Girls who came from homes as an only child, homes with all boys or even a house filled with children—the reasons were varied as to why campers loved being with all girls for an extended period of time.

Elaine Levinsohn spent three wonderful summers from 1927-1930 and loved being away from home. She had one brother and no sisters, and like many of the girls camp was appealing because she could be around other girls her age.

“I was the only girl out of four kids in my family,” said Sarah Smith, whose mother Joyce was President of the YWCA board and main fundraiser in the seventies. Her mother had attended Holyoke, which was an all girls’ college, and had valued those friendships. “She sent me on purpose to an all girls camp, so I would understand the world was not all about men!”

Beverley Schlatter (1944) spent four summers there. Her friends had gone and she begged her parents to go. “I had never been away from home and I was an only child, which was a lonely life, since I really had no one to play with. Many of my friends tried to go at the same time as I did, and I begged to go back after my two weeks there.”

Mary Hewes (1946) had no sisters and felt like camp was one big happy family, as did fellow forties camper Judy Rowden, who was also an only child. “My folks let me go for a month, since there were no kids my age at our cottage. It was wonderful to be with all those girls and all those activities. I remember Ann Gunn used to stay the entire summer and we would joke that her parents would “ship her off to camp”, said Mary.

Ann Ward (1958-61) and Gail Schultheiss were “onlys”. Ann was an only child and Gail was an only girl in the family living in a neighborhood of all boys, and they loved their time at camp. For Pam Hartz, (1966-75) with no sisters, camp felt like home with all the girls around, as did Beth Taylor (1966). “I was never homesick and since I was an only child, I looked forward to being with other girls.”

Yolanda Erickson (1945) was at camp with many school friends, but as an only child made new friends at camp. “I had friends who didn’t want to go, and their parents forced them, but I could hardly wait to go to camp each summer.”

Girls who came from large families loved the independence and being around “like-minded girls”. Nancy Neumeyer was one of nine kids and shared only one summer at camp with a sister, so to be alone at camp was a way for her to have something all her own.

There was a lot of talk about Camp Maqua in the fifties on KayMary Young’s street in Bay City as she grew up with Penny Mitchell, Ellen Hydorn, Janice Moore and Barbara Defoe. The friends were not always at camp at the same time. Barb’s mother Mary Jo Stegall had gone to Maqua from 1933-41, but for some reason sent her daughter to Camp Huntington. To this day the girls stay in touch and Barb still laments not having gone with her friends.

Were you an only child or from a family of all boys? How did you feel about being surrounded by all girls? Was it difficult or an experience you enjoyed?