Marilyn, (daughter of Marney, granddaughter of William and Alma Watson) was eight or nine years old when her grandparents took over the care and maintenance of Maqua. “It was a super playground that we enjoyed at the end of summer in late August,” she said. “We used the canoes, rowboats, and swam out off […]
Month: December 2018
Families Who Felt Like Camp Was Theirs–Marney Watson
INTERVIEW WITH MARNEY WATSON Sister of Stewart Watson and daughter of William and Alma Watson “My folks made a trip to California after my father retired as a carpenter and when he returned to Bay City in 1951 or 1952, he applied for the job as caretaker of Maqua and they hired him,” said Marney. […]
Families That Felt Camp Was Theirs–The Watson Family
INTERVIEW WITH STEWART WATSON Stewart, Marney and Eleanor Watson felt like Camp Maqua was “Camp Watson” when the campers all went home for the summer. “We stayed away in the summer, but when camp was closed, we could use all the buildings and property. Our main focus was the land between the lodge and Dutton,” […]
Others Who Rented Camp
A group of men and women were to go to camp June 11, 1934, to clean and open Maqua, according to minutes and ledgers of the camp committee. Following the opening, “The Cigar Factory Girls” were to spend a weekend vacation at camp with a lifeguard on June 18. Camp was to open on June […]
Mixing With Mahn-go-tah-see
Some years there was fraternization with the boys’ camp and other years there was no social activities between the two camps. Marge Hasty (1946) had memories of meeting the boys by sailboat in the middle of the lake to pass “sneaky mail”, and said many of the counselors had boyfriends across the lake and this […]
Viking Boats Across The Lake–
When Elaine Levinsohn (1927-30) camped at Maqua, there were no homes around, just a pretty lake with many trees. “All the girls knew there was a boys’ camp there,” she laughed, as she recalled a vague memory of boating over to the camp, like many before and after her years at camp. As the boating […]