The issues of society crept into camp life in some ugly and sometimes disturbing ways, despite the relative isolation of the property. Vague memories from Randi Wynne-Parry (1969-73) included a guy lurking by the bathroom, which put the camp on a lockdown protocol. ‘I liked how aware the staff was of such things,” she said.
“I do remember an incident when Kathy Knish, Cilla Johns and a counselor named Trish were all living at Primitive. It was quite a ways away. We had to dig the hole for our outhouse and paint it. We made our own campfires and I recall two of the girls walked into a clearing and there was a man in a car. They tentatively walked into the clearing and he was lying on the front sear. They ran back to camp, out of breath, to find Judy Moore. For some reason, “said Doris Engibous, “we drove into town to find his car and make sure he didn’t show up again. This was county fair time and the camp wasn’t gated, so anyone could drive in back then.”
Judy Moore was on staff in the early seventies when the trespasser in the meadow was spotted, where the older kids camped. “It was not a good scene. We gathered the troops”, said Judy. (The police arrived and took away a guy who had been pleasuring himself.)
Director Alice Bishop had two references to similar events in her report of 1961. Prowlers on the lake on July 7 brought the sheriff out to camp—specifically to Senior Village around 10:30-12:30. Alice figured they were probably young boys making noise, but worried there may be true danger and responded to her frightened campers.
Another happened following her evening off with staff in Tawas, where they arrived home at 11:30 and had “unwelcome drunks” around 1:30. With the boys’ camp across the lake, and cottages developing along the shoreline, the camp was a perfect spot for such antics.
“At sixteen you think you know everything,” said Sue Purdue, who camped from 1964-67. “ I suppose you heard about the free days where you could decide as a cabin what to do with the day—make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and picnic, or even walk into Hale for the day. We were used to spending money at the camp store, but the girls loved the idea of walking into Hale. I can still see them skipping along the road singing.”
“The county fair was in town and they wanted to go, and to tell you the truth, I wanted to go on the rides! So we took the kids on the rides. When Dorthe (director) found out, she was so upset. She let me and Laurie know in between sessions, before we headed up to see both sets of grandparents at a cabin in Oscoda, about the liability we had taking the kids on those rides.”
Dorthe Balaskas’ notes from her report did not reveal anything about the incident—in fact, just the opposite. As a first year staff member, Sue Purdue surprised her director with her dependability, responsibility, and skills involved with her tennis that endeared her to campers and co-workers. But, in the end the director was there to steer the staff and campers in the direction of safety, which was a huge responsibility.
Were there any prowlers or disturbing incidents when you were at camp?