1970’s

Accidents and Incidents

Published on by Kathy Baker

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There was “The Great Hay-riding Accident” of 1956, which was a stand out memory for more than one camper. The injuries were varied, according to each girl’s recall of the fifty or more girls who piled atop either one or two hay wagons pulled by tractors.

“In, 1956 the camp sponsored a hayride on a wagon towed behind a tractor. As we started over a bridge or some overpass, the wagon tipped over in a ditch. We were all able to slip off in slow motion, with the exception of one poor girl from my cabin. I cannot, unfortunately, remember her name. As she tried to slide off, the wagon tipped over and pinned her leg, breaking it. We walked back to camp, obviously shaken, with the counselors having us sing songs to keep our spirits up. I remember that I was very upset, and my counselor rubbed my back as I tried to get to sleep, to get me to relax. I have never forgotten her kindness. I think her last name was Webber, but I don’t remember her first name. I think it was Rickie Webber’s older sister and she was a doctor’s daughter,” wrote Dawn Waits.

Jane McKinley, Pamela Watson and Jody Tripp were also on the hayride. Jane recalled the wagon lost a wheel and a counselor broke her arm. Pam thought one of the girls might have lost some teeth. Jody thought there were two wagons of girls singing camp songs. Different memories from different girls.

“All of a sudden, the back trailer turned over and dumped the girls into the ditch. Those who could– walked two miles back to camp. Most of the girls just had scrapes and scratches, but one girl did end up in the hospital,” said Jody.

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Nurses, Doctors and Patients–#7

Published on by Kathy Baker

525514_428550213824492_615732519_nOne of the activity centers that no one ever wanted to have an incident was the waterfront. The waterfront staff were all certified in water safety, Red Cross training and lifesaving. But, there were other causes for concern that did not always entail water.

On the first day of camp in 1961, Margie Barbier fell on some stones and broke her arm, so off to Dr. Payea’s in East Tawas she went, which ironically was her home. Her mother seemed satisfied with her care, but since Margie could not ride or swim, she was forced to stay home with fees refunded.

 The business manager, Rhonda Thayer (1974-77), played softball and was in the outfield running backwards when she broke her hand and fingers. With a splinted hand, she had a tough time doing the books with her hand in a claw shape.

Amy Johns admitted she had such a crush on Mel Hurst, a counselor from Hawaii, who was there the last two years of camp. “He made homemade skim boards out of plywood and sanded each one down. He taught the kids how to skim, but took one fall and cut his foot on a rock under the water. I remember the blood squirting in the air. Maybe it was an artery. We put compression on it and off he went to get stitched up at the hospital.”

Camper Debra Osher (1963) went for one week her first time and can still remember whittling a little stick with a little army knife. “I carved my finger instead. No stitches, but it was a long walk up the hill to have someone help me.”

Carrie Norris (1972-73) spent time in the Infirmary for a dose of poison ivy and Dawn Sohigian was also terribly allergic to poison ivy and underwent a series of shots before she went off to camp in 1966, which paralyzed her leg and caused it to swell.

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Nurses, Doctors and Patients–#6

Published on by Kathy Baker

Carol Hulett was the “Camp Health Director” during the time when it was impossible to find a nurse. After her junior and senior years at Albion College, where she majored in Biology, Carol trained under the American Camping Association and “learned to nurse” at camp the summers of 1973-74.

Sue Patenge, director, had recruited her at college and interviewed her the first summer. “That first summer I spent most of my free time with the unattached staff. I had been a counselor and a WSI and had helped out with the horses, so I had plenty of experience,” said Carol, who ended up becoming close friends with Sue after her camping years.

“I was certainly a little apprehensive, but felt ready as I had spent my whole life going to/working at camp. I was a pre-med, so my ego was fairly healthy,” she laughed. “I was also an athletic trainer at Albion College and felt I could handle pretty much anything!”

The last recorded medical staff in the YWCA records was in 1974, with Carol Hulett as camp health director under the directorship of Sue Patenge and local physician Dr.William McCadie was the camp physician.

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Nurses, Doctors and Patients–#4

Published on by Kathy Baker

302629_4231747144203_154471756_nIn 1967 Mollie Forester was the camp nurse. Dorthe described her as a talker with a kind heart, who was always willing to help out. Her Infirmary was always spotless and there were only two trips to the doctor and one hospital visit on her watch. She had a wonderful rapport with the younger campers, but strained with the older ones, so Dorthe passed out meds to the seniors that summer.

One of her patients was Cindy, who never forgot the orange Mercurochrome, but then who doesn’t remember that little cure-all? Cindy Naylor (1967) turned around in her horseback riding class and the horse raised his leg and kicked her. She still has the dent in her leg.

