They missed family members, pets, and summers that continued on without them, but those feelings were not so overwhelming that the girls wanted to return home. Some, like JoAnn Kern (1953,) said she was ready to go home after her two weeks at camp. She always felt like she was missing out on her summer at Houghton Lake, where the rest of the family spent their time.
For Cara Prieskorn (1966-71), two weeks was an eternity. “I never felt like I missed anything while I was at camp, except maybe leaving a few boyfriends behind. Girlfriends moved in on them while I was gone. But, there was also a serial killer in Ann Arbor one summer and one of the girls had a sister at U of M. Supposedly she was asked if she wanted a ride by him and she turned him down.”
Funerals were missed. Nancy Keeler’s (1973-74) friend’s father died while she was at camp. Ann Meisel (1962-66) recalled a fellow camper whose brother died while she was at camp and she grieved with empathy, realizing he was the same age as her own brother.
Mary Jane Keschman (1944-55) and Linda Greenwald (1948-59) both lost their grandmothers while at camp. Linda hopped in her car around the 4th of July and drove home and back. Mary Jane’s family drove up in her last year and brought her home and back, so they were able to have closure with their funerals.
“This was the time of the Vietnam War, “said Ann Carney. “I started at camp in 1969 and it was very tumultuous at home. My brothers were of draft age and my older brother was opposed to the war and the conversations and arguments going on at home were very big to me. I would get up in the morning at camp, look at the lake and know that this was my day. It was straightforward. It was good stuff with good people. Just being outdoors helped me. But, I got news while at camp that my friend had been killed in Vietnam. I can remember I was standing on the porch where the ping-pong table was and I just lost it. I don’t remember anyone else losing anyone while I was there, or even talking about it. My one brother ended up in the Peace Corp for two years in Thailand working on water systems with a draft deferment and the other one became a Judge Advocate with another deferment from a childhood illness.”
For Ann Pennington (1964-72), it was not the war years that she missed. “I was away at camp when the Detroit Riots took place. I lived in Mt. Clemens and was close enough for some of the ramifications. Since I was at camp, I missed all the curfews, tension and over-all feelings that others experienced. We were kind of sheltered, so I don’t have vivid memories that others do.”
The riots in Detroit were in full force when Karen Cox (1967-69) attended camp, and although her parents downplayed the severity of it, she read about it in the papers and realized she had no idea of what was really going on.
Sue Michelson (1963-73) came home from camp to find her father had a rifle in his closet for protection, as the riots were happening while she was at camp. (She also discovered her beloved dog of sixteen years had died. Her father had written four carbon copies to each daughter, which she has saved to this day.)
Neil Armstrong stepped on the moon in 1969. It was July with no television at camp. “They announced it and then we went back to our activities,” said Marcia Michelson, wistfully. Ann Pennington was on the staff at the time and said they tried to bring it to the forefront, but she felt everyone truly missed a big historical event.
In later years, the television was the household item that the girls could not wait to get home to watch, after weeks of none at camp. Were you one of them?