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Melanie Mellinger Johnston

@melaniemellinger

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do all the good you can
north texas alumni
tx • ia

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A Letter to the 2026 Leaders 🩵

Summer 2026 started with a group of us playing a game of Hostage and I remember sitting in the backseat of @peytonngray’s car with @alliwiedenhoff, trying to count how many circles we’d driven in, distracting ourselves from the fact that 85+ leaders would be arriving the next day…

From that first campfire 120 days ago to our final night together in Dahl as the rain rolled into the valley to wash away the summer, each of you have grown, loved and given your all to Summer 2026!

This summer pushed us in many new ways! 2 buses down in 24 hours or a very rainy 1 AM drive with GLP back from the airport… but no matter what, you always kept a strong PMA and pushed through for the campers! You found ways, both big and small, to bring so much joy to the valley!

Whether it was Becca’s dish room memes during staff training, singing Wicked in the Dining Hall, watching the VIPs dance to Rasputin every week or seeing the minis experience Aunt Fifi for the first time from the deck of Deer Valley…moments like these are the perfect example of why I believe in camp magic. It’s why the valley continues to be a place where so many have found a second home and where campers know they’re loved unconditionally.

If I can say one thing to the summer 2026 team, it would be thank you!

Thank you for being kind as we learned together.
Thank you for the long hours and late nights.
Thank you for the tremendous impact you had on every camper.
Thank you for the yaps on the Day Camp bus.
Thank you for doing all the good you can every day.
And thank you for being the best team I could have asked for in my first summer as Summer Camp Director!🫶🏻

Maybe this is where we put our PMA to work again. As summer turns to fall, I hope you look back and feel proud of everything we built together. We got to have this summer, in this place, with this group of people. There will be other summers. Other campers. Other leaders. But there will only ever be one Summer 2026. And I’m so grateful I got to spend it with each of you!

Thank you for making this summer (as @joshphillips09 would say) “THE BEST ONE YET”!☀️ taken in Des Moines Y Camp by @melaniemellinger

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23 days ago

honestly whatever. i’m down for whatever. we could see a movie. we could get lunch. or… the apple orchard!!!🍎 taken in Center Grove Orchard by @melaniemellinger

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5 days ago

a prairie picnic as fun and whimsical as the birthday girl! 26 and a newfound enjoyment of grapes looks good on you @syd.i.am 🌼🍇 taken in Boone, Iowa by @melaniemellinger

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2 months ago

the campfire dims but memories of the will never ever die 💛

until we meet again… do all the good you can taken in Des Moines Y Camp by @melaniemellinger

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2 months ago

mystery of family camp means trying to solve the secret of where @bea_goldberry hid alex’s golf cart? taken in Des Moines Y Camp by @melaniemellinger

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2 months ago

soaking up the last moments of summer 💛

(also it’s @ryleerash birthday!!!!!) by @melaniemellinger

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2 months ago

“i’m trying to create some magical moments” - thomas wayne monroe by @melaniemellinger

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3 months ago

always there 🤍 taken in Des Moines Y Camp by @melaniemellinger

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3 months ago

pride by @melaniemellinger

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4 months ago

top phrases from staff training: “can you meet me in the office to finish your paperwork?” + “i need to saw something”🪚🩵 taken in Des Moines Y Camp by @melaniemellinger

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4 months ago

florida on film📸 taken in Anna Maria Island by @melaniemellinger

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5 months ago

cup is full, skin is burnt 🌙🏝️🧡 taken in Anna Maria Island by @melaniemellinger

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5 months ago