Phantom Lake YMCA Camp Celebrates 130 Years of Youth Development, Community Engagement

Phantom Lake YMCA Camp, the oldest YMCA camp in North America, this year marks its 130th anniversary of providing transformational experiences for youth and families across southeastern Wisconsin and beyond.

Founded in 1896 on 10 acres along the shores of Phantom Lake, the camp has shaped generations through programs that build confidence, leadership, belonging, and a lifelong love of the outdoors. Today, Phantom Lake YMCA Camp continues to serve thousands of young people each year through summer camps, school-year programs, leadership development retreats, and community partnerships that prioritize inclusion, accessibility, and personal growth.

During the early years, Phantom Lake YMCA Camp functioned as an all-boys camp for decades. It opened a dedicated girls camp in 1931 and eventually introduced co-ed sessions in 1976. A pivotal moment in its modern history occurred in 1985, when alumni and community members purchased the property from the Waukesha YMCA to establish Phantom Lake YMCA Camp as an independent camp. Today, the camp has expanded to 72 acres.

Running counter to the nationwide trend of camp closures, Phantom Lake YMCA Camp remains on solid footing by focusing on safety, stability, satisfaction and service. “Our ability to grow as a camp depends on a dedicated network of people committed to delivering a camp experience driven by safety, stability, satisfaction and service,” Phantom Lake YMCA Camp CEO Jeff Spang said. “We have a tremendous board, staff, volunteers and philanthropic support coupled with a loyal alumni network spanning multiple generations who want the next generation of campers to enjoy what makes camp special.”

Part of camp’s secret to success is requiring kids to unplug from all devices while at camp—allowing them time to just be. At a time when school cell phone bans are being debated in many states, Phantom Lake YMCA Camp remains committed to providing an unplugged environment. The effectiveness of this approach shows in the waiting lists and the speed with which summer camp slots fill annually, Spang said.

“Kids can just be kids at camp, where they can escape the stressors of life to grow, bond, learn and play,” said Phantom Lake YMCA Camp’s Jordan Braun, human resources vice president. “Seeing campers unafraid of getting dirty, dancing in the rain, and having fun is the biggest reward for me. Seeing them have the space to be themselves, try new things, and make connections that last decades is an extraordinary opportunity we get to be a part of every summer.”

Community Impact Beyond Camp

More recently, Phantom Lake YMCA Camp has expanded its impact to the greater community by doing something unusual for summer camps—providing scholarships for kids with special needs and funding other community nonprofits to support their missions.

Camp’s scholarship and giving efforts are largely funded by The Hollows at Phantom Lake YMCA, an annual ticketed event in the fall where 15,000-plus visitors wind their way through wooded trails illuminated with magical scenes composed of thousands of hand-carved Jack-o-Lanterns along the shores of Phantom Lake. Proceeds from the event, which is held on weekends throughout October, help fund hundreds of scholarships for campers with challenges from physical to emotional to financial who would not otherwise be able to attend summer camp. Camp’s approach brings kids together in an environment where they can just be themselves—regardless of whether they experience challenges or not. Everyone experiences camp together.

Sara Hacker, mom to Levi, says she was hesitant years ago to bring him into a camp environment where sensory overload is a high probability and a potential negative for him. When Levi arrived at camp that summer, he clung to a camp counselor. Flash forward, you would never know he struggles with sensory sensitivity. Levi has not missed a day of camp since this first summer. According to Levi’s mother, his experience at Phantom Lake YMCA Camp made all the difference in helping him improve so much he no longer requires most special needs services at school or at camp.

“Levi’s camp experience carried into one fall school season when his designated teacher asked what changed in Levi’s life to lead to such a noticeable change his demeanor,” his mother said. “He’s been a ‘walking billboard’ for Phantom Lake ever since, having brought many of his friends to camp as well as sharing his camp experience with special needs children within his school.”

Special needs campers—whether they have diabetes, their families are experiencing financial challenges or some other challenge—aren’t the only ones who benefit from an integrated camp experience. Campers who don’t experience special challenges benefit too. Emmett Mulrooney, a camp alum from Waukesha, said after he attended camp and interacted with special needs campers, he was inspired to join Kettle Moraine High School’s Best Buddies program. “Phantom Lake has always been an inclusive place that allowed people from all walks of life to come and be themselves with no judgement,” Mulrooney said. “As someone who was involved in Best Buddies at my high school, it was so wonderful to see how seamless the inclusion of kids with special needs was at camp. Everyone got to have fun, and the staff fostered a very uplifting environment and community.”

Camp’s focus on community service also drives its giving efforts to help support area nonprofits doing work within the community. This is unusual for a camp to give back to other organizations in the community, Spang said, but we are fortunate to have some innovative board members, supportive staff, dedicated volunteers and generous sponsors who allow camp to fund such efforts.