Zoe McGrath had camped at Maqua as a young girl in the mid fifties, so going back to camp, smelling the campfires and eating “S’Mores” the summer of 1968 was a good bridge between her graduation and her future career as a nurse. It was her first experience as a camp nurse and not only did she fulfill that duty, but she helped out in a kitchen staffing emergency with her director, Dorthe Balaskas. There were a few suggestions from Dorthe to the camp committee for the following summer, and Zoe had the desire to leave her present job and return if she was re-hired.

“One day I was the one that got injured with a concussion on a sailboat,” said Zoe. “They came about quickly and I got whacked in the head with the boom and had to spend the night in Dorthe’s room in the lodge, so they could check me all night.”

Maureen Moore (1968-70) broke a tooth in a water fight when she was working as a kitchen aide. “The girls had their rest period and it was a hot day to do dishes, so we went out with pitchers of water. One of the girls grabbed a metal pitcher and I turned my head just in time to catch it on my teeth. My Mom was horrified when she picked me up because the root was exposed. It was close to the end of session. I don’t know why that girl didn’t grab a plastic one like we did.”

In 1969, Nadine Furlong was listed as the registered nurse, with Dr. Payea still serving as the camp doctor. In her end of season report, she mentioned a staff meeting where she addressed the crushes girls might develop on staff members, as well as notifying some of the staff of the severe ailments they may encounter. (One camper suffered from seizures.)

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Nurses, Doctors and Patients–#3

Published on by Kathy Baker

IMG_6529By1963, the salary for the nurse had increased to $450 for the summer and Lillian Richards R.N. accepted the position. She was forty-five and lived in Harrisville, just north of Hale. It was not always easy to find medical staff to reside at camp for an entire summer, but there was a need that had to be filled, as well as a job–even if the nurse handled only small incidents.

“One not so good memory was when I tripped while walking down one of the hills that had gravel on it, so vehicles could take our trunks and suitcases to the cabins,” said Susan Bradford (1965). “I slid down the hill on my elbows and knees and got skinned up. They had to take me to the hospital in Tawas to get checked out, but I healed quickly.”

Dorthe Balaskas had been hired as director for the camp and wrote in her 1966 report that Dr. Norman Payea had been hired as the camp doctor and practiced in Tawas. “The nurse is the decision maker when a child is ill, as to whether to see the doctor, and makes the appointment and brings the health form,” she wrote.( If the nurse was not in, the camp director or program director took over the Infirmary.)

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Nurses, Doctors and Patients-#2

Published on by Kathy Baker

IMG_6530Lurking in the background during her days at camp in 1945, Carol Requadt recalled the silent fear about water and polio, despite the fact that it was not certain how it was contracted. “Since I was at camp during the days of polio, there was a generalized fear and slight paranoia about catching it. I knew a few who got it, but it was not talked about too much and I was never afraid of catching it as a young girl.”

“There was a girl who did not feel well for three days, and no one knew she was in the early states of polio,” said Carol Sue Abendroth (1953-54). “I heard later in high school that it was what she had, but she survived with only a limp.”

The camp personnel committee was responsible for hiring in 1958 and met on February 27, 1958. Their notes indicated Elizabeth Loessel was hired as the nurse with a salary of $270, plus room and board with a room for Margo and a period of camping for Sandra. (Were they daughters?) Nancy Griebel was hired for the final period.

In 1960 the nurse was a retired public health nurse by the name of Margaret Conley, followed by Janet Gehres in 1961. She was recruited for the camp nurse position by director Alice Bishop, who was taking anatomy classes at Michigan State University with Janet. Although she did not have her Michigan nursing license, the YWCA paid for her to get it, so she could take the position. (She was from Reading. Pa.)

“I went home and got my shorts and stuff ready and headed to camp. I lived in the Infirmary, which was in the middle of camp, and was the only building with a bathroom in it. I was pretty much on duty twenty-four hours a day. There were a lot of girls with allergies that summer and they all brought their bottles along with them, but I don’t recall giving any injections. I think they did that before they got to camp,” said Janet.

Alice Bishop had notes in her director’s report that summer relating to the program presented by the Michigan Tuberculosis Association. They presented a program, complete with songs, about TB for the campers to acquaint them with the disease. Although there was no indication that TB was a scare, public awareness about this disease was important.

Janet Gehres filed her nurse’s report at the end of the first session. She indicated that ninety-one campers came to camp and checked through the Infirmary with pre-camp medical sheets, personal medications collected and all girls weighed in. At the end of the session, they were weighed in again and it was noted; “Many of the girls gained weight, apparently satisfied with the menus offered them.”

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