History

Deer Run for girls, was the natural result of 20 years of excellence at Brookwoods for boys. Brookwoods was born in 1944 when Dr. Lawrence H. Andreson, founder of the camp, purchased one hundred and ten acres which were to become Camp Brookwoods. The rugged natural beauty of our property on Lake Winnipesaukee, with a quarter mile of waterfront, has always enchanted people during the years that Brookwoods has existed.

Two powerful forces motivated the foundation of Brookwoods and continue to play an important part in the camp’s development today. Integrally woven into the camp and its future has been the development and operation of a unique camper-centered environment which is founded upon the historic Christian faith, centered in the person and work of Jesus Christ. Through the years, Brookwoods has utilized God’s exciting wilderness for campers to see the hand of God and to learn from it. Leaders committed to Christ, well-trained and able to teach, have been instrumental in developing campers’ deepening commitment to Jesus Christ. Careful programming has been designed to accommodate the different abilities and needs of each individual camper.

Brookwoods has always sought to present Christ to every camper in a compelling fashion

Today, Brookwoods remains dedicated to the development and perpetuation of our unique concept of camping. Brookwoods has always sought to present Christ to every camper in a compelling fashion, emphasizing personal commitment and values founded upon the Word of God. Dr. Andreson recognized that in order to fulfill his objective, he would have to offer Christian camping experiences not otherwise available to young people. Bible teaching, sound personal relationships, exciting staff members, and wilderness camping all helped to give Brookwoods a reputation for innovation and excellence which is well-known in the camping profession today. Over the years, Brookwoods did much to influence the growth of Christian camping.

Although Brookwoods had a small beginning with approximately 25 campers, the success of Dr. Andreson’s approach to camping helped Brookwoods grow to an enrollment of 300 for each camping session, a capacity that has remained unchanged for many years. During these years, Brookwoods’ facilities and program expanded to encompass a diversity of activities and experiences for hundreds of young people who have participated in the camp.

Deer Run in 1976

After 20 years of families asking about a quality place for their daughters, the Summer of 1964 brought the opening of Deer Run, a sister camp to Brookwoods, comparable in every way in terms of purpose, philosophy, program, and leadership. This was the beginning of the exciting, innovative, and fruitful ministry of Deer Run as a Christian girls camp.

In the late 1990's, Mr. Ken Olsen, a Christian businessman from the Boston area, with a heart for the Lord's work donated 7000 ares of land surrounding Heald Pond in Moose River, Maine to Christian Camps and Conferences, Inc. His intent was that this beautiful spot be used for the glorification of God and the furthering of His Kingdom. The latest growth for Christian Camps and Conferences Inc. has been the addition of a new camp called Moose River Outpost on this donated property.

50th Anniversary of Brookwoods

This is a transcript from a talk given by George F. Bennett, Sr. on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of Camp Brookwoods for Boys in 1994. Mr. Bennett served as the Chairman of the Board of Christian Camps and Conferences Inc., the foundation that operates Brookwoods and Deer Run, and was the key individual responsible for the “saving” of the camp, in 1972, from becoming a real estate development.

“When I looked at the program tonight for the first time, it said, ‘Reflections’. I thought, ‘what does that mean?’ You looked at the program, too , and it says ‘Reflections’. I know that you can see reflections in a mirror, so I went and looked in a mirror. I didn’t like what I saw. So I still don’t know what ‘reflections’ are. Maybe I will make a few comments about Brookwoods and our connection with it. Dave [Strodel] said something this morning about generations. I forgot just what connection it was, but I found that in our family, there are four generations at Camp Brookwoods. First, there is Helen and myself, and we weren’t campers. We were the father and mother of three sons who were campers. They were the father of ten grandchildren, all of whom attended Brookwoods and Deer Run either as campers or CIT’s or staff members. This year our oldest grandson is a camper. His father and mother are here. We have had a real deep family interest in both Brookwoods and Deer Run for many years.

It was the closest thing to a miracle and direct answer to prayer that I have ever seen before

“When we heard twenty years ago that Doc A [Dr. Andreson] was unable to continue any longer with Camp Brookwoods and had looked for a way to continue it, but had been unable to do so, therefore he was in the process of selling Camp to a Real Estate Developer. So Peter and I contacted Dr. Andreson and he said, ‘It’s too bad we didn’t talk earlier because it is really too late. I have signed the papers and Camp is now sold to Joe Hyde, a developer.’ Peter and I responded, ‘Do you think we can talk to Joe Hyde?’. Doc A said, ‘Yes, there is no reason you couldn’t, but I wouldn’t encourage you too much that anything could be done because he spent a lot of money laying out the camp for the new development and getting the plans approved and so forth’. Doc A did make contact with Joe Hyde, and Peter and I went down to Hartford to meet with Joe. Joe pretty much repeated what Doc A had said; that he had laid out the development, had partners in the business, and he thought it was very unlikely there was anything to be done to keep it as a camp. He said, ‘I would like to see it as a camp’, and I think he had at least one son attend Brookwoods. But he said ‘I do not think there is any way financially that it can be done with the investment we have made and the partners that we have’. I said, ‘Would you talk to your partners and we will go down to Hartford and see?’. He said, ‘Yes, I will do that, but I don’t want to give you much encouragement.’ So Peter and I went back and talked to Bob Bennett, who was director of a camp under the Latin American Mission in Costa Rica. We said, ‘Bob, if we are able to buy Camp Brookwoods, how would you feel about coming back and being Director of the camp?’ He thought about it, prayed about it, and his answer was yes.

