Laughter And Amusement–

Published on by Kathy Baker Category: 1960's, Blog, Camping Life, Directors, Counselors, Staff

There were girls who were afraid to do cabin checks because they were afraid of the dark, and campers who tippy-toed out of their cabins and over Chapel Hill to the horses and got caught (Jan Bateson in the fifties), and there were personalities that made everyone laugh, like Jennifer McLogan, as remembered by her friend Kathy Carney (1970-71).

“Jennifer was so funny. She would pretend she was French and give everyone made up French names in this crazy accent. They would say, “Jennifer, Jennifer, what’s my name?” and she would say this silly name. She made us all laugh. Sue Purdue’s college roommate was a girl we called “BIAFRA” because she was so thin,” said Kathy. “She was from the south and she had no idea that camp meant roughing it. Everyone was hysterical when this little southern debutante pulled out, not one, but two ball gowns she had brought! I wonder what she thought she was coming to?”

As an adult with a perspective on behaviors, Sarah Smith (1968-70) can look back and understand why little campers would have said the things they said. Case in point was the little red-headed girl who lifted her shirt and said “You want some milk?”

Sarah laughed as she said, “It was my first gig as a counselor. I was walking up the hill to the lodge to eat and where was this little girl with red hair blowing across her eyes, all dirty from her day. At the time I thought it was the strangest thing because I was far from thinking about having babies, but I just bet her Mom was breastfeeding a new sibling at home! As a kid, you live in your own world and don’t think of what was really going on.”

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Funny Stories–

Published on by Kathy Baker Category: 1940's, 1950's, 1960's, 1970's, Blog, Cabin Life, Camping Life, Directors, Counselors, Staff

What is it about peeing and stories about peeing that can bring girls to hysterics? One of the funniest things Sandy Indianer (1967) learned at camp that stayed with her forever was to learn to pee outside in the woods. She was not alone, as many campers felt like that was an important fear to surmount—peeing outside.

“My cousine Ann reminded me the other day that we would stick our butts out the cabin window and “wee-wee”,” said Helen Johnson (1968-64). “Now, let me explain. I did and still do today wet my pants when I laugh. So, I am SURE it was out of necessity—maybe. My Mom used to gauge how good of a time I had at camp by the amount of times I wet my pants. My good friends knew about my tiny bladder, but others could sometimes be mean.”

Pat O’Tool (1944-52) could still recall the canoe trip with Pat Parsons from Grayling. “We took a photo of her peeing, and from then on we called her P.P. Parsons,” said Pat, who still has the photo.

“My biggest memory is of three red-headed sisters with the last name of Cherry. They were all a few years apart, maybe eleven to fourteen, and they were always running back and forth from their cabins to the bathroom naked,” laughed Liz Anderson (1973-74).

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Journey Of A Camper On Drugs

Published on by Kathy Baker Category: 1960's, 1970's, Blog, Camp Influences, Camping Life, Directors, Counselors, Staff, Friendships and Relationships

D had fond memories of her seven summers as a camper at Maqua in the mid-60’s. After the first few years, she would stay for all four sessions. Her last summer at camp was spent as a kitchen aid in the early 70’s. She described herself as mischievous back then, but she got along with everyone. She still had friends who were campers and could not wait to return the following year.

“For some reason, the new director took an instant dislike to me. I do not know if it was my personality or something else she had heard. During a break between sessions, ten of us went back to M’s cabin where we all smoked marijuana, some for the first time. I’d tried marijuana previously and even had some at camp with me, but never smoked it in camp.”

“When I applied to be a junior counselor for the following season, the director denied me. I was devastated. I adored going there. I had the best childhood and Maqua was a big part of it. The relationships were so great and even the staff didn’t snub us as kids. I loved that we were doing stuff all the time. I had wonderful relationships with Dorthe and Beanie and others, and stayed in touch with many of them. Those relationships were a uniting force.”

“Maqua was life transforming for me. It was like a little dream come true. Going to the reunion in 2012 was very healing for me. I realized then what a loss I’d been carrying around all these years. I had assumed I would be coming back as a junior counselor after the summer as a kitchen aid. When I was denied, I felt like my arm had been chopped off. We all had so much in common and it wasn’t anything to do with our parents being friends or our friendships back home. It was about the special camp relationships.”

