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Sharing the opportunity of a lifetime
Decades after their own children attended Camp, Steve and Pam Horne are opening doors for other young artists through an endowed scholarship.
Pam and Steve Horne
From the moment they set foot on campus, Pam and Steve Horne realized that Interlochen Arts Camp would transform their daughters’ lives. They had no idea that they, too, were embarking on an artistic and personal journey.
“I know that ‘magical’ and ‘transformational’ are words that are sometimes overused, but that’s really what it was,” Pam says. “After the first year, I knew we would be back.”
And the Hornes did come back to Interlochen—many times. Their oldest daughter, Emily (IAC 96-97, IAC St 01, 03), attended Camp for two years and later returned to work as a counselor and assistant director in the Intermediate Girls Division while she was in college. Their younger daughter, Jenny (IAC 98-04), attended Camp from age eight to 17.
The annual pilgrimage to northern Michigan eventually inspired Pam and Steve to buy a vacation home near Interlochen. Years later, as the Hornes prepared for retirement—Steve from his longtime role at Ford Motor Company and a second career consulting and Pam from her position as Vice Provost of Enrollment Management at Purdue University—choosing where to settle was easy.
Since relocating permanently from Indiana to northern Michigan, Pam and Steve have volunteered and contributed to ensure that others have access to life-changing experiences, world-class performances, and locally focused public radio. Both Pam and Steve regularly volunteer as concert ushers, and Pam also serves on Interlochen Public Radio’s Community Advisory Committee and helps staff its fund drives.
The Hornes recently established the Pamela and Stephen Horne Family Endowed Camp Scholarship. Through their scholarship, the Hornes will support aspiring actors for years to come. An endowed scholarship invests the original charitable gift with the rest of Interlochen’s endowment and then utilizes a set portion, currently 4.3% of the value, to pay into the operating budget to support scholarships for that year.
Here, Pam and Steve reflect on experiencing Interlochen as parents, concertgoers, and volunteers, and the impetus for creating their eponymous Arts Camp scholarship.
Falling in love with Interlochen—and northern Michigan
Pam: It was the way that the Camp combined incredible challenges with a safe place where [our daughters] could be themselves and where they were absolutely accepted. They found many close friends and kindred spirits.
Steve: We fell in love with the area, spending our summers and holidays up here and going to Interlochen performances. There is a very high quality of life here, and Interlochen is a big part of that. Over time, we just realized that this is our family’s home—for ourselves, our children, and grandchildren.
From Camp parents to concertgoers and volunteers
Pam: We’ve both been really involved with the local community since we moved here. Steve serves on the Green Lake Township Planning Commission, the board of the United Way and the Boom Boom Club (the organization which puts on the Traverse City fireworks), and has been doing some work with the Friends of Sleeping Bear Dunes. I serve on the IPR community advisory group and I'm co-president of the Newcomer’s Club in Traverse City.
Steve: We love to attend the concerts and performances at Interlochen. Many times, we’ll buy tickets, but we also enjoy volunteering as ushers, which gives us a chance to help out where we can, and see performances that we might not have attended otherwise. We've really missed the live performances and very much look forward to that starting again.
Making the Arts Camp experience accessible to generations of young artists
Pam: We’ve contributed to our local public radio stations, including Interlochen Public Radio, for over 20 years and have supported scholarships at our alma maters. But as we looked at our finances, we realized that we had the opportunity to do more. Knowing what Camp meant to our kids, we decided that we wanted to make sure those opportunities could be available to others, which led us to create a Camp scholarship in theatre arts.
The process is interesting and fairly easy, and it’s a very good feeling to know that our scholarship will be available in perpetuity. As someone who has worked in higher education, I know how important it is to touch young peoples’ lives with opportunities that help them develop their talents and realize their dreams. The magic of Interlochen for our children was so special that we decided that this would be a good way that we could give back because we know what the experience meant to our own family. Knowing that we can play a small part in bringing that opportunity to another young person is incredibly gratifying.
For more information about endowed scholarships, contact the Philanthropy staff at 231.276.7623.
