Deerwood is proud of its excellent camper to staff ratio of 2:1. The activities, meals, cabins and trips are well supervised by caring, energetic and qualified counselors.
Deerwood was founded by Ferris and Helen Thomsen in 1945 and their philosophy, character and enthusiasm are still evident in the camp today. Lorne & Peter Thomsen, grandsons of the founders, became directors in 2000/2001, and now Jeff Barclay works with Lorne as co-director.
A big part of Deerwood’s enthusiastic and respectful atmosphere is its core of 12 to 14 senior counselors who return year after year, lending maturity, experience and continuity to the program. Many of the staff in this group are teachers and work and live at camp each summer with their spouses and children, giving Deerwood a true family feel.
This past summer, we had 22 counselors with 10 or more years of experience at Deerwood.
Lorne Thomsen | Camp Director
Lorne is Len’s son and grew up at Deerwood as a camper, counselor, trips program coordinator and head counselor. He received his AB in Psychology from Princeton and a Master’s in Education from Harvard. Before taking on the year-round camp work, Lorne was a teacher and coach for 11 years in Maryland and Vermont. During the “off-season,” Lorne lives in Waterbury Center, Vermont with his wife, Alex, and they love it when their three kids make it back home!
Jeff Barclay | Camp Director
“Barx” started as a camper at Deerwood in 1971 and worked as waterfront director from 2005 to 2021. Until assuming year-round responsibilities for camp in 2022, he was a teacher, coach and administrator at the Maple Street School in Manchester, VT for 19 years. While his office is now “up the hill,” Jeff can still keep an eye on the Deerwood waterfront from his home above the boathouse, where he raised three children and lives each summer with his wife, Beth.
Senior Counselors
Ryan Carey
32 years at Deerwood
“RC” oversees our trips program, and when in camp can often be found leading the way at canoeing, kayaking or climbing. Thanks to Ryan, Deerwood boys have dozens of opportunities to get out of camp on day trips, whether hiking, rock climbing, mountain biking or paddling whitewater. He teaches history and lives in Vienna, Austria with his wife, Amy, and their two boys..
Shawn Pistor
44 years at Deerwood
“Mako” can do and has done just about everything at camp. He currently serves as our waterfront director. Shawn is a certified instructor of lifeguards and has trained many of our younger staff. During the school year, Shawn coaches men’s and women’s crew at Rollins College, and his three daughters love to visit Squam in the summertime.
Dan Thomsen
44 years at Deerwood
Dan runs the wood-shop at camp and has also been seen leading quite a few hiking, canoeing and fly-fishing trips. He was a teacher and coach for almost 25 years, and has now started his own woodworking business in a barn he built himself at his family’s home in Cumberland, Maine.
Cosby Hall
37 years at Deerwood
Cosby spent many summers as the director of our Trips Program and for several years now has worked in the office in the role of Head Counselor. He teaches social studies and coaches soccer and basketball at Norfolk Academy in Virginia. Along with his wife Price, and their two children, Cosby lives each summer in a cottage at Deerwood named after Price’s grandfather.
Andrew Bartlett
24 years at Deerwood
Andrew returned to camp in 2006 for the first time since being a camper in 1981 and has been with us ever since. Andrew works as a head counselor, organizing events and enthusiastically leading us from “Good Morning Deerwood” to putting his cabin to bed with readings of Roald Dahl. During the winter, Andrew teaches and lives at Loomis Chaffee School with his wife and 2 daughters.
Jeff Thomsen
43 years at Deerwood
Jeff is the guy that takes all the great photos that parents love to see online and campers laugh at during the final slideshows. When he is not touring camp, he helps coordinate activities and events as a head counselor. In the winter, Jeff is a Physical Education teacher and coach at Providence Day School in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Biff Sutcliffe
56 years at Deerwood
Without Biff, camp couldn’t run. He is the handyman extraordinaire, caretaker of the physical plant, and can fix anything from boats to band-saws, docks to drinking fountains. After retiring from teaching and coaching at the Tilton School, Biff and his wife, Jannine, moved to their Deerwood home year-round.
