Hear Our Voices! #1

Published on by Kathy Baker Category: Blog, Camping Life

536959_3518063120900_948563058_nThe overall condition and set up of the camp season differed from year to year according to the needs of the campers and staff. Each director came in with new ideas, the camp committee meetings entertained and implemented best practices according to the financial situation and staff they hired and for the most part Maqua hummed like a well-oiled machine for all involved.

Humorously, with tongue and cheek quips, the campers were allowed to vent and express their desires with ideas that they felt would improve the camp. Some were serious and others just plain funny, but I am fairly certain they felt “heard”.

The “Loon” publication of 1950 listed “famous recommendations” from each hut, which appeared during each session of camp. The July issue wanted stairs for their bunk beds, softer mattresses, colored caps for further areas of the lake, a diving board on the green raft, showers, reading lamps over their bunks, more “Brownies”, screens fixed, nails for their clothes and (wait for it)—hut nine wanted an escalator to the lodge!

In August, the list continued in the same vein–hot water, rafts out farther, better stairs, bed lights, dock extended to the shore, water taps in the huts, an iron and ironing board, and for the staff to wash their own dishes.

The more hilarious suggestions were—“Stumpy wanted a whole new camp, Bobbi wanted a narrower lake, Dickie wanted to buy all the land from her to Hale Park and Betty wanted waiters instead of hoppers”, (Good luck with all that!)

July 10-24, 1952 brought suggestions to “keep huts closed up, paint the huts, be able to dunk the counselors, noisy the first night, then quiet, bigger swimming areas, mouse traps, lock on Brownie doors, fix the roof, more men and move the raft out farther”.

The famous recommendations continued into 1952 and included “taking the writing off the walls of huts, cut down the jungle in front of hut 2, escalators, hot water, fix the leaks, fix the bunks, get the mice out, Brownie in the hut”.

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Wants And Needs–

Published on by Kathy Baker Category: Blog, Buildings and Property

The upkeep of the buildings on the property were vitally important from a safety standpoint. Trees that grew too close to the buildings had to be removed when the branches and roots interfered with the tile fields or roofing. The roofs of the lodge, brownie and bunkhouses were a constant item of repair. Storms caused wind damage and girls caused their own with over use of doors and windows. Screening was a close second for upkeep on all the bunkhouses.

Jennifer Fenton recalled the weekends in the seventies when her family would help out. With her mother on the YWCA board and her physician father also donating his time, they painted cabins to get the camp ready for the next season. “We would take over the kitchen with our United Methodist church group, which we called the tent and trailer group. We communed with nature,” she laughed.

Waterfront enlargement, moving the boats in front of Dutton, brush cutting, dock painting, raft installation, and Infirmary painting were all projects that needed constant attention. The rifle range, benches and the cross on Chapel Hill were on the list again in 1971. Upkeep of a camp was a never-ending project, with a never- ending need for funds to cover the expenses.

There were no minutes for camp meetings in the later years, but a Camp Maquois repair list was left for the spring of 1977 in the files. It was nearing the end of an era for the camp and list was extensive. The fire marshall wanted all the fire extinguishers to be replaced with the type ABC and all the exit doors to be re-hung to swing in the direction of “egress to open out”, with a non-locking type of lock from the egress. The knobs had to be operable from the inside by a single motion, as in a panic bar push or a single doorknob turn. Six-inch high exit signs had to be installed above the doors. Flammable liquids had to be removed from the boathouse and an electrical inspection was needed.

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Donors And Volunteers–

Published on by Kathy Baker Category: 1950's, 1960's, Blog, Buildings and Property

Without the donors and volunteers, camp would have never survived. Camp committee minutes in the fifties included references to roof and hut repairs, toilet seats, kitchen necessities and a new cook stove. A washing machine had been donated to the camp in 1954, but “another list of wants and needs was to be posted on the bulletin board, in hopes that other individuals would contribute”.IMG_0465_2

Sometimes the repairs had to wait until the ground frost was thawed, (such as the well), and sometimes the items were beyond repair, (such as the sailboat), which was sold in 1954. New tents, bedspreads, paddles, and the lists were endless, In the late fifties there was not enough money in the treasury, so each member of the committee was asked to bring in a dish towel, campers were asked to bring their own canoe paddles and old bedspreads instead of new ones were hunted down.

In the late fifties, caretaker Tom “Pops” Watson was building a new raft and submitted bids for a shed to be built. Sails, riflery and archery equipment had to be procured from the Yacht Club and Rifle and Archery clubs, as well as a piano tuner, bullets, ping pong balls, and food supplies. Goodeynes appeared to be the favored store for many of the camp’s purchases.

