1940’s

Camp Was A Gift–

Published on by Kathy Baker

Diane Dudley(1957-63) was one of the writers for “The Loon” and saved many of her copies.  Her time at Maqua was very influential, and her love for the woods influenced her to continue living in the woods to this day. She sent a passage from a book by G.K. Chesterton from one of his short stories-”The Sins of Prince Saradine”, from the book “Father Brown—The Essential Tales”.

“Father,” said Flambeau suddenly, “do you think it was all a dream?’ The priest shook his head, whether in dissent or agnosticism, but remained mute. A smell of hawthorns and of orchards came to them through the darkness, telling them that a wind was awake; the next moment it swayed their little boat and swelled their sail, and carried them onward down the winding river to happier places and the homes of harmless men.”

“Well, that’s the feeling I remember most— reminds me of the whole point of summer camp,” said Diane. “The memory of good things also brought on the smell of 612 insect lotion.”

“I remember not liking air conditioning in our house after returning from camp. I loved the outdoors, the water and the smell of camp,” said Sally Hurand, who camped in the mid-sixties.“ That place was a place to live out being a child outside the academics and expectations of our parents. I could become one with nature, be an Indian, be in a different place and time. I never perceived camp as an escape but as a gift. It was the luxury that my parents could afford for me. When I first started, it was scary for a kid who was away from home for the first time, but I did ask if I could go back. It was an adventure and it was part of being healthy as a kid—to go to camp. The more I experienced the natural world, the more I liked it. The more I liked it, the more it felt like a gift to me. I just remember camp was camp and life was life.”

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Camp’s Positive Influence–

Published on by Kathy Baker

There was no one who came away from Camp Maqua without some experience that affected them in a positive or negative way. From the sights and smells, to the activities chosen, or the staff that modeled behaviors, or the friendships made, the girls chose careers, hobbies,  and even decorated their homes in terms of their respective influences.

“When I look back at my camping times, I can still smell that cabin smell at Camp Maqua and I liked the odor,” said fifties camper Barb Hale,  and she was not alone. The smell of the bare wood in the huts and lodge were so fragrant to Bev Lemanski (1945), that she built a cedar screened porch on to her house to bring back the smell, and the white Coral Bell flower continues to grow in her garden as a reminder of camp.

“I always loved the out-of-doors, even before camp,” said Barb Cruey (1956). “When it was raining, I loved it even more. When I walk around our 325 acres up north, I can still smell the ferns that remind me of Maqua. Camp definitely affected me. I have two children and three grandchildren and I taught them all to swim and both my children went to camp, although I don’t think they enjoyed it as much as I, despite having some of the same experiences.”

Forties to fifties girl Marsha Immerman’s love affair with Camp Maqua and her experiences with horseback riding led her on a life-long passion with riding, art that depicted many parts of her camping experience and she often selected her dwellings based on a “lodgey” look.

“I am who I am today because of my love of the outdoors, horses and water. The fact that every one of my homes after I got married had to have a screened in porch, where I could sleep or listen to the rain is an indication of how much Camp Maqua influenced me. Even when my kids were little and we camped, it could be eleven o’clock at night and if our tent wasn’t going to be pitched by a body of water, I would make my husband drive to find some. I had to be camping beside water.”

Marsha also sent her two girls to camp in Colorado, but only one liked the experience.  (They do remember the songs she used to sing to them from camp from her little MG until they would tell her to shut up:)

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Ashes On The Lake

Published on by Kathy Baker

INTERVIEWS WITH GEORGE BROWN AND SHIRLEY WONTORCIK–Husband and best friend of deceased SANDY LANGELL BROWN

Sandy Langell spent three or four summers in the late forties at Camp Maqua and told her husband, daughter Trina and best friends Shirley and John Wontorcik that they were the best years of her life.

“One of the last things she asked me to do,” said her husband,” was to spread her ashes on Loon Lake. She loved the water, lakes and the country. I was able to determine what lake the camp was on from some notes she had made one year.”

“My wife’s personality was that of a bright and shiny person—always smiling. She was part fish and loved the water. She was so torn up to leave Midland when her father was transferred to Boulder, Colorado. Even though she graduated from high school in Boulder, she always came back for the Midland reunions.”

Sandy suffered a stroke and the passed away from cancer in December 2009 at the age of seventy-three. Shirley and John were able to track down who to contact at the camp and despite the fact that my husband and I were not up at the lake in early summer of 2010, residents Thom and Lydia Engel took her husband, daughter and two friends out by boat for the ceremony.

“We had a little service on their pontoon boat and spread her ashes and felt we couldn’t have been luckier,” said George. “The people who took us out were absolutely fantastic and they treated us like they had known us forever and even gave us a tour of the camp.”

Shirley and Sandy were close friends in middle school, but their friendship developed even more in high school. Although Shirley did not attend Camp Maqua, Sandy’s friend Dixie Maxwell went with her and has since died, also. Shirley also described her best friend as a fish but said she was very easy to get along with.

“It was the circle of life,” said George. “Those were the happiest days of her life. It was the biggest thrill for her to swim in Loon Lake and spend time with the other girls in the little cabins.”

Maggie LeDoux had a friend who passed away that had attended camp. She bought a book of camp songs from Restoration Hardware and sang them to her while she was ill, along with photos from camp. Cynthia Gregory was also at a funeral for a fellow camper and discovered at the wake that many of her friends had also camped at Maqua, so they all sang the songs. Kerry Weber had one wish from her camper friend who passed away—for her to share Maqua memories. These stories are reminders of how lasting the Maqua experience was for many young girls.

