Camping Life

The Fiftieth Celebration

Published on by Kathy Baker

A document in the archives from 1974, was soliciting for donations for the “camp restoration program” for the fiftieth anniversary for Maqua. It listed “Trail Blazer” as $1,000+, “Maqua Sponsor” as $500-$1,000, “Camp Circle” as $300, “Century Camp” as $100, and “Builder” as $99 and under. Checks were to be addressed to YWCA Camp Maqua Fund and could be paid in installments.

The results of the Camp Maqua Improvement Fund Drive listed the amount pledged as $15, 737.32. There were 153 individual pledges totaling $13,237.32 and the Osthelder Foundation pledged $2,500.00. On January 7, 1975, the amount spent on improvements was $7, 525. 81. There was a list of itemized expenses, which included $3,947.97 paid to Bob Feasal for labor and materials. Paint, hardware items and lumber, as well as campaign expenses were listed. It left $6,392.51 in the checking account on that date.

The second session “Loon” edition was July 20. 1974 and it was Maqua’s fiftieth anniversary. (July 15 was the actual date, but camp celebrated on the 14th.) The day cleared after it rained in the morning. The camp worked on cabin projects such as cleaning the boathouse, washing the boats, cleaning the firebowls, and washing the cars. Two of the cabins made signs that instructed the cars to slow down and a sign to direct people where the camp was located. Some painted the trash cans, some created new song sheets and one cabin made a new cross for Chapel Hill. In the evening there was an old fashioned picnic at the waterfront with hot dogs and “S’Mores”. “It was a beautiful day and after taps, the trees whispered their thanks for all we had done,” the article ended.

There was a full page spread in the Bay City Times on April 4, 1974, titled “Celebrates Fifty Years” under a photo of the entrance sign of “Camp Maqua YWCA”. Times staff writer Gay McGee wrote the article detailing the history of the camp after a rally had been held at the YWCA to mark the date with old photos, stories and a few original campers there to celebrate. Photos from every era graced the pages

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Well-Organized Camp

Published on by Kathy Baker

Barb Ballor was eight years old when she first attended Camp Maqua. “It fostered kindness to others. I was so sad when it was no longer a camp. It was such a well-organized camp. There was a camp nurse in attendance. Older girls were encouraged to help. And the staff were careful not to let the boys from the boy’s camp too close,” she said. “Everyone had fun!”

“Camp Maqua, that lovely spot just north of Hale, Michigan, is a place where one can be at her best,” stated a newspaper article from June 1929. “ It is the place away from the complex grind of everyday things—almost a fairyland. A blue lake nestled among silver birch trees; comfortable huts and a cozy lodge; joy of creating things with one’s own hands; joy of being natural; friendships that are sacred; all of these things dear to the hearts of real lovers of nature are found at Camp Maqua.”

“I liked my counselors and everyone at the camp. They were very good to us. They accepted everyone and always appeared to be fair and impartial. I never remember anyone, even the cooks, becoming angry or impatient or ever raising their voice. They were exemplary models of good behavior, said Janet Dixon, of her camping years during the early fifties.”

“The camp was very well organized and very well run. The staff knew how to keep children busy and out of trouble. I liked the regimentation, but it was because it was tempered with variety, choices, and enough free time. I loved learning new things, and, especially, the chance to taste independence. I don’t know how they did it but I know they did it well! in 62 years, I have never forgotten my experiences there.”

Hut five was interviewed in August 1950 and the girl’s answers were published in a copy of the “Loon”, “What do you think of Camp Maqua?” and the comments ranged from “Camp Maqua is worth saving because it is educational”, “You can’t compare Camp Maqua with any other camp because Camp Maqua is the best”, “Camp Maqua is more fun than any other camp I’ve been to”.

“It’s a great camp. You learn many new activities and you have the opportunity to meet other girls,” wrote Jean Jahnke, who was the reporter and was from Bay City. She said she wanted to tell those who had been there before and the ones that were there for the first time that they made the camp what it was and the counselors did a “swell job”.

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Sing-y-swim-y Camp

Published on by Kathy Baker

 

 


Shelley Harris spent ten years at Camp Maqua, half as a camper and the other half on staff, including a stint as Program Director. As a fourth grader in Flint in 1965, she was excited about the idea of going to camp after her cousin had been the previous year. Just hearing that there was horseback riding was enough for Shelley to think camp would be “cool”.

“Maqua was huge to me—I really considered it my home, while Flint was just the place where I lived. It was a “sing-y swim-y” camp and everyone had to swim daily regardless of weather, except in storms. I was a song leader when I was on staff, and lived in Dutton.” (She still remembers all the lyrics to all the camp songs!)

“There was a huge group of Jewish girls, including myself, that went together from Flint every year. We never felt any religious pressure or prejudice and loved the weekly procession up to Chapel Hill wearing our Sunday whites for a very ecumenical service. After lunch at the lodge, we would all change our clothes. Only the Catholic girls rode into town for mass.”

It was the year of “I am Woman” sung by Helen Reddy and that is exactly how Shelley felt about her camp experience and how it influenced her life. As a young girl growing up with brothers, she felt like she was “home” at camp with all the girls out of doors. She had a great appreciation for the rough and tumble life at camp.

“I felt like I do anything. We did not need boys to have fun. We sang with girls, danced with girls, played with girls and the girl counselors did all the work loading and unloading when campers arrived. We didn’t care what we looked like and we became very self-sufficient. I felt like I could do anything without a guy.”

