year olds, 14 year olds, and 21 year old staff members. Ten year olds write home to their parents, telling them about their new best friend who is one of our assistant counselors.   At Deerhorn, we all go by first names around here…It’s Amy, Patrick, Blaine, & Barbara, not Mr. or Mrs. Broadbridge.  Age doesn’t matter, and that is one of the coolest things about Deerhorn.

    Many of our staff were former campers themselves. By the time they are a first year staff member at age 19, they have already had years of experience with young kids.  They helped out the younger kids who were on their team. They played with them on the waterfront. They learned how to be role models to all those young boys who looked up to them, just as they had looked up to those older boys when they were 8 & 9. It’s amazing how it comes full circle, and it’s so cool to watch it happen. Boys at Camp Deerhorn have an endless supply of positive role models every day they are here. Yes, sometimes those role models are older, but not always.  Some of our older campers and staff will talk about how they “look up” to a younger boy on their team or in their koogee who is kind to other people and lives the Deerhorn Creed. The influence flows both ways. These friendships, these role models, this place where age doesn’t matter…this is the best of Deerhorn.