“I remember one year there was a girl with the last name of Polk and we got her really drunk and she had a bad reaction to the alcohol,” said Mardi Jo Link (1973-78). “We had to walk her around so she wouldn’t pass out. We were so afraid and said, “Oh, God, I hope we haven’t killed her”. She was only fifteen. I can’t remember who bought it, but I was a willing participant. I know the director caught wind of it and called our parents. Now, my parents were really straight-laced. My Dad was a Principal at the time, I think. They were horrified. I was supposed to stay at camp the entire summer and they wanted me home. I begged to stay and they finally gave in.”
Mardi’s friend Michele Patterson (1971-76) was in training to become a C.I.T. and recalled the same incident. One of the girls bought a bottle of Boone’s Farm and off they went to drink. One of the girls was unknowingly allergic to alcohol and went into convulsions and sick enough to have an ambulance. There was disciplinary action taken, but Michele was not one of the girls drinking. One set of parents pulled the girl out of camp and brought her home. Michele recalled it was traumatic with the ambulance, but the girls never really had any trouble at Maqua.
Unaware that pot smoking was going one, the counselors during Michele’s time never discovered the girls who were experimenting, and again Michele was not part of that activity. “We were there for the whole summer being trained for counselors and there was always game playing going on. Capture the flag, where you would hide in the woods. We would all laugh because two of my friends were always gone and no one could find them, but we knew what they were doing.”
When Holly Foss (1966-70) was old enough to realize, she understood the giggling coming from Primitive was from the pot brownies. Had assistant director Judy Moore (1970-71) known then, she would have had those girls leave camp immediately.
“I found out later, after the fact, that there was some marijuana use, but I never had to address it while I was at camp. They probably lived in fear of me finding out, instead of Beanie,” said Judy.
“Those girls in Primitive, who were set up in the woods away from the lodge, and the girls who stayed in Dutton, were all private and secretive, because I think they were smoking dope,” said Cara Prieskorn (1966-71). “I always wanted to see the top of Dutton and when I finally did, it was just like any other cabin. Some girl offered me a joint, and I acted all cool and said no.”
“Not all my experiences were positive at Maqua,” said Betsy Falvey (1968-75). “There was an undercurrent of drugs and one girl was sent home for dealing from her cabin. I remember I was about thirteen or fourteen and Sharon Williams (riflery instructor) was about twenty. I was the one who turned the girl in and she lied about it and I think they believed her. She took my yearbook and defaced it and I was so disgusted. (I still have the yearbook.) Her lies made me an outcast in Senior Village. I was devastated and almost went home, but Sharon believed me and was a real mentor and we became friends. I even went to her wedding!”
Sharon recalled the incident, but did not remember all the details, except the fact Betsy felt very bad during that time and had to deal with the repurcussions from the whole scandal. Were you aware of drugs while at camp?
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