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When Dr. and Mrs. Don Broadbridge created Camp Deerhorn in Rhinelander in 1930, family-run camps in the Northwoods were the regular summer homes for the children of the upper Midwest’s most affluent families. Today Camp Deerhorn is one of the last of the original class of Northwoods camps still run by its founding family, a testament to the endurance of the Broadbridges’ original vision.

Camp Deerhorn is now a third-generation family operation. Doc Broadbridge’s grandsons Donnie, Blaine and Patrick serve as directors with their spouses Susan, Barb and Amy. While times have changed since the camp was first founded, the family’s imprint is still unmistakable.

“The Broadbridges as a family have created a magical place, a nourishing place for young men. It literally teaches you that you can do anything you want in the world if you try,” said Frank Mayfield III of Cincinnati, Ohio.

Mayfield’s son, Frank Mayfield IV, is a third-generation camper at Camp Deerhorn. The Mayfield family returned to Camp Deerhorn last Monday for the family camp session. Frank Mayfield Jr. started his family’s tradition at Deerhorn in 1940.

The Mayfields’ continuity at the camp is remarkable but not out of the ordinary.

“How do we do it? Gosh. The place is magical in itself but it’s really the people. ... We almost feel a responsibility to do this, to continue the tradition that Don’s father and grandfather worked so hard to establish,” said Sue Broadbridge.

That tradition is founded on the philosophy set forth in the Deerhorn Creed, which Frank Mayfield says he still consults whenever he’s feeling down. The creed sets forth 13 commandments that campers are meant to recite and take to heart everyday.

“To enjoy the Great Outdoors as one of the gifts of life/To greet the dawn with a smile and the mess call with a laugh/To spread sunshine and good cheer, just for the fun of it ...” read the opening three mandates.

Many of the Northwoods’ camps have creeds, codes, or philosophies that have been written down as guiding principles. The old-fashioned boys camp, after all, was an attempt to create an American summer utopia molded on a military regimen. What makes Deerhorn unique is that, while its creed has stayed the same, the family that created its values has evolved as a living, breathing model for its success.

“As third generation owners, my brothers and I are amazed how the system put how the system they put in place can still work so well,” said Donnie Broadbridge, one of Deerhorn’s six camp directors.

Donnie and Susan Broadbridge live all year round at the camp site, east of Rhinelander out County Road C. The site transforms each year from a sleepy, idyllic plot on a Northwoods lakeshore to a bustling, clanging cacophony of young boys and men.

Camp Deerhorn runs four regular camp sessions each summer, accommodating boys between the ages of 7 and 16. The campers are sorted into bunkhouses, called koogees, with boys their own age. They compete in a daily round of activities – like horseback riding, water-skiing, and in-line skate hockey – as members of the four camp teams, each named after a Native American tribe: Apache, Chippewa, Navajo, and Iroquois.

As abrupt as the transition is, Don and Susan say they look forward to welcoming back their summer family each year.

“Almost everyone on the staff I”ve known since they were little boys. You can’t teach loyalty. Our staff is here because they want to be,” said Susan.

The third generations of Broadbridges have made continuity their focus. As camp director, Don Broadbridge created an assistant counselor program so that high school aged boys could continue to come to camp.

“We had a hole there where the high school boys couldn’t come back,” he said.

The assistant counselors work half-time in the kitchen and half-time on activities. Now it’s possible for a boy to come to Deerhorn as a camper at age 7 and come back every summer of his life.

Another innovation aimed at enhancing the family feeling at Deerhorn is the family camp session, which began three summers ago. Until then, women and girls weren’t allowed at Deerhorn unless they were Broadbridges. The directors said they had the idea for family camp as a result of successfully hosting Blaine Broadbridge’s wedding at the camp.

“We converted one of the bathroom buildings for women and it worked great so I guess we figured why not? Not all of the spouses are going to want to come live in a cabin for two weeks but some of them are really into it,” Don said.

Dave Thomas, who has been coming to Camp Deerhorn for almost 30 years, brought his 8-year old daughter to the family camp for the first time this year.

“Thank god for family camp so I could get my daughter up here. You get so caught up in your own world and your own routine and then you come up here you break that and you have the most valuable time with your child that you’ll ever have. The memories they build in the weeks up here are memories they will never let go of,” said Thomas.

The family camp also serves as a chance for long time campers to re-unite.

“All of a sudden a kid I haven’t seen in 33 years – he’s a man now – and we realize we’re coming back to camp with each other and we’re hugging each other. It’s like we haven’t missed a beat,” said Mayfield.

With or without a family camp session, Camp Deerhorn has always been about family. As the world continues to march into an age almost recognizable from the one in which Doctor Don Broadbridge initially carved out his utopian corner of the woods, the younger Broadbridges feel privileged to perpetuate a tradition of love.

Don Broadbridge says the camp could not be duplicated today, because of the economics of owning and operating the property.

“We have a camp that’s free and clear. If we had a camp with six directors and a mortgage, we couldn’t do it. We try to look at the other camps and price competitively,” he said.

The mission of Camp Deerhorn that was established in 1930 is the same today: to educate young men and encourage them to live up to the Deerhorn Creed.

“The parents realize the value of the camp as a supplement to the growing and education process of their kids. They value the experience for what it is – a chance for their sons to have male role models from the ages of 15 to 61 years old,” said Don.

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