DOWNLOAD A PDF OF THE 2008 BLAZER

Deerhorn Blazer
January 2008
The summer of 2007 was a great one. We filled it from start to finish with campfires and counselor shows, baseball games and
bike rides. We rode horses, sailed boats, climbed walls, paddled canoes, and carried ping pong balls all over camp. We carried
on old traditions, like the Monkey Relays, and started traditions of our own, like the game of Civil War. We shared meals,
memories, laughter, and friendships. Then we went home and tried to explain to our friends what an amazing summer it had
been. They listened, but some could not understand why we would want to spend weeks of our summer with no electricity,
cell phones, TV, or video games. They couldn’t understand the simple pleasures of the stars in the night sky, or pulling a t-shirt
on the Scalp field. Maybe this is where the magic of Deerhorn lies, in experiences we all shared but that are hard to explain.
Some choose to keep this secret to themselves, while others want to share it and bring friends to camp. Whatever your
choice, know that you are part of something special…the Deerhorn Experience. And in just a few months, we get to do it all over again. This Blazer will fill you in on questionnaire results, introduce you to the 2008 leader crew, and give you an update
on enrollment and staff. It will also give you a peek at what other campers have been doing this winter. Staff Update… Staff members who have signed on for all or part of the summer
of ’08 include the following: Dick Kinney (27 years), Mark Brooks, Sedu Samura, Pierson Pflieger, Hootie Giangreco, Luke Heinkel, Matt Winter, Brian McFadden, Danny Nordstrom, John Moore, Chad Beskange, Nate Rosenblum, Sue Oestreich, Elena Zubareva, For assistant counselors counselors, Jimmy Westhoff, Michael Schoder, & Michael Sullivan. Keep checking the staff updates page of our website for more names.

2008 Leader Core… The hardest choice as a Deerhorn director is the selection of leaders. This year’s leaders come from all across the U.S. and bring with them THIRTY YEARS of camp experience…now that’s loyalty!

Yates Webb has been at camp for nine summers, and he is leading the Chippewa. He is from Atlanta, Georgia.

Remy LaGrange, from Chicago, is coming back for his tenth summer to lead the Navajo.

Eric Deacon, a Bloomfield Hills, Michigan native, is leading
the Iroquois. This will be his seventh summer at camp.

Nick Perez is returning for his fourth year to lead the Apache. He is from Fairfax, Virginia.

These guys are psyched for the summer and ready to help
you have a blast!

Enrollment Update…
As of late December, we have received over 300 applications for the ’08 summer. Space is available in all sessions with the exception of the June Father/ Son session. This session already has a short waiting list. The C Session will likely reach capacity in the near future. Needless to say, if you have not sent your application for next summer, we encourage you to do so to avoid a waiting list for that session.

Camper Questionnaire Results…
As you know, the scale was 1(excellent)- 5 (poor).
Here’s how Deerhorn did. In parentheses are the scores for ’06
and ’05.
1. Counselors- 1.44 (1.41) (1.36)
2. Activities- 1.49 (1.49) (1.52)
3. After dinner activities- 1.47 (1.56) (1.63)
4. Sun. afternoon events- 1.63 (1.48) (1.52)
5. Food- 2.17 (2.16) (2.28)
6. Campfires- 1.8 (1.67) (1.77)
7. Koogees- 2.15 (1.99) (1.93)
8. Free days- 1.65 (1.54) (1.52)
9. Director Availability- 1.61 (1.55) (1.66)
10.Sunday Koogee Time- 2.12 (1.99) (2.56)
11. Health Care Staff- 1.29 (1.34) (1.2)

Activities and trips were also scored in order of popularity popularity…
1. Horseback Riding- 1.21 (1.36) (1.41)
2. Ice Hockey- 1.44 (1.2) (1.65)
3. Tennis- 1.47 (1.6) (1.6)
4. Water Skiing-1.48 (1.32) (1.23)
5. Golf- 1.68 (1.83) (2.05)
6. Mtn. Biking- 1.69 (1.78) (1.84)
7. Sports & Games- 1.72 (1.64) (1.47)
8. Sailing- 1.85 (1.65) (1.59)
9. Riflery- 1.89 (1.46) (1.46)
10. Archery-1.95 (1.83) (1.78)
11.Canoeing-2.0 (2.03) (2.01)
12. Crafts- 2.04 (2.04) (1.83)
13. Swimming-2.16 (2.36) (2.16)
14. Basketball- 2.18 (2.3) (1.82)
1. Voyager- 1.0 (1.0) (1.0)
2. Explorer- 1.0 (not scored in ’06)
3. Lake Superior- 1.0 (1.5) (1.25)
4. Waterpark- 1.22 (1.28) (1.3)
5. Canoe Trip- 1.33 (1.58) (1.83)
6. Backpack- 1.33 (not scored in ’06)

The Chariots of Fire was your favorite Sunday event. This was followed by a close second, the Monkey Relays.