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“Camp Maqua Revisited”

Published on by Kathy Baker Category: Activities and Sports, Blog, Buildings and Property, Cabin Life, Camp Envy, Camping Life, Friendships and Relationships, Off to Camp Maqua, Traditions

IMG_5796Over the years-and there’ve been many since then, At least once a summer I reminisce when, My friends and I would pack up our trunks, and come to this place and Pick out our bunks. “What do you want” bottom or the top? Nobody really cared, We were there, up for the dare, And ready for fun–nonstop! Revelry in the morning—raising the flag, and maybe a bra or 2, Then choosing of activities, Oh soooo many, What’s a girl to do? Arts & Crafts, canoeing, or maybe learn to shoot a gun, Swims in the lake, (don’t forget the buddy system) or stepping on a snake, Or riding a horse, and the singing of course. WHATEVER you chose–it was FUN! I never minded the food too much, I’ll eat pretty much anything to this day, But I do remember a food fight HAHA Much to the directors dismay. The infirmary, the brownie, nature hut and yes, camp store, Our cabin with the little shelf, that held our toothpaste and more, Thad we’d use, when we found an empty space to write our names upon the Rafters, A reminder to all, that we were here, And to all who would come soon after. But the Lodge was my most favorite place, with the cookies and if lucky–mail, And everywhere you looked a smiling face—attached to a pig or pony tail. That place where we got our bellies fed, Sang silly songs that got stuck in our head, Then reluctantly trounced off to bed—Taps and giggled until the last goodnight was said…..Then did it all over again. These are just some snip its of my Camp Maqua memories, With a big heartfelt THANK You to Kathy for allowing this possibility, to go back in time–once again. <3 Written by Ann Niegarth Laskowski as she returned for the Centennial Reunion

Work Weekends At Camp–

Published on by Kathy Baker Category: 1930's, 1940's, Blog, Buildings and Property

IMG_0031Yearly inspections were mandated by the state of Michigan, and many of the reports indicated nothing but excellent comments and ratings. Caretakers, committee members and volunteers worked tirelessly to keep the camp in good shape.

Notes in the camp committee minutes outlined many trips scheduled in the spring before each session to work on maintenance. In 1933 the improvements for the camp included new signs, posts under one hut, repairs to benches over the boat- house, one new raft and three boats required repair. In 1958, it was the weeds in the swim area, which I’m sure was a yearly chore. In the early sixties, it was Chapel Hill that required attention.

The caretakers were responsible for contacting contractors for larger projects, such as road grading and large mowing. Often work-related projects were adopted by church groups, Ki-West Kiwanis and the National Building Trades Union, which required “male assistance” for some of the heavier jobs.

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Post-Camp Clean-Up–

Published on by Kathy Baker Category: 1920's, 1930's, 1950's, 1960's, Blog, Directors, Counselors, Staff

Maqua scans_Jun60_4a-2A copy of the revised edition of the “Notes Regarding Closing Camp Maqua” for the season, dated 1954 and updated from August 1950, listed the elements required to successfully close up camp.

The surplus food, that was unopened and would not keep until the following season, had to be returned. The kitchen had to be cleaned well enough that the mice would not have an attraction to it. Bedding had to be stored with paper supplies in Dutton. The screen doors and shutter ropes were removed from the huts for security. The supplies in each area had to be stored safely. The furniture inside and outside the lodge were positioned, rugs were rolled, poison was spread for rodents, windows were latched or shuttered, doors were padlocked, planks were nailed, screens were removed, water was drained, and pumps were covered. At the waterfront, ropes, buoys, riggings, rafts, and anchors were stored inside the boathouse, huts or lodge.

According to Dorthe Balaskas’ 1966 notes, post-camp days were a busy time for the caretaker and a time for the counselors and directors to list repairs needed in their areas. Mert and Ollie Webb were the caretakers at that time and she was always confident of their abilities to handle the general maintenance, but enlisted the help of “Pop” Watson to deal with some of the larger issues to be delegated to the appropriate services, since he was familiar with what had to be done to close up camp.

She had a banquet style meal for the staff after they had packed their bags. All the living areas were checked and counselor notes had to be handed in before she passed out their checks. The frozen food, record player, library books, mimeograph machine, medications and station wagon were taken to the “Y”; the guns were put into storage or repaired, and surplus food was returned to Schwanbecks in Saginaw.

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