“The denial of the junior counselor position coincided with the beginning of twenty-five years of active addiction. By the age of fifteen, besides marijuana, I had already experimented with many different types of drugs. When I told some of the staff at the reunion, they told me they wished they’d known, so they could have helped. But, no one could have helped at that time.”

“Despite my addiction, I was always a good student. After receiving my Bachelor’s degree, I moved to California and tutored math at a community college for a while. Ultimately, I went to law school in California, still heavily into drugs, but I took the bar exam and passed it. I got high right after my swearing in.”

“Staying in school seemed like the easiest course since my parents were willing to continue paying for everything. I did use my law degree and ran a clinic for substance-abusing women, and also worked for the local Family Court restraining order clinic. I won awards for my pro bono work. I was telling myself I was a functioning addict until one day I realized I’d made an oversight in a situation that could have affected someone else’s life. So, I stopped practicing. My fallback was to return to school again for my Masters in Public Interest Law.”

“In the early 90’s, my father passed away. Because my Mom and I were so close, I moved back to Michigan. I was struggling, so I entered into grief therapy, which ultimately turned into substance abuse therapy. Eventually, I went to inpatient treatment at Hazelden and got clean. Now I am doing what I always wanted to do.”

“I have my masters in social work, work as a substance abuse therapist and most importantly, I’m in recovery. I just celebrated twenty years clean. Looking back over those twenty-five years of active addiction, there were many difficult times. I spent time in jail and came close to death several times. Basically, my life at that time was about using.”

“The trajectory of my life has been unusual, but I feel that I somehow landed on my feet. I believe I am more whole as a person and I understand that life is about relationships. It came full circle at the reunion and I realized the friendships I developed while at Maqua truly helped to shape my life.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

From Alcohol To Drugs—

Published on by Kathy Baker Category: 1960's, 1970's, Accidents and Illnesses, Blog, Cabin Life, Directors, Counselors, Staff

“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.”

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Drinking—

Published on by Kathy Baker Category: 1950's, 1960's, 1970's, Blog, Cabin Life, Directors, Counselors, Staff

“In 1972, Michigan became one of the first states to experiment with lowering the drinking age to 18, following the 26th Amendment, which had lowered the national voting age to 18. However, following a rise in drunk driving accidents, Michigan also became the first state to move its drinking age back to 21 in 1978.” (study.com)

The sixties and seventies at camp were not exempt from the issues that faced teenagers of the entire country. Lowering the drinking age meant that counselors could legally frequent the bars around the camp, and by the time the camp had closed, the age requirement went up again.

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Fads and Fashions–

Published on by Kathy Baker Category: 1940's, 1950's, 1960's, 1970's, Blog, Cabin Life

Driven by her friend’s parents, Molly Appleford (1946) had her suitcase packed with shorts from Best and Company in Grosse Point. “They had buttons down the side and I loved them. So did  Marsha Immerman, who thought they were so “in”, so I bought her a pair,” said Molly. Tucked in with those coveted shorts were tee shirts, blouses, saddle shoes and bobby socks and maybe even a pair of jeans, although they were not worn as much back then.

“I was a tomboy, but I was into Ship ‘n Shore blouse, Lollipop panties with the days of the week on them, cuffed gabardine sailor shorts with sailor buttons and a stripe down the side of them, the “whites” for Chapel Hill and photos, blue and white Keds and jeans, “said Marsha Immerman (1947-53). “I got my first pair of boy jeans at the Mill End store, which seemed more fitting to wear for horseback riding. I also had brown Frontier pants that zipped on the side and had buttoned pockets. I did bring up my cowboy boots, but never wore a hat or a helmet.”

Although her family did not have much, they were able to send Mary Jane Keschman (1944-54) to camp. The year she wanted to go extra weeks, she realized she did not own enough underwear. With finances tight, her Mom sewed extras from feed bags. Coming from those circumstances, her envious memories of the sailor double- buttoned shorts that the girls from Birmingham owned were fresh in her mind.

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