Friendships and Relationships

Families Who Felt Camp Was Theirs–The Emmett Williams Family

Published on by Kathy Baker

 

In 1957 Emmet and Florence Williams made the decision to search for a summer place within a reasonable distance from their Detroit home. They discovered their dream property that year, close to two national forests and an easy three-hour drive for their two daughters Denise and Sharon, who were two and five at the time.

The shell of the summer house was already built, with knotty pine inside, just waiting for installation. Ira Schofield had developed the property, known as Palisades Park, on Hillsdale Avenue, bordering Loon Lake. Emmet, his father and uncle built the first rustic home with a water heater under the sink. Florence remembered boiling water for hot baths.

The last of the knotty pine was taken down in 1986, and the old stove was removed when the family needed extra space. Emmet retired in 1986 and the renovation on the original home was completed in 1987 with heat, insulation, larger closets and an extra bath.

“We loved it,” said Florence. “My husband worked nights and my parents lived in Ohio. We spent three weekends up north and one weekend a month in Ohio. We had no car and no phone.”

Florence recalled the fence between their property and the camp, which stood about 6-7 feet and was of natural wood. The fence stood on the property line and was installed when the camp worried that boys would move in next door to the girls camp. “We could not see over the fence, but from our dock daughters Sharon and Denise learned to swim different strokes, kayak and canoe just from watching the instructors at camp!”

“There were five stations and two L-shaped docks with two rafts. Sharon and I would watch the girls with their instructors in the canoes or playing Marco Polo from our dock,” said Denise.

The Williams’ family could always hear the singing from the campers and counselors as they ate or sat around the campfire, but on rainy days songs could be heard with stomping feet and clapping hands with the children’s voices from the lodge. “We always enjoyed all the activities from our home and it was never too loud or annoying,” said Florence. “It always appeared to be a very well-run camp until the late seventies and it just wasn’t the same with the boys there.”

“The boys would come over from Camp Mahn-go-tah-see on a giant Viking ship, calling to the girls,” she laughed. “The counselors would act nonchalant, but they probably wished for them to leave.”

One day Denise was babysitting at her home and she spotted a huge albino skunk eating baby food out of a jar in the yard that had been left out. There had been reports that the same skunk had been spotted in camp by counselors and campers alike. Denise loved living next to Maqua, but she loved it more when they left and she could ride the horses up to Chapel Hill and walk around the property. “We knew every path like the back of our hands,” she said. “Mr. Watson, who took care of the property used to call us “My girl” and we called him “My man”.

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Mixing With Mahn-go-tah-see

Published on by Kathy Baker

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 is how they passed the mail to them.

Susan Ruterbusch (1947-52) had camped in Huts 3 and 10 and later in Dutton above the Infirmary, which had wonderful windows that overlooked the lake. “The girls would dance around by the lake outside that building and say–I wish the boys from the camp across the lake could see us, but it was all wishful thinking.”

Michele Butsch “Missy” (1969-76) said she and all her friends always wanted a social or a dance with the boys from camp, but it never happened while she was there, even though she had heard other years had done just that.  Karen Magidsohn recalled the older boys had mixers with the Maqua girls, but never any dances while she was there in the sixties.

Vague memories of a mixer at some point during Ruth Wiesen’s years (1957-59) triggered the joke that the girls always bet if the boys would even show up! When the boys were asked over, it was not always an ideal situation. Sue West (1975+) recalled director Carol Neiman getting into trouble for allowing the male staff to come to Maqua for an evening of fun with the counselors. Other years there were mixers for the counselors, which was considered a big deal, according to Susan Prieskorn (1966-72), and there were no consequences.

Cindy Knapp’s two brothers camped across the lake, so she had been there on Parents’ Day, but she laughed over a mixer with the boys one summer. “We tried to get all fancied up for the dance and they seemed pretty intimidated by us.”

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Viking Boats Across The Lake–

Published on by Kathy Baker

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 director, Anne Pennington (1964-72) recalled some of the fun on the water on Hawaiian Day when the girls would decorate the canoes and rowboats. The boys across the lake would also decorate their large boat, which she said resembled a Viking ship. The boys tried to throw things from their boat onto the girls’ boat. One summer she was dating Larry Roberts, who was caretaker Homer Robert’s son from the boys’ camp and she enjoyed the mixers with the boy counselors in the pre-sessions the week before camp opened.

“I remember a beauty pageant in bathing suits with a Hawaiian theme’” said Tami Nagel, who camped in the sixties. “Although I can’t remember her name, she had blonde hair and she won something, and I remember the boys from Camp Mahn-go-tah-see coming over.”

Sarah Smith, whose camping years spanned the late sixties to the mid-seventies, had a vivid memory at the end of her camping experience when the boys came over from camp and she was chosen to be the Indian Maiden. “I had dark hair and dark skin, so that’s probably why I was chosen, but I was thrilled since I was a chubby kid.”

