Carol Wahl was the riding counselor in 1974 and 1975 at Camp Maqua. “I had taken my horse with me to college and I ended up teaching a student who was a part time draftsman in Bay City for an architectural firm. His boss’ wife was on the board of the YWCA and that is how I found out about the job for the camp,” said Carol. “I was the riding instructor for two years and did not teach the year I was pregnant for my first child, since they considered it a liability. In 1977, I taught at another camp.”
“The first year I was at camp I met Pam Moore, who ended up as my college room-mate and was also in my wedding. I had transferred from Saginaw Valley to Central in 1974, so that was the summer between colleges. I met many of the staff at camp that also attended Central, where I joined a Sorority. I remember a girl named Mary Toburen.”
Her riding program centered on this philosophy—“ to teach good, applicable techniques of riding, including how not to get hurt on or around a horse, while still having fun”. She used general methods for beginners, intermediate and advanced riders, which included formal lessons, and competitive games that taught control and confidence for trail riding. She stressed good form and techniques and rules. but felt like the summer of 1974, she worked with horses that were in bad condition.
“My cabin was actually the staff house near the lodge on the screened in porch of the second floor. (Dutton) I have memories of good food in the lodge, ”S’Mores” at the many campfires and a lot of singing.”
“Our director was Sue Patenge the first year and her assistant was called “Junior”, but I cannot remember her real name, but she became the director the following year. Sue was a good director, but not a good rider. We were celebrating Christmas in July and she was in a Santa suit of some kind and got on the horse with a bag of presents.”
“When I started working there, I didn’t swim and the waterfront director had never been on a horse. So, we made a bet that before college started, she would teach me to swim and I would teach her to ride,” said Carol. “While the kids were on their afternoon rest periods, I would teach her to ride and she would teach me swimming. In fact, she became fairly confident on that horse! I taught many other staff members to ride. I ended up taking swimming in college and was even on the swim team!”
“The second summer we took the big canoe, which could handle most of the staff, and paddled across the lake to the boy’s camp. There were about ten of us that “tee-peed” the entire beach with toilet paper. Of course, they retaliated, but for the life of me I cannot remember how,” she laughed. “We never got caught.”
“The second year I was there, the “Y” built us a nice riding ring to replace the broken one. They invested some money in it, but when the fence builders showed up they thought the new one had to look pretty and installed the boards on the outside! I yelled, NO NO NO YOU CANNOT DO THAT—IT HURTS WHEN YOU GET YOUR FOOT CAUGHT OR LOSE YOUR KNEECAPS! They listened to me and took all the boards off and did it correctly,” said Carol.
The first year the horses were rented from the Tawas area, but she said they were a little older and in “sad shape” and “long past retirement age”. The following year, they spent more money and rented the horses from a nice riding stable in Gladwin. “That year they brought me a horse who was fairly tall and when he was saddled up spent most of his time standing up! I know how to school a horse, but I wasn’t trained to do that and I couldn’t trust that horse. I needed a “Steady Eddie” since I had to pay attention to ten girls in my class. I ended up with a beautiful Quarter horse named “Velvet” and I ended up buying that horse with the money I saved that summer and later taught my own children to ride on it.”
“I grew up with horses. My parents were horse lovers. My Mom rode, and my Dad farmed with horses and I still keep a horse.”
The few stories she recalled included a student who ended up breaking her arm when she chased another girl on a horse who had “spooked”, citing it was the only accident that happened as an instructor in the three years she taught. (She had been an instructor at “Pine and Dunes Camp”).
One camper was dropped off by her parents, and left on a motor-home vacation for six weeks. “She became my little project,” said Carol. “She would get up early and help me after breakfast and before her first class. She also helped me saddle the horses. One young lady also happened to be the daughter of one of my college professors, (Hoffman) but I had no idea until he showed up to pick her up!”
She remembered a local Hale woman who taught riding by the name of Rose Drengberg, who probably taught at camp in 1976 just before the camp closed, but did not stay in touch with her.
“Some of the older girls decided to decorate the cinder block bathroom walls with toothpaste, instead of their cabin,” she said. “Junior”, who was the director, was informed, who in turn let the girls know that it had to be cleaned or they would be in her office calling their parents to explain why they needed new toothbrushes.”
“Of course, we had our fair share of undies up the flagpole, and chipmunks under the Dutton porch steps. Those little guys sounded like a herd of elephants in the morning as they crunched the leaves and we could not sleep through it, “ Carol laughed.
On the weekends, she did not hang out with the drinking crowd, but she and Rose would take the biking and hiking trails with their two horses packed down. Sometimes she went home, but she rarely stayed in camp on her days off.
Carol used her camp counseling experience for years on her resume, until her resume filled up with the many jobs she had. Many of her years have been spent in education as a science teacher for adjudicated teens. “I use the lab as hands on for the kids as much as possible, and many have returned to say it was their favorite class. When I was at camp and saw the bad behaviors in the girls, I made sure I taught mine better. Camp was a wonderful experience for campers and counselors. I still have rocks from camp painted with “Camp Maqua 1974” and a piece of driftwood somewhere.”