“We went down to see Joe a week later and Joe was a changed man. He was different. This is the part of the story I sometimes don’t get through, but I am going to try... It was the closest thing to a miracle and direct answer to prayer that I have ever seen before. His attitude showed that he was a different person. Joe said to us, ‘I think there may be a possibility.’ Joe said, ‘I had a strange thing happen this week... I had a dream.’ He said, ‘I dreamed I was walking over the Brookwoods grounds and trails, and suddenly I noticed there was somebody walking with me. This person said, ‘Joe Hyde, this can not be a real estate development, it has to stay a camp.’ Then Joe said, ‘the person walking beside of me was the Lord Jesus Christ. I don’t want to be struck down by lightning, so you can buy the camp!’ So, all we had to do then was raise the funds to buy it. Joe had an investment in the property, and the price was higher than if we had been wise enough to talk to Doc A in the first place, but we weren’t.

“Anyhow, from there we formed a non-profit organization, Our purposes were three fold: educational, charitable, and religious. The Internal Revenue Service granted us tax-free status, so we would be relieved of real estate taxes. We were able to handle the financing in a number of ways, pending how we were able to make the purchase, then we had to close the camp. This all happened in the spring of 1973. We really couldn’t open the camp because no one thought it was going to be open. We had to close the camp for a year in order to get things organized. In addition, there was quite a lot of maintenance to be done because the camp was going to be shut down as a camp. There were a lot of things for us to do! So we did close it down for a year and opened it up as Camp for the following year.

“In the meantime, the tax exemption that we were granted with the Federal Government was not recognized by the Town of Alton, and they continued to tax us. So one of the economies that we hoped we would have seemed to be disappearing. We appealed to the State Tax Board and they agreed with the town. So we took it to the Circuit Court in Laconia. We appealed and I think all three of us testified. The judge happened to be a Harvard Law School graduate, and I , at that time, was Treasurer of Harvard, so we got along pretty well. Gerry [Bennett] and Miles Strodel made a movie, a film of the camp, and we asked the judge if we could show it in this court procedure in Laconia. He said, ‘I really can’t authorize you showing it in the court hearing, but if you want to show it, I will stay afterward and watch it.’ This the judge did and the selectmen did not. That is the greatest mistake they ever made if they wanted to tax us. The judge stayed and they walked out. The judge ruled in our favor. The Town of Alton appealed it to the Supreme Court of New Hampshire and we won in the Supreme Court. So we maintained our tax exempt status, which was pretty much of a miracle, and Bob [Bennett] came up from Costa Rica! One of his strong features, being that if I didn’t see him as my son, I guess I can say it, is maintenance and construction, as well as his strong spiritual commitment and leadership. So we replaced all the utilities in the camp, the water systems, the electrical systems, and rebuilt many of the cabins as well as built some new cabins. There were structural problems with Deer Run. The floor went up and down, maybe some of you will remember. If you walked on it too hard, or if two people my size walked on it, maybe the floor would fall in. What would happen if 100 fell down to the basement???? Other improvements you can see, I think, Dave [Strodel], you spoke of in the expansion of the kitchen and the acquisition of Dr. Mooney’s house... first the Chicken Coop, and then the house itself. More recently we bought Doc A’s property and the Paris property, whatever it is, the guy who lived across the street. We now have pretty much refurbished or rebuilt the camp and expanded the facilities.

“I have some notes here, but I am not going to refer to them because I might talk too long. I have already! But let me say that being connected with Camp Brookwoods in this way, was a high point, one of the high points of my lifetime. Seeing boys and girls lives changed through coming to Brookwoods... seeing the way the counselors and CIT’s have worked with young people has really been one of the most rewarding things I know of. I want to close with one story that impressed me in a way that I will never forget. It was at the campfire between the outgoing July campers and the incoming August campers. I think it was the campfire where we had the awards given. I attended, I was up here for that, and sat in the background. It was all of Brookwoods, I think. As it progressed it turned into a prayer meeting. These little youngsters, I guess you wouldn’t call a 13 or 14 year old a youngster, but the 8-9 year olds and up were praying for the campers who were coming the month of August. That was one of the most moving things that I have ever experienced... and if that was the only thing that ever happened, it would be all worthwhile.

“Thank you very much.”