John Williams
18 years at Deerwood
“J-Dubs” helps lead our overnight and day trips program. According to John, “it’s the time spent with campers and counselors out in the wilderness, on the front porch of Ty, and at the chapel on Sundays that keeps me coming back to Deerwood year after year.” John teaches Humanities and lives in Jackson, Wyoming with his wife, Kate, children, Gussie and Henry, and British Bulldog, Olaf.
Will Burke
18 years at Deerwood
Will grew up at Deerwood as a camper and counselor, is Peter’s nephew, and is the first great-grandson of The Big Buck to become a senior counselor. At camp, Will fills in wherever he’s needed, often splitting time between trips, canoeing, and sailing. Will graduated from Middlebury College and recently completed a Master’s Degree in Earth Sciences at Montana State University. During the off-season he lives in Bozeman, Montana with his wife, Breah. Together, they enjoy mountain biking, skiing, and whitewater boating.
Melissa Jones
15 years at Deerwood
Melissa grew up at Deerwood as daughter of one of our long-time nurses. Melissa organizes and leads our overnight trip program. When in camp, she might be found helping out at waterskiing or working up questions for the Treasure Hunt. Melissa graduated from Bates College and now teaches science in Steamboat Springs.
Harrison Lusty
26 years at Deerwood
Harrison began at Deerwood as a 9-year-old camper. Now he can be found down at the lake leading Deerwood’s sailing department, and assisting Mako with waterfront oversight. Harrison graduated from Ithaca College and earned his graduate degree from Northeastern University. During the off-season, Harrison works as a middle school teacher in York, Maine.
Clarence Williams
44 years at Deerwood
Clarence started at Deerwood as an assistant chef in 1982, and has been our head chef for many years now. During the academic year, Clarence works as a chef at The Holderness School and also finds time to fish, garden and grow vegetables for his salsas and salads. Some of the most common words heard from campers in the summer are “Thank you, Clarence!”.
Jannine Sutcliffe
54 years at Deerwood
Jannine worked as our everyday nurse for almost 25 years. Now she heads our nursing staff, trains counselors in CPR and first aid, and is always on call when needed for a consult. Jannine and Biff live at Deerwood year-round.
Jack Mathieson
18 years at Deerwood
Jack helps to lead our Trips Program and can often be found sterning a canoe across a lake or down a river, or hiking along a mountain ridge. Campers of all ages love to engage in trail games with “Jack Math,” a Davidson College graduate who actually teaches math and coaches at The Asheville School in North Carolina. When in camp and not planning or packing for trips, Jack can easily fill in at a variety of activities where he has experience, like archery, riflery or on the Challenge Course.
Don Brown
9 years at Deerwood
Don received Deerwood’s Happiest Boy award in 1972 and hasn’t changed much since! After a successful career in the business world, Don returned to camp in 2019 and now can be found leading our CIT program, as well as the different cabin groups through the Challenge Course. “Business Don” is known to lead fascinating Clinic Night activities and has created a new tradition of offering the weekly business report after the sports report during Sunday lunch.
Sam Poland
7 years at Deerwood
Sam teaches and lives in Taiwan with his family during the school year, and we feel fortunate they are able to make it all the way back to Deerwood each summer. Somehow Sam earned the nickname “Beans” at camp, and many current campers might not even know that Sam is his real name. After a few summers of “apprenticing” with DT, Sam now leads the boys in our woodworking shop where it is always impressive to see the projects they create. We always love to hear Sam’s incredible singing voice during counselor songs on the porch of Ty.
Jon Spence
6 years at Deerwood
Jon is a lifelong “fix-it” guy who has enjoyed making improvements to and simplifying Deerwood’s infrastructure. Whether re-routing plumbing lines, renovating cabin bathrooms or redesigning our dock systems, Jon’s ideas and workmanship help to keep camp in top shape and running smoothly. In his spare time, he follows his passion for Jeeps and when he’s not working on the restoration of a pre-1971 Jeep, you might find him driving them in the Maine woods or leading Jeep jamborees as a trail guide. His current “off-season” project is a complete rebuild of a 1947 Willy’s wagon.