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Janet Dixon’s Personal Camp Swimming Story

Published on by Kathy Baker

janet-dixon-summer-1951“I learned to swim at Camp Maqua, and for me it was a life altering event. Truly! When I went to camp, I was very frustrated that I could not swim. I couldn’t figure out why, since I was good at everything else I tried. I couldn’t do this. But, swimming, like most abilities at that time, was viewed mostly as some sort of innate ability. You either had it or you didn’t. All of the children I knew who could swim were never taught, and all of my family and friends seemed to feel I was just one of those people who would never learn to swim. It left me feeling powerless.

As a non-swimmer, I had to stay next to the dock in the shallow water. Now, my swimming instructor, who was probably a bit bored being stuck with the non-swimmers, seemed to share the “swimming is innate” attitude. She would have us hang on to the dock and practice our kick and our “rhythmic breathing” while she rubbed sun tan oil on and lay on the dock.

One day the swimming instructor was sick, or something, and we had a substitute. The sub told me to float, and of course I told her I couldn’t. What was she? Nuts or something? Didn’t she know it was innate? But, she just said,”Oh, of course you can!” and then she did the first thing that made all the difference. She got in the water with me!

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Taking The Plunge–Lake or Pool

Published on by Kathy Baker

img_6912Swimming for some came naturally  because they grew up with a pool at their house or belonged to private swim clubs. It did not ease the shock of the cold lake water, and for some a pool felt more secure with walls and known depths in clean, clear water. . Phoebe Atha (1947-48) was never much of a swimmer and admitted she was deathly afraid of the water and was the type to hang on to the side, even in the pool.

Coleen Gasta, sixties camper, said, “I was a chicken shit. I was not shy or out going. I just didn’t like to swim, especially if I couldn’t find the bottom. When I went to camp, I couldn’t swim. I thought I could fake them out by pushing off the bottom, but I couldn’t. I never did learn to swim.”

“I loved bobbing on those canoes, but I hated swimming. I used to make excuses not to swim. I hated putting my head under water. Well, one of the waterfront girls told me, you know if you get your advanced swimming certification, you can actually go canoeing instead of bobbing up and down! I remember gritting my teeth and asking her why didn’t she tell me that three years ago,” laughed Diane Dudley (1957-63) affectionately nicknamed “Dodo”, who did get her certification!

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Taking The Plunge–Summer Homes

Published on by Kathy Baker

535873_2145510655550_2111914987_nTwo of the girls who swam in Saginaw Bay had their skills in place for swimming at camp all ready by the time they arrived. Lori Fobear (1975-76) grew up one block from the bay and loved to swim. Barb Ballor (1951-55) summered there.

Other girls either rented summer cabins on lakes or had family who owned summer homes, so swimming became second nature to them. Jodi Tripp learned at her grandparent’s place in the fifties on Lake Michigan in Saugatuck, so she felt like she grew up on the water. Susan Ruterbusch (1947-52) also learned at her grandparent’s home.

Judy MacNichols (1946) added practice to the skills she learned from age five at the “Y” with cottage living, but said she never progressed to the first raft, which was water over her head.

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Taking The Plunge–YWCA

Published on by Kathy Baker

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For Harriet Crumb, who camped in the early twenties, it was tough to face crawling into a cold, wet swimsuit in the morning. “Of course, we swam three times daily, if that first dip can be called a swim. It was a matter of in fast and out fast and how quickly we could dry, dress and be up to the lodge for breakfast—maybe a minute or two in front of the fireplace first. There were no sleepy heads or danger of not being alert and ready to go, once we had the plunge!”

Whether they learned at a pool or in a lake, many of the girls arrived at camp as fairly experienced swimmers. Since the majority of campers came from the Bay City area, it stands to reason that the Bay City YWCA taught many of the girls how to swim.

Wilma “Billie” Smith belonged to the “Y” as a young girl, where she learned to swim before camping at Maqua in the early thirties, as did Muriel Richert, fifties camper. Muriel, who had a fear of the water, loved the lake much better than a pool and enjoyed just hanging in the shallow water with the inner tubes as much as anything else.

“I was thrown off my Grandpa’s boat when I was little and took swimming lessons and was always a fish. I didn’t even mind the cold water at camp,” said Cindy Naylor (1967).

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On The Waterfront

Published on by Kathy Baker

img_6934What is camp without a lake, swimming, and boating instruction and fun? Wet towels, sand in bathing suits, leeches on limbs and tests to determine swimming and boating abilities were part of the waterfront rites of passage. But, prior to any waterfront activites, there was work to be done at pre-camp to set up the area for all the water action.

Nancy Sautter was the waterfront director in 1969 and left wonderful notes in her report that illustrated perfectly what she and her staff had to do to prepare for camp, which began with the previous year’s inventory, which helped to locate the equipment.

“Our family had a cottage on a lake near Horton when we were growing up and that is how I learned to swim. I also took swim lessons at camp and lifesaving at a YMCA in Jackson, where I earned my water safety instructors certification. I was strictly on the waterfront at Maqua,” said Nancy. “Once I was down there I couldn’t leave while I had kids there. The cabin counselors would bring them to us and you did not leave until lunch and then everything had to be locked up.”

“On the first nice day, the buoy lines should be run,” she wrote, along with instructions for stringing the red and white “lemons”. She would re-whip the unraveled ends of nylon rope by melting the ends over a candle, while spacing them and anchoring them.

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Let’s Do Laundry!

Published on by Kathy Baker

529939_2138063989388_1399350471_nA lined page from a notebook in the archives dated 8/6/43 was titled “Sent to Greenwalds Laundry”. It included items used in the lodge, such as curtains, dresser scarves, bedspreads, blankets and rugs. A second page itemizing the linens in the hostess room closet listed bath towels, sheets, pillowcases, washcloths, kitchen towels and pads. Someone had to wash and dry these necessary linens, in light of the fact that early on a wringer washer may have been on hand, but nothing large enough to handle the larger items. Linda Greenwald, (1946-52) recalled a brand new wringer washer that was located near the camp store when she attended her sessions.

Molly Olson, who camped in the late forties, was the first one to mention laundry boxes. When her clothes got dirty, there were laundry boxes to send home your soiled clothes through the mail! Heavy, with lengthwise straps across the 20×20 rectangular box, the straps would hook around the box securely and the girls would address the box.

In the sixties, camp committee minutes stated each member took home a camp blanket to wash and dry to save on laundry costs, but notes also indicated that 20th Century Cleaners would launder the blankets for a small fee. In 1963, a woman was hired for .10 a sheet, .05 a pillowcase and .10 a towel set!

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