There were many life-shaping stories from the girls of Camp Maqua, from learning manners, to working as a team, to earning their first paycheck or developing confidence. Others were influenced to go to single-sex colleges based on the close friendships made while at camp.
Amy Johns’ (shown above at a Maqua reunion), (1967-78) constant family moves left her with very little camp memorabilia, but she has a few photos, award ribbons, and memories. “I was the baby of the family and definitely a crybaby and a drama queen. I could turn on the tears and get what I want. But, Camp Maqua made me resilient and independent. It was a safe place to grow up and make friends and get away from the chaos at home. To this day my favorite bird is the Loon.”
As a self-professed people person, Tracy Topping (1962-63) babysat to make money when she was younger and taught special education as a profession. “The kids loved me and I loved them because I was the fun teacher who taught them how to make those lanyards and sing the camp songs.”
“They were the best years of my life. I grew as a person. I took risks in a supportive atmosphere and I developed as a young girl. The counselors were supportive and it came from the top down. It was the first time in my life I worked as a team, cleaning up, trying to pass inspections and even doing dishes together. I felt a part of a valued experience. I learned things I used for the rest of my life and no one was too good to be left out. It was a smorgasbord of opportunities, surrounded by friends, love, and laughter. I will remember Maqua for the rest of my life.”
“I loved having the experience of making my own decisions and learning responsibilities,” said forties camper Mary Jane Keschman. “I learned how to four- corner my bed, and many table manners. To this day, when I have a piece of bread, I remember to break it into four pieces, instead of eating the whole piece as I did at home. It helped my independence to be away and learn to do laundry. When I went away to college, I was all set”, said Mary Jane.“I think about camp a lot. I will meditate to relax and I envision camp memories and create a movie in my head to relax. Camp is still with me.”
“For me, the summers formed friendships which grew and developed, “ said Barb Rehmus, shown on the right of the photo,(1965-76). “I also learned to let go, because it was such a short summer that the girls would gather together and them you knew some would not come back. I also learned a sense of fun. We learned a sense of responsibility having to clean our cabins as campers and later knowing I had to be responsible for kids and classes and to take care of them. It helped develop me as a person, give me new skill sets I would have never learned at home. It also developed my confidence. It helped me enjoy the outdoors, which we still do with our RV.”
“Maqua was a huge part of my life”, said Laurie Cullen who felt like it was the “hey-day” of camping in the sixties and seventies. “My friendships were fabulous, we had so much fun and the mentoring experiences there formulated my decisions for college. It was just a wholesome, happy, fun camp!”
Susan Purdue, known, as “Super-Do”, was her influence to attend college in Colorado, which was a single-sex college. While there, she convinced friends to come back to Michigan to camp at Maqua.“These girls were from Oklahoma, Nebraska, Missouri and all over”, said Sue. “ The balance of women from out of state was disproportionate one of the years I was there. And there was a gay dynamic, a Jewish dynamic—it wasn’t just girls from Bay City. It was the sixties and it was interesting.”