Camp Connection Stories ❤️
February 14, 2026
🥰 Happy Valentine’s Day!
Over the past few weeks, folks have submitted their Camp Connection Stories about how they met their significant others at summer camp! These stories are also featured on our special Valentine’s Day episode of the New England Camp Podcast, out now! Click here to listen now on Spotify. Below are some of the stories that were submitted by couples who met and fell in love at camp. We hope you enjoy these just as much as we did. 💗
Screenshot
Amber & Justin Pazdera – Met at Swift Nature Camp
“Summer of 2018, at Swift Nature Camp. Justin was already there, working from staff training through the first session. I joined for the second session, and Justin likes to joke that the moment he saw me in the staff lounge, he knew his life had just gotten a whole lot better. We connected right away, and before we knew it, we were both throwing out those flirty vibes as counselors that summer. Honestly, we just kept coming back year after year because our friendship brought so much joy to one another’s life. It felt like every summer just deepened our bond. We even developed our own routine – leading the knots and lashing activity, running fun nights, using every night off to share jokes, all off time we tried to schedule together, and planning night events for campers. Bring joy to our campers became a shared passion. Fast forward to 2021, and we finally decided to make it official and start dating. Then, in 2025, we got married and we invited so many people from camp who have seen us grow from awkward young adults to a real husband and wife.” – Amber
Haley Pogachefsky & Carrick Gambell – Met at Hidden Valley Camp
“Back in 2013, Carrick was a counselor and I was a junior counselor. We barely spoke that summer, but I always thought he was cute. Flash forward five years to 2018, I’d just graduated college and I went back to camp for my third summer as a counselor. I became very close that summer with Carrick’s sister Anna. Carrick came to visit Anna and do some volunteer work. As soon as I saw him I turned to a friend and said, “I’m gonna date him.” I just had a knew! We spent the week working in the office together, and made plans to meet up when we both got home to Boston. Now, almost eight years later, we are married and living in Maine with our dog. My sister-in-law is one of my best friends. And it’s all thanks to camp!” – Haley
Martha & Bill Lerman – Met at American Camp Association, New England
“Bill and I first met in the New England section office when it was on Moody Street in Waltham, MA. I was the Director of Services for ACA and was meeting a lot of camp directors in the office in order to get to know them and their camps better. Bill Lerman walks in the office with his belt buckled on the side, rose colored glasses and zip up dress boots. He was a character and a half. He began to call the office a lot looking for staff from our files. He was so funny that I used to put him on the speaker so everyone in the office could hear him! I thought he was hysterical but at the time did not recognize that he might be flirting a bit. I had a boyfriend at the time and did not see what was happening. Bill came to the office holiday party along with many other ACA members and my boyfriend. Bill made a point of talking to my friend for a while. He then walked up to me and said, “dump that guy, he ain’t got the spirit for you!” How did Bill know that? Anyway, Bill continued to call the office a lot. We were all busy preparing for the New England Section Convention in Portland, Maine. Bill showed up at the convention and ended up attending many of the sessions that I happened to be working at. He asked me out to dinner in Portland, and something drew me to accepting the invitation. During the dinner Bill informed me that we were going to get married. I was thrown a little by that, but he was so sure of himself. He said, “you and I will be championship material”. For some reason I knew Bill was right. It was not long before we were married, having a family and running Camp Caribou together. It’s been a great love and a great adventure! Thank you to the American Camp Association for everything. Happy Valentine’s Day to Bill and to our whole camp community.” – Martha