Shy, quiet Linda Doering was even more so at Camp Maqua as a first time counselor in 1967. Her friend and fellow Physical Education major from Western Michigan University, Barbara Haggart, recruited her as the Boating Director that summer. “Beanie” also nicknamed her “Yakky” and the name stuck for her next few years on staff. […]
Month: March 2017
Sixties Staffing and “Flash”
The older girls were always more difficult to please and no one knew that more than Sue Wiegand, (bottom row on right) who was in charge of cabin C that summer of 1967. Sue was a sophomore at Western Michigan University studying Physical Education, Speech and Drama in 1966, “stewing about a summer job”. Her […]
Sixties and Staffing and Issues #4
Finding experienced and mature staff was not an easy task in 1966 for Dorthe Balaskas and sometimes areas were understaffed or staffed with girls who just did not make the grade. She did not tolerate behavior problems and expected her staff to not only do the job efficiently, but with a good attitude. Dorthe felt […]
Sixties Staffing with “Superdoo” #3
Sue Purdue was one of the young girls who transitioned from camper to counselor and learned some life lessons through her experiences under director Dorthe Balaskas. “I think I was thirteen years old in 1964 when I first went to Camp Maqua. My cousin Laurie Cone was from Toledo and she was a year younger, but had been […]
Sixties Staffing and Issues #2
The application for the renewal of license for the camp in 1964 from the Dept. of Social Welfare for the state of Michigan listed Dorthe Balaskas as the director and she had previously experienced six years of camp leadership. Miriam Carr, who had been a YWCA camp director in California, was her assistant that summer. […]
Sixties Staffing and Issues #1
The sixties ushered in tenures of longevity for directors Alice Bishop (1960-62) and Dorthe Balaskas (1963-69). The director’s reports were fairly comprehensive, which were great sources for the staffing issues they had to contend with on a daily and seasonal basis. Alice had ten years of previous camp experience at Camp Cavell, three years with […]