“Phantom Lake YMCA Camp lives its dedication to serving the local community by allowing our small club to benefit from the magical experience of The Hollows,” Susan Carman of the Mukwonago Optimists Club said. “In one night of volunteering at The Hollows, our club can raise significant funding, whereas before we spent most of the year fundraising. Now we can dedicate more time to delivering on our mission of providing children with hope, a positive vision, and bringing out the best in kids through our programming.”

Beyond financial support for campers and community nonprofits—such as Haase House and Mukwonago Education Foundation—the camp has expanded its commitment to community service by welcoming seniors to make use of the grounds once summer campers go back to school.

“We saw an opportunity to expand our service to the Mukwonago community by opening our doors to seniors during the other 40 weeks of the year outside of summer camp,” Spang said. “We have a beautiful campus and we are fortunate for tremendous community and fundraising support that provides seniors a meeting place.”

Seniors now meet within the Carman Welcome Center on the wooded campus of Phantom Lake YMCA Camp surrounded by nature.

“Doing classes on the grounds of Phantom Lake YMCA Camp is like being in a tree house doing classes,” said Ruth Tozer, who serves as seniors’ program director for camp. “Seniors see all the trees and leaves and snow and nature’s beauty when they gather here.”

Seniors are welcome without charge, but donations are accepted. The donations support programming, such as yoga, pilates, and strength training. Beyond exercise classes, programming has included luncheons and classes focused on fall prevention, brain health, and other health-related instruction. Additional instruction has also included computer skills, scam awareness and other areas important to senior living.

Camp’s Global Reach

Each summer, campers and counselors, near and far, journey to the sun-kissed shores of Phantom Lake. For generations, it has been a quiet but impactful anchor of the Mukwonago area—shaping childhoods and serving as a multigenerational gathering place for families across Waukesha County and the Midwest.

But more recently, camp has extended its reach globally, hiring staff who bring their diverse cultures to Phantom Lake YMCA Camp. One of camp’s first documented international staff members came from Czechoslovakia for the first Girls Camp in 1931. International staff began getting hired on a more regular basis starting in the 1970s. The application process is rigorous for all of our counselors, regardless of whether they originate from the United States or other countries, Spang said, but the culture and experiences our international counselors bring and receive during summers at camp makes for lifelong memories.

“Campers and counselors alike get to experience and understand different cultures from around the world, which provides an opportunity to cultivate respect for people from diverse backgrounds,” said Phantom Lake YMCA Camp’s Audrey Dalum, who serves as vice president of external affairs.

Zeno Szabo served as a camp counselor for seven years. Originally from Hungary, Szabo evolved from camp counselor to full-time staffer to current board member. He works as an IT manager for a company based in Southeast Wisconsin. His love for camp remains as strong as ever, however. Each year for The Hollows, camp’s largest fundraiser that supports hundreds of scholarships for kids with special needs, Szabo and some of his friends and family all volunteer at The Hollows, making traditional Hungarian food for sale to help raise funds.

“For many American campers and counselors, Mukwonago, Wisconsin, is simply a small Midwestern town,” Szabo said. “For me, however, arriving in the United States for the first time from across the globe, Mukwonago—and Phantom Lake YMCA Camp—became my introduction to the country itself, a place that embodied its spirit and opportunity.”

What began as a once-in-a-lifetime journey, Szabo said, evolved into a 15-year tenure as a staff member at Phantom Lake YMCA Camp.

“I arrived with limited English, no friends or family nearby, and only modest camp experience—but with boundless enthusiasm,” he added. “That experience opened doors I could not have imagined. It enabled me to earn a master’s degree, establish my career as an IT manager, and ultimately serve as a member of the camp’s board. To me, this is the very definition of a life-changing experience. With each passing year—and every return visit—my appreciation and affection for the camp continue to deepen.”

Future Of Camp

As for the future of Phantom Lake YMCA Camp, the vision focuses on doing everything possible to ensure camp remains accessible to every child and family no matter their background or situation.

“We have walked the walk to fulfill that vision—from our fundraising to our programming—which is designed to deliver an enriching camp experience for kids and their families, regardless of ability to pay or other challenges,” Spang said, “while integrating all campers into an inclusive environment where they all can have fun and learn from one another.”

Over the years, Spang said, we have seen camp’s ability to change the trajectory of the lives of kids and their families, while giving back to the greater community, and this will remain where we dedicate our time and effort.

“Phantom Lake YMCA Camp has seen its share of trends and changes over the course of 130 years,” Spang said, “but we plan to remain a place where the outside world washes away, and kids are free to just be.”