And just like that, the summer of 2024 has come to a close. Our final Father Son session of the summer concluded this morning, and by mid-afternoon camp was taken down and the docks sat quietly on the beach, to wait patiently for the summer of 2025.

Being a camp director is Hard. But it’s kind of like being a parent. “The days are long but the years are short.” The actual length of our summer season is only 10 weeks, but there is so much crammed into those ten weeks that it feels like much longer. Our camp days start before 7am and often end after 9pm. There are always people who need you. And any parent will tell you that there are plenty of sleepless nights.

I was on staff for 6 summers before Patrick and I got married and I became a director. And I came back every summer because of the Deerhorn Magic. I felt it that first summer I worked at camp and its power is what drove me to become a teacher so I would have summers off to work at camp. I knew who I was at camp and I felt accepted and loved in a way I hadn’t fully felt in high school or college yet. I felt it so deeply I brought my brother back my second year and he stayed for another six. My parents felt it the very first summer they came to pick me up and watched the Water Campfire. It’s a magic that settles into your bones and feels like a deep peace in your soul.

As a director, it’s easy to get lost in the hard work of it all and miss the magic these days. My life is lived as a to-do list, with post-its, emails to myself, alarms on my phone, and endless lists in various locations. My mom used to say that she thought I would make a good school principal, and ironically that’s what I feel like some days. There are some days and situations that are so hard and there is no playbook for how to deal with it.

But no job is easy. No matter how much you love your job, it’s not all unicorns and rainbows. There are always going to be hard parts, just like in life. And luckily the good parts far outweigh the bad. This summer more than any summer since Covid, I felt the Deerhorn Magic. It was in the staff who came back to work after graduating college and were only supposed to be here a couple of weeks and then stayed. It was watching groups of dads and sons play and sing at Deerhorn campfires. It was watching the Voyagers and Pioneers get up in groups at the campfires and sing songs together. It was in the comments from parents who tell us they see the difference that camp makes in their son, when they come home more authentically themselves. It was in the relationships built with incredible kids, staff, and parents, who we are lucky enough to call friends. It’s in the hugs and tears on the last day of every session.

And it was in the Joy. The joy of 1 year old Keira and her dance moves and laughter. The joy of watching our daughter, Rowan, fall in love with Keira as her nanny when I swear it was just yesterday that we were the ones who had nannies for Rowan. The joy of snuggling baby Kenna who always had a smile for everyone. The joy of having a puppy at camp and watching kids’ faces light up as they got to hold and snuggle Georgia. The joy of the pride on a dad’s face as his son got up  and sang at a Deerhorn campfire. The joy of a dad who was a camper himself and now gets to watch his son fall in love with Deerhorn too. The joy of reunions with people we haven’t seen in a year. The joy of a kid who goes home and tells his parents that one session just was not enough time at Deerhorn.

We hear all the time from parents about the Deerhorn Magic, and we are so glad that you see it too. But The Deerhorn Magic is strong because of the people who are here. The people who come to camp and share their own magic make the Deerhorn Magic Stronger. So thank you to all the parents who shared their Magic with us this summer and trusted us to take care of their Magic. Thanks to all the staff who brought their Magic to camp and shared it with us and the campers. Go out into the world and share your Deerhorn Magic. The world is always in need of more Magic. And here’s to many more years of Deerhorn Magic. See you in 2025.

Love,

Amy