She went with friends, made new friends and still stays in touch with her camper buddies. When her Mom would ask why she wanted to go to a “dumpy Camp”, she would respond that it was the spirit of Camp Maqua and the nurturing of the counselors.

“ I did stuff that stayed in my heart. For years I used to dream about Maqua—-well into my thirties, until one night I had a magnificent fireworks-laden dream about a huge celebration on the lake with canoes, islands, flowers, music, and glitter. That was the last dream I had about it. I guess I was saying goodbye to that era of my life. That’s how important it was to me. I’m now in my late fifties, but Maqua is still in my heart”.

(And I might add…….her name is penned on many of the counselor canoe paddles that still grace the lodge wall.)

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Sadness For End Of Camp

Published on by Kathy Baker

 

 

 

Camp meant freedom from family, the chance to make new friends and the opportunity to learn new skills often not offered at home. For many girls who did not experience the pang of homesickness, leaving camp held true sadness.

For Harriet Crumb, it was the best experience! “You can see I loved it. In 1929 I went for one week—to take and pass the tests for my American Red Cross Life Saving badge. I was a big girl then, of course, and the next summer when I couldn’t go at all, I thought the world had come to an end. Other girls seemed to be able to take it or leave it, but from the first I was hooked and in some form have enjoyed camping ever since.”

Sue Augustyniak lived in Bllomfield Hills and camped 1962-68 at Maqua. “Our parents wanted us to become independent and they encouraged up. We felt like we could do anything. We mastered skills. We expected to do well and we did. Saying goodbye on the last day was always a sad day.”

Kim Moore was nine years old when she attended Camp Maqua for the first time in 1967 and continued every summer until she turned fifteen when she ended her camp career as a kitchen aide. “It was a huge part of my life—one of the best parts of my life. I would cry at the end of the session because I didn’t want to go home. I felt so grown up at camp and so safe and independent.”

“There was a two-week block in July when I went to camp and loved it,” said Kathy Butsch, who was ten in 1968 when she first attended and camped until 1974. “I was always sad and depressed to leave camp because I was leaving all my new best friends”

“One cherished memory for me,” said Judith Moore, assistant director in 1970-71, “was the sight of the young campers making friends and bonding throughout the two-week period, so sad to leave each other at the end. They too had an experience for the first time and it was very emotional. There were those who waited so anxiously for their parents to arrive for pick up and it was always obvious to me which parents had a special bond with their girls. These young campers had an adventure that asked that they survive without their usual family support and develop these skills. Remarkable when I think about it.”

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Why I Did Not Return To Camp #4

Published on by Kathy Baker

Families members passed away and families moved, so those events affected the decisions of girls to return to camp. Others had to earn money instead of camping, and then some were fortunate enough to take advantage of other opportunities with travel.

Jane McKinley attended camp 1956, 1957, and 1959, but her parents moved to Portland, Oregon in 1958, so she missed that summer. She had her first flying experience when she returned the following summer, and it was the first time she had ever flown on her own. She stayed with the Utter family until she went to camp and to this day wishes her sister, who was ten years younger, had taken the opportunity to attend Camp Maqua.

“I was the youngest of five, but the only one to go to camp,” said Rosemary Orgren (1956-58). “My friends were at camp. They were my tribe. It was probably helpful because I was shy through high school and college. It was good to be in an environment where you either curled up in a ball or you were friendly. It was a good time for girls. It was good for me and I felt like all the experiences were also good. My parents moved me in the seventh grade to Detroit, and I don’t remember any particular reason why I didn’t go back. I guess I felt I had outgrown it.”

As one of the youngest campers in 1965 at the age of eight, Debbie Tweedie camped long enough to become a C.I.T. and left only when her family moved. Gretchen Jacques, attended as a young teen from 1952-55, and made it to C.I.T. status, but for some reason lost interest.

Kimela Peck was eight in 1966 and attended for eight more years and despite her desire to become a counselor, felt the need as an only child to earn money and go on to college. Her father died when she was six and her mother was raising her on her own.

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Why I Did Not Return To Camp #3

Published on by Kathy Baker

Camp was an escape from home on many levels for the girls who attended, but once they reached a certain age, other experiences, situations and relationships took precedence. Margot Homburger (1946-51) continued until she could no longer camp due to her age. For Nancy Keeler (1973-74, it was as simple as her friend Alice Pollock not wanting to return to camp for another year. Ann Meisel (1962-66),  felt the neighborhood kids became a more important activity.

“Camp was a very positive experience for me. I loved it and wanted to stay all summer. My father was an alcoholic and it was an escape for me and so wonderful to get away. It was a very happy thing for me, but my family didn’t support it. I cried so much when I left. They thought I was going to be a lesbian because I loved being with all the girls at camp. It was a remark that was thrown out and not talked about any further. I was desperate to go and wanted to go because I made such wonderful friendships. I did date and did have boyfriends later,” said Molly Olson (1946+), proving her parents wrong about the reasons for wanting to return each summer. She did not return when her Birmingham friends became more important to her.

Sharon Wilcox was born in 1936, but in the late forties and early fifties, she was a camper at Maqua in the second sessions. She reached a period in her life when she became more interested in boys, probably around the time she could have been a counselor. Wistful about never having had the chance to reside in Dutton, where the older girls stayed, she was always one of the youngest at camp.

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