With so many girls gaining many experiences, each unique to their personalities, their home life, their own skills and interest, it is not surprising how many different answers came to the question, “How did Camp Maqua influence your life?”
Jan Schrieber (left)(1962-70), now a Psychologist in San Francisco, was the creator of the Camp Maqua Alumni page on Facebook in 2010, following the death of her mother. She was extremely close to her Mom, who she described as creative, funny and truly wonderful. “I started thinking about the things that made ME! How much of life has passed now and that was just a nugget of experience, but I stayed connected to many of those girls.”
What began as a page with about six members has grown to 250 members in the eight-year period and has been a tremendous networking forum for those who treasured their times at camp. It has also been a feeder platform for obtaining the history for the book “Camp Maqua” and the blogs on www.girlsofcampmaqua.com
“I’m an oncology nurse now and manage a research department,” said Debi Gottlieb (!968+). “I cannot imagine that going to camp did not affect me in my life. It was a place where girls could be themselves and get to know other girls without their parents, and the usual rules. It was just a fun place to be!”
Camp transported Nancy Weber away from home in the sixties and influenced her future career. “I was the youngest child of older parents. By the time I was ten, my brother was in high school and my sister was in college. I look back and realize camp made me comfortable with my eccentricities. You can take me anywhere and I fit in. Whether it is camping, raising coonhounds, or with the gentry, I cherish that I can fit in. It didn’t show up at camp but did later—my comfort with myself. And fifty years later, I can still fold a flag perfectly!”
“I have memories of my sister’s time at camp, and I knew all the songs before I went to camp, but it was a different time and a different experience. I have a degree in teaching and counseling and I am now a public speaker, but I sang songs to my kids when I was teaching that made me a hit.”
“I really think ages ten to twelve at Camp Maqua framed the person I was to become, ” said Ruth Wiesen (1957-59) .”I learned to share, made new friends, and helped each other out—especially those who were afraid. I fell in love with the counselors and I felt I could go to them for anything—even private time if I needed it. I gained a tremendous amount of independence at ten and we were all really just ten. At twelve we were really twelve and not into boys. I liked it all. Everything I did made me a part of who I am today. I have four kids and I always had a maternal instinct.”
“Since age ten I have wanted to be a nurse. I still remember there was a nurse at camp and we kept in touch for a while. The doctor and dentist were off-site, but she was the one who gave permission to take meds while we were there. Now I am an RN and I do lots of volunteer work with the Christian Service for Vets, for our own parishioners with prayer shawls and a ministry for the shut-ins, and I was always involved in school activities with my kids. Camp gave me a lot of confidence.”
Jeanne Kiltie (1966-71) loved the outdoors and animals, horseback riding and camping especially. “If I could have, I would have been the girl in shop class in high school. I loved cabinetry and I think I would have been good at it. I always wanted to live on a farm, so maybe that is why I love Kentucky, I’m surrounded by horses and farms.”
“Recently I took a mission trip to Ecuador with my church with twenty-four people I didn’t know. I came home knowing them all as friends, and I loved helping to build down there. In fact, I have no problems picking up the power saw, instead of other jobs,” she said. “Maybe because I enjoyed all those outdoor activities at camp!”
Canoeing was always number one for Geraldine Folkert (below)(1942-47), but she also loved the riflery and helped with the classes as a junior counselor. Recently, at the tender age of eighty-one, she took a trip to Mexico. Her friends were amazed that she knew how to maneuver a kayak. “I was exposed to many skills at camp. I have a strong opinion that the kids of today who are going to specialized camps have missed out. We learned tennis, horseback riding, boating, archery, riflery and other activities, which they miss. I definitely learned to be away from home and to get along with other girls at camp. I have nothing but fond memories. It was a special time in our lives. We were pretty good girls, enjoyed the activities and went with the flow.”
“Camp molded a lot of girl’s lives. I think it defined mine later in life,” said Mary Lou Goggin, who camped and also taught horseback riding in the fifties. “ The skills and leadership I learned in the formative years helped me to become active in politics. I started the city of San Ramon in California, incorporated it and the population grew from 16,000 to 88,000. I ran for the first city council, sat for twelve years, worked on the county commission, ran for Mayor and won and helped found the AAU.”