Many thanks go to Hootie for a job well done. The most helpful counselors for you last summer were (in order)
1. Hootie Giangreco
2. Matt Winter
3. Dick Kinney
There were over 41 staff members who received votes. We are glad to hear from all of you that our staff was a great one!

WEBSITE… www.deerhorn.com…BRAND NEW!!!
Coming this spring, Camp will launch a new website…it will have an updated look and lots of new features…work is in progress, so check back in the coming months for its appearance. We will send out an email announcing when it is ready to go. Many thanks go to Jill Kuczmarski for her design of the new site. Until then, check out cool things on our current website.

Alumni Connection-To post messages to friends and leave your contact information.
Picture Archives-Hundreds of pictures from years past! Recent pictures are now posted on Shutterfly. This allows you to view them as a slideshow, and order prints of any pictures you want.
Videos Videos- Short clips about aspects of camp.
Deerhorn on the Road Road- Tells you when Deerhorn will be visiting your area.

Parent Questionnaire Results…
Scale: 1(excellent)- 5 (poor)
1. Director’s availability- 1.24 (1.16) (1.3)
2. Staff Competency- 1.21 (1.17) (1.26)
3. Safety/Security- 1.27 (1.34) (1.4)
4. Camper/Staff ratio-1.25 (1.32) (1.5)
5. Overall satisfaction- 1.25 (1.32) (1.34)
6. Health Care- 1.23 (1.25) (1.51)
7. Camp Maintenance- 1.22 (1.4) (1.63)
8. Value of tuition- 1.53 (1.58) (1.68)
9. Activities- 1.45 (1.65) (1.61)
10. Food service- 1.61 (1.81) (2.1)
11. Koogees- 1.9 (2.15) (2.15)
12. Bathhouse facilities- 2.30 (2.36) (2.6)
13. Changeovers-1.33 (1.47) (**)

What the parents said their son(s) most liked about camp included activities, independence, friendships, and counselors. Henry Pollock’s parents said that his favorite part about camp was Alex Smith! We agree with you, Henry, that Alex is a great part of
camp! What they liked least included the mosquitoes, snoring koogee mates, and going home. Thank you, parents, for names of new families and for all of your suggestions.

HOSTING A PRESENTATION…
Thank you you, also, to those of you who sent back the yellow postcards, volunteering to host presentations. Deerhorn has become what it is due to word of mouth recommendations from people like you. If you have several friends or neighbors that
might be interested in camp in the future, one of the Directors would love to visit you and show the 2008 Deerhorn DVD at
your home. Just call us at 1 800 713 3130 or ask us to mail them a brochure.

Cell Phones- We asked parents if they agreed with our policy that campers are not allowed to have cell phones at camp. Their
answers came back almost unanimously in agreement. However, we need parents’ help in this regard. Please make sure your
child’s cell phone stays at home. We would encourage all electronic devices to stay at home also. Many parents stated that camp should be an escape from the technological world, and we agree.

School Happenings…
School activities have kept you all busy this winter. Some of them are pretty unique. Joseph Azar is in his school play and the Latin Club. Will Engels plays percussion in the band. Gilly Fitz Fitzgerald gerald plays the trumpet and does karate. Jack Austin’s many activities include juggling and fencing. Brian Reiss also does fencing. Ted Decker is part of the light/sound crew for performances. Robbie Emmitt participates in drama and National Honor Society. Henry Plagemann is part of the chorus and the orchestra, Nels Snyder plays the guitar, and Charlie Zoller plays the cello. One of Benny Friedman’s activities is film making, and Sebastian Dissette does ski racing and tae kwan do. As always, sports are a major part of your daily lives during the winter. Zev Motew plays travel soccer and just moved up to the gold team! Other soccer players include Dylan Gunther, Bryan Thompson, Ricky Goldstein, Will Lund, Kevin Kane, Terry Taylor, David Cox, and Max Block Block. Peter Paleczny plays club volleyball, and Patrick Azar and Austin Heenahan are swimmers. Football players this fall included Tommy Harvey, Zack Kornick, RJ Serruto, Dan Kerr, Mike Maicke, & Matt Nicholson Nicholson. Some of you enjoy running as a pastime or a school sport, including John Garrahy and David Reiss Reiss. Baseball players include Steven Zazaian and Will Field Field, and hockey players include Jason Ward and Hayes Williams Williams. Sean Thomas, David Stacke, Nate Palmer, Charlie Wilson, Bryan Murphy, and Griff Bryant wrote that you “play sports”. Adam Roge even just wrote “all of the above” to describe his school activities.

