Camp Deer Run Alumni

Its time to get to know another Deer Runner in an "Alumni Spotlight".

Melinda Hillis was a camper from 1977-1979 and was on staff from 1981-1984.

CDR Alumni: What brought you to Camp Deer Run as a camper or staff member? How did you find out about camp?
Melinda: I attended Camp Wildwood when I lived in Arkansas and wanted to go to camp when I moved to Texas. Some other people in my youth group in Plano had attended Camp Deer Run and had really enjoyed it so I went along. I loved it!! The staff really showed that you could be a teenager and follow Christ. I wanted so much to be a part of the Deer Run staff when I was old enough. During my freshman year at Harding, E.H. Smith was there looking for staff members and I signed up. It was one of the most memorable experiences of my life. I was a counselor, worked in the canteen, and headed up one of the first Peeweetawas Day Camps.

CDR Alumni: Share a favorite memory from your time at CDR.
Melinda: My favorite memories are outcamping. You really got close to the people in your cooking group. Once, during Group Bible, we went back to fix lunch and got lost. We ended up miles from camp and had to call Papaw to come get up! I also know that outcamping impacted the campers. Many of them did things they never thought they could do. They learned a lot about themselves through that experience.

CDR Alumni: How did your time at CDR impact your life?
Melinda: CDR still influences me today. I have memories and friends that I will have forever. I am a stronger Christian and a better person because of the experiences that I had at CDR.

CDR Alumni: Tell us everything you would like people to know about your life since camp. What do you do for a living, are you married, do you have kids, etc.
Melinda: I graduated from Harding University in 1984. I married Jim Troxel and we live in a suburb of St. Louis. I am a 4th grade teacher with the Fort Zumwalt School district.

CDR Alumni: Please tell us more about your family, names, ages, anything you would like to share.
Melinda: I have 2 daughters, Kayla is 20 and Kendall is 15.

Melinda also sent in some great pictures of her time at Camp.

Thank you Melinda for taking the time to send in your information and these great pictures.

As always I encourage everyone to take a little bit of time to fill out your Alumni Spotlight Survey so that we can spotlight as many Alumni as possible. If you have already sent in a survey, I would love for you to send in some pictures if you have any while you were at Camp and your life now. You can send them to cdralumni@gmail.com .