A few years ago, one of our beautiful Maqua residents, Sandy West, passed away from ALS. Those who loved her boated out on Loon Lake and spread her ashes over the water, as one of her favorite songs was played. I’m quite certain these traditions won’t be the last from our friends.

A Well-Organized Camp

Published on by Kathy Baker

Barb Ballor was eight years old when she first attended Camp Maqua. “It fostered kindness to others. I was so sad when it was no longer a camp. It was such a well-organized camp. There was a camp nurse in attendance. Older girls were encouraged to help. And the staff were careful not to let the boys from the boy’s camp too close,” she said. “Everyone had fun!”

“Camp Maqua, that lovely spot just north of Hale, Michigan, is a place where one can be at her best,” stated a newspaper article from June 1929. “ It is the place away from the complex grind of everyday things—almost a fairyland. A blue lake nestled among silver birch trees; comfortable huts and a cozy lodge; joy of creating things with one’s own hands; joy of being natural; friendships that are sacred; all of these things dear to the hearts of real lovers of nature are found at Camp Maqua.”

“I liked my counselors and everyone at the camp. They were very good to us. They accepted everyone and always appeared to be fair and impartial. I never remember anyone, even the cooks, becoming angry or impatient or ever raising their voice. They were exemplary models of good behavior, said Janet Dixon, of her camping years during the early fifties.”

“The camp was very well organized and very well run. The staff knew how to keep children busy and out of trouble. I liked the regimentation, but it was because it was tempered with variety, choices, and enough free time. I loved learning new things, and, especially, the chance to taste independence. I don’t know how they did it but I know they did it well! in 62 years, I have never forgotten my experiences there.”

Hut five was interviewed in August 1950 and the girl’s answers were published in a copy of the “Loon”, “What do you think of Camp Maqua?” and the comments ranged from “Camp Maqua is worth saving because it is educational”, “You can’t compare Camp Maqua with any other camp because Camp Maqua is the best”, “Camp Maqua is more fun than any other camp I’ve been to”.

“It’s a great camp. You learn many new activities and you have the opportunity to meet other girls,” wrote Jean Jahnke, who was the reporter and was from Bay City. She said she wanted to tell those who had been there before and the ones that were there for the first time that they made the camp what it was and the counselors did a “swell job”.

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Sadness For End Of Camp

Published on by Kathy Baker

 

 

 

Camp meant freedom from family, the chance to make new friends and the opportunity to learn new skills often not offered at home. For many girls who did not experience the pang of homesickness, leaving camp held true sadness.

For Harriet Crumb, it was the best experience! “You can see I loved it. In 1929 I went for one week—to take and pass the tests for my American Red Cross Life Saving badge. I was a big girl then, of course, and the next summer when I couldn’t go at all, I thought the world had come to an end. Other girls seemed to be able to take it or leave it, but from the first I was hooked and in some form have enjoyed camping ever since.”

Sue Augustyniak lived in Bllomfield Hills and camped 1962-68 at Maqua. “Our parents wanted us to become independent and they encouraged up. We felt like we could do anything. We mastered skills. We expected to do well and we did. Saying goodbye on the last day was always a sad day.”

Kim Moore was nine years old when she attended Camp Maqua for the first time in 1967 and continued every summer until she turned fifteen when she ended her camp career as a kitchen aide. “It was a huge part of my life—one of the best parts of my life. I would cry at the end of the session because I didn’t want to go home. I felt so grown up at camp and so safe and independent.”

“There was a two-week block in July when I went to camp and loved it,” said Kathy Butsch, who was ten in 1968 when she first attended and camped until 1974. “I was always sad and depressed to leave camp because I was leaving all my new best friends”

“One cherished memory for me,” said Judith Moore, assistant director in 1970-71, “was the sight of the young campers making friends and bonding throughout the two-week period, so sad to leave each other at the end. They too had an experience for the first time and it was very emotional. There were those who waited so anxiously for their parents to arrive for pick up and it was always obvious to me which parents had a special bond with their girls. These young campers had an adventure that asked that they survive without their usual family support and develop these skills. Remarkable when I think about it.”

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Why I Did Not Return To Camp #4

Published on by Kathy Baker

Families members passed away and families moved, so those events affected the decisions of girls to return to camp. Others had to earn money instead of camping, and then some were fortunate enough to take advantage of other opportunities with travel.

Jane McKinley attended camp 1956, 1957, and 1959, but her parents moved to Portland, Oregon in 1958, so she missed that summer. She had her first flying experience when she returned the following summer, and it was the first time she had ever flown on her own. She stayed with the Utter family until she went to camp and to this day wishes her sister, who was ten years younger, had taken the opportunity to attend Camp Maqua.

“I was the youngest of five, but the only one to go to camp,” said Rosemary Orgren (1956-58). “My friends were at camp. They were my tribe. It was probably helpful because I was shy through high school and college. It was good to be in an environment where you either curled up in a ball or you were friendly. It was a good time for girls. It was good for me and I felt like all the experiences were also good. My parents moved me in the seventh grade to Detroit, and I don’t remember any particular reason why I didn’t go back. I guess I felt I had outgrown it.”

As one of the youngest campers in 1965 at the age of eight, Debbie Tweedie camped long enough to become a C.I.T. and left only when her family moved. Gretchen Jacques, attended as a young teen from 1952-55, and made it to C.I.T. status, but for some reason lost interest.

Kimela Peck was eight in 1966 and attended for eight more years and despite her desire to become a counselor, felt the need as an only child to earn money and go on to college. Her father died when she was six and her mother was raising her on her own.

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