Trips…
You guys told us about some pretty cool trips you’ve taken this year. Many of you have even traveled abroad in the last few months. Jake Bloc Block went to Jamaica, which he says was “awesome.” Will Westwater went to Argentina and Costa Rica, and Morgan Bryant says he’s been to China, Italy, and England recently. Christmas found Will Westhoff in Costa Rica and James Conway in Spain, and Logan Hollin Holling’s g’s many travels have included Mexico and Norway. Doug Hogenkamp plans on going to France this summer, and might even visit his friend Pierre! Some of you headed to warmer climates for Christmas, like Florida, including David Richman and Johnny Burns Burns. Many of you, however, have chosen ski destinations for vacations, including Carl Anderson Anderson, who went skiing in Montana, Nicky David David, who went skiing in Colorado, and Will Perry Perry, who went skiing in Keystone. What would you change about Camp Deerhorn?... Max Tu Turner rner would like more girls. Ben Steffen would like more “civil war” which became really popular this summer after its introduction to camp. Carolina Mayfield wants the bugs out of the bathroom, and Joe Dempsey would like more dogs at camp. Michael Moeser says “not having to do this questionnaire bc I love the camp and I can't think of anything to write that is bad." Chris Murphy summed up many of your answers with his simple “It’s all good.”

What did you like best about camp?...
Most answers included something about people, friendships, or the activities. Daniel Golde says “Waking up to fresh Wisconsin air.” Collin Graham’s answer was “meeting new great friends like Riley O'Gara and John Polydoris.” Nick Perez says that Deerhorn has “become my second home.” Bryan Zazaian likes the “competition between the four camp teams,” and Jack Plagemann liked horseback riding the best. Will Rieke loved Scalp and Civil War, and Teddy Brombach said “One is the crafts- that is fun.” Jake Freedman liked sprout ball the best and Ben Greene loved “seeing friends from last year and making new ones.” Liked Least? Charlie Parry didn’t like “going to bed at nine while the big kids had privileges.” Parker Nixon didn’t like two flag scalp and wishes we would go back to one flag. Nathan Zoroya says “I do not hate anything,” and Trevor Taylor says “Nothing-I love Deerhorn!” Other answers included the cold koogees at night, early bedtimes, and the bathhouses.

A few highlights…
Jarrett Bond wrote an awesome paragraph about learning to ski at camp…thanks for sharing it with us, Jarrett!

“Vroom, vroom! The white and red boat revved. “Are you ready?” Rocky asked. I held the ski rope in between my skis. It was mildly choppy over the blue Pelican Lake. VROOOM! We had finally departed! I held onto the ski rope and pulled myself up. “Hooray!” yelled my koogee mates, Byron (who had also gotten up on skis today), Patrick, Alex, Steen, and Sam. I was up! I focused on the water and the course of the boat. On the horizon, I could see koogee row, people swimming and sailing. I finished and swam over to the dock with the skis in my arm. When I departed the lake, my koogee mates congratulated me and we watched the other skiers. I was very proud and jubilant. I was told by Alex that I could stand up at the awards breakfast. I couldn’t wait to tell my mom and dad!”
-Jarrett Bond

“I have too many to write so I'll write one. I was one gold star away from a perfect warrior (2 yrs in a row) and at the last possible second I got it. It felt great. Many more memories, too little time. Can't wait for next year.”
-Max Motew

“I got Hootie out in scalp! Pay backs are awesome!”
-Frankie Mayfield

“I was on Bud, who is old but who I still like. When we got back to the stable, Bud went straight past his tie-up spot and into the stable with me still on his back. This is the second year in a row that this happened to me.”
-Harley Huddle

“I played baseball with Will. I loosened up my arm and pitched to him. Tell Will I still have the ball he cracked a homer with. I had thrown a two seam fastball, my best pitch. Also tell him the next season I was MVP pitcher of the league- Hook 'em Horns!”
-Charlie Richmond

News from the Homefront
We all know that one of Blaine Broadbridge's true passions in life is running. He took this to a higher level this fall, competing in the Heartland 100 in Kansas. That is correct, 100 mile running race. He was paced by former counselor, have done it without the driver of his support vehicle and his “refueling technician”, his wife Barbara. He completed the race in 24 hours and 41 minutes. One of Blaine's goals for the race was to raise awareness for pediatric cancer, specifically, Peyton Wright, a friend and neighbor who lost her fight in June, 2007. His sister-in-law, Susan, was going to run from Rhinelander to Plover and back in support (100 miles round trip), but decided to watch football instead. While some of us think he’s a raving lunatic for choosing to run 100 miles, we are nonetheless very proud of him.

Thank you so much to those of you who responded to our questionnaires! We appreciate your input!