The first two years of seventies’ directorship belonged to Barbara Haggart, also known as “Beanie”, whose directors reports were less detailed than her predecessor, but did not diminish her leadership qualities or her staff’s love for her as she ran the camp with educational experience and her previous years as an assistant under Dorthe Balaskas.

Judy Moore’s stay at Maqua was only two years—1970 and 1971, as an assistant director to Barb Haggart, “catching, fielding, and doing whatever had to be done for Beanie.” She played sports at Western Michigan University with Sue Wiegand, Nancy Sautter and Barb and was recruited from the physical education pool. That first summer was a summer she knew she didn’t have to make much money, since she had just been hired on as a physical education teacher in Sarnia, Ontario for a real job in the fall.

“I was an enthusiastic, energetic and triple type A person. I loved giving the counselors a break at night, since they were tired from their long days with the campers. I didn’t interact with the kids on a daily basis, but I impacted the activity level by acting as the program director that laid out the nightly activities and pocketed the daily schedule,” said Judy. “I became the person who immersed herself, mostly in the trenches with the counselors.”

“What a playground it was for me to practice my leadership skills. I attribute my introduction to my career to the leadership and savvy experiences I gained at Maqua,” said Judy. “It turned out being at camp was everything it could be for me. It was rich, meaningful fun.” “The director had to manage the people on a very low budget. Beanie was not a real detail person with reports, but she did all the hiring and she hired energetic girls, with personalities that had flair and sometimes evenan edge. She understood kids. The counselors she hired were there, for the most part, to make each day a good day for the camper and to put joy in their day.”

For Barbara Haggart, 1971 was, in her words from her director’s report, a tremendous one.” I think this particular staff had something special about them. It seemed to be just the right combination of people. They were hard workers and always accomplished what they started out to do. They were very aware of the camper’s personal needs and saw to them. The campers responded to the staff with great enthusiasm and I believe that each child thoroughly enjoyed their stay at camp,” wrote Beanie.

She said two of the periods were low in attendance, but seemed to run smoothly in spite of the gap with no big problems. Some new activities were added to the already full program and she tried to keep the evening programs interesting for every age level. She felt her activity directors were very responsible and “enhanced the program with their outstanding skills and interesting activities”, including the new counselors who became “masters” by the end of the summer. “It was a great summer—one that I will never forget,” she ended.

What do you remember about the year 1971 at camp?