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Pranks Between Two Camps–

Published on by Kathy Baker

“We loved to torment the boys across the lake,” laughed Geraldine Folkert (1942-47). “Every year we would paddle over and take their canoes, so they would have to paddle our boats back over to get theirs. We never really had any social outings with them, but I think some of the counselors used to mix with them.”

“We did little cabin pranks every summer, but by far the best prank was paddling over to Mahn-go-tah-see and escaping with their war canoe,” laughed Cindy Knapp (1968+). “We decorated it, renamed it the S.S. Maqua, covered it with shaving cream and seaweed. We were so proud of ourselves. Thankfully, we didn’t get into too much trouble.”

Judith Moore, assistant director, agreed that there were no organized mixers when she was at camp in 1970 and 1971, but also agreed the boys could get up to no good in the evenings, but never anything serious.

Carol Wahl (1974-75) loved that they never got caught when they took the big canoe, which could handle most of the staff, and paddled across the lake to the boys’ camp. “There were about ten of us that “tee-peed” the entire beach with toilet paper. Of course, they retaliated, but for the life of me I cannot remember how.”

“It was always tantalizing knowing the boys were across the lake,” said Pamela Hartz (1966-75), but for the staff, there were patrols to make sure the boys were not in Maqua. Shelley Harris (1965-75) recalled a whistle system for alerting when boys were in camp. Since Hut 5 was elevated, they could crawl under and knock on the floors to scare the girls.

“At night we could hear all the noises outside the cabin and when we were in Senior Village, we would do patrol or guard duty around the camp to check to make sure everyone was in their cabins and all was well,” said Chris Lambert (1958-65). “We were never worried about animals, but we were worried about the guys across the lake. One night we chased some of them and came pretty close to catching one, but he ran up Chapel Hill and made it to the property outside the camp. Good thing we didn’t get a hold of him,” she laughed. “He would have been a mess.”

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Where The Boys Are—

Published on by Kathy Baker

For decades Camp Maqua girls made jokes about the  Camp Mahn-go-tah-see boys’ camp across the lake; how maybe they would swim over to see them; or the boys would boat over past them, so they could see them. And as many of them that dreamt of that, there were thse girls who said they were far too young to even notice.

Andrea Gale (1970-74) said she was too young to pay attention, but by the time she left camp that last year, she was just as boy crazy and screamed like the other girls. Randi Wynne-Parry (1969-73) said they all knew the boys were there, but all they did was talk about them. Cindy  Rose(1968-70) figured the talk of the boys and girls meeting in the middle of the lake was just talk– the great boy talk.

Patrica Purcell, a self-professed late bloomer in the fifties, loved the concept that there was a boys’ camp across the lake, but laughed that she would not have known what to do with them had they boated over!

“I was a late bloomer and I was so glad there were no boys at camp, “ said Jan Schreiber (1962-70). “In fact my least favorite part was when the boys from the camp across the lake would come over. I didn’t even have my first boyfriend until I was seventeen. I was glad not to have to deal with boys because it facilitated the freedom from the issues and pressures to be a particular way.”

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Dating At Camp–

Published on by Kathy Baker

A rabbit, in front of the Maqua flag, peers through the woods through binoculars toward the Camp Mahn-go-tah-see flag on the cover of a 1951 edition of the “Loon”. The girls would agree—the boys camp across the lake held campers and staff alike at Camp Maqua fascinated and interested for centuries. Meg Dahlem, early twenties camper recalled that they were allowed a great deal of freedom and could cross the lake in rowboats to meet the boys at Camp Mahn-go-tah-see.

There were mentions in the early editions of the “Loon” of spirited battles between both camps, meeting in the middle of the lake with their boats, but it was not just pranks that held the girls’ interests. The mere spotting of a male, whether it be near the shores of Maqua or the shores of the boys’ camp, could draw shrieks and giggles. Many of the staff had boyfriends who were on the staff across the lake. (As early as 1937, the camp committee had discussions about rules for smoking and dating at camp.)

“I remember a boyfriend stopping at the camp and trying to visit me. Because he was with his aunt and uncle, he was allowed to do so, but boy was I the talk of the camp!” laughed Carolyn Waits (1955-57). “We were not supposed to have any visitors, especially boys. It was long before cell phones and he was one of my earliest boyfriends. I can still remember his name—Jimmy Murray. It was cool. All the girls at camp asked me about him.” (She also recalled trying to figure out a way to accidently sail over to Mahn-go-tah-see, but never succeeded. When the girls would row over, they would sing the popular song “Hey Mambo” and substitute “Hey Mahn-go” as they rowed past the camp.)

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