Accidents and Illnesses

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.

Why I Did Not Return To Camp #1

Published on by Kathy Baker

Many girls made a summer tradition of returning to Maqua, beginning at an early age, and aging out when they could no longer qualify. For others, it was not enough to be a camper, they aspired to be counselors, which extended their camp careers until college and beyond. Many just quit going and the reasons were as varied as their personalities!

“My Mom grew up in Bay City and she was a camper and a junior counselor. There is a photo somewhere of her with my Dad (when they were dating) on the lake. I went for two weeks the first time and after that, it was all summer,” said Cara Prieskorn (1966-71). “Susan, my Mom and I could never figure out why Matt and Becca didn’t like it as we did. My theory is that after they moved into the big house, the two of them didn’t want to leave their big house with their own rooms and bathrooms to go to an old camp.”

“I finally figured out my parents were taking really nice vacations while we were all at camp, so while my sisters were at Maqua and my brother was at Mahn-go-tah-see, they were off somewhere having fun without us,” said Julie Hutchins (1960). “I only went to Maqua one week that one summer and the rest of the time I was on vacation with my parents while my sisters were at camp! Years later when we all looked at the photo albums, my siblings wondered where I was in some of the photos, and I would say which state it was, and then remind them they were at camp.”

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From Alcohol To Drugs—

Published on by Kathy Baker

“I remember one year there was a girl with the last name of Polk and we got her really drunk and she had a bad reaction to the alcohol,” said Mardi Jo Link (1973-78). “We had to walk her around so she wouldn’t pass out. We were so afraid and said, “Oh, God, I hope we haven’t killed her”. She was only fifteen. I can’t remember who bought it, but I was a willing participant. I know the director caught wind of it and called our parents. Now, my parents were really straight-laced. My Dad was a Principal at the time, I think. They were horrified. I was supposed to stay at camp the entire summer and they wanted me home. I begged to stay and they finally gave in.”

Mardi’s friend Michele Patterson (1971-76) was in training to become a C.I.T. and recalled the same incident. One of the girls bought a bottle of Boone’s Farm and off they went to drink. One of the girls was unknowingly allergic to alcohol and went into convulsions and sick enough to have an ambulance. There was disciplinary action taken, but Michele was not one of the girls drinking. One set of parents pulled the girl out of camp and brought her home. Michele recalled it was traumatic with the ambulance, but the girls never really had any trouble at Maqua.

Unaware that pot smoking was going one, the counselors during Michele’s time never discovered the girls who were experimenting, and again Michele was not part of that activity. “We were there for the whole summer being trained for counselors and there was always game playing going on. Capture the flag, where you would hide in the woods. We would all laugh because two of my friends were always gone and no one could find them, but we knew what they were doing.”

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Eek! Snakes! Lizards!

Published on by Kathy Baker

220px-boa_constrictor_eques_bonte_pl04The girls either learned to have an appreciation for snakes or they left camp still hating them. Maureen Moore (1968-70) learned to appreciate snakes during her trips to the nature hut, but, some girls played with them at camp and later developed a fear, like Karen Magidsohn (1965) or Barb Krohn (1970-72), who just avoided the nature activities.

In Valerie Monto’s (1964-68) neighborhood, there were many empty lots that were not developed, filled with bees and garter snakes. “We were city kids, but not inexperienced with nature. I would pick up garter snakes by the tail and was not afraid. I remember one girl was so freaked out by even seeing them.”

Diane Dudley (1957-63) learned her lesson when she wanted to see what was down inside a log, so she stuck her hand in and came up with a snake bite, featuring three holes on her finger! Carla Wilhelm (1945-49) was taken by surprise when a garter snake bit her, because she had no idea snakes could bite!

Cindy Rose (1968-70) had a vivid memory of standing on a path at Maqua watching a snake eat a frog and that very same scene was a bad memory for Jan Mosier (1947-52). She watched a counselor feed frogs to the snakes and was horrified as the frog slithered down inside the snake’s body.

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Strays and Pets—

Published on by Kathy Baker

2afb7b0a00000578-3180558-image-a-11_1438320338658Chipmunks—those cute little critters that scamper around the camp like little adorable pets—but can create such damage! Randi Wynne-Parry was totally obsessed with them while she was camping 1969-73, and still owns her fuzzy, faded photos of the chipmunks she fed.

Chipmunks would find their way into the huts and create havoc. “One morning we went to breakfast and when we came back, our hut had been ransacked by a chipmunk! We couldn’t figure out how it got in and we couldn’t figure out how it got out, but it made a disaster! We were petrified,” said Brooke Sauve (1949-51), who is still afraid of animals to this day.

Sally Allen (1968-73) felt just the opposite. She loved the nature hut and all the critters. “We were able to get up close and personal with the chipmunks and squirrels. They were captured humanely and let go after two weeks,” she said of the snakes, frog and turtles.

“Those little guys sounded like a herd of elephants in the morning as they crunched the leaves, and we could not sleep through it,” said Carol Wahl (1974-75) of the chipmunks.

Of course, there were samples of nature that were not as large, but brought much interest to the girls. Nature itself was the classroom, as paper wasps’ nests and cocoons from moths and butterflies came under scrutiny, with the intent not to harm them or get stung in the process.

Tricia Sautter recalled a little camper in her second year (1969) who caught a baby bird and it was covered in lice. “When she brought it to the nature center, the whole place had to be fumigated by a company that sealed it up and set off a big “bug bomb”.

“The Farm”, by Brad Funk, was the title of an article in the “Loon” in the late seventies’. “Wednesday, the 6th of July, Maquois started a farm they hope to have finished by the end of the week. Our first animal to join the farm is a goat by the name of Billy. He is presently kept at the nature hut. We hope to have a pen for him at the old horse stable. Also, we hope to add some other kinds of animals, such as a bull calf, two ducks, one rabbit, one pig, two guinea pigs and a pony.”

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Load and Fire!

Published on by Kathy Baker

 

Riflery was held in a “covered car part building”, which contained seven mattresses and the target was a backboard fifty feet ahead of the lean-to. The building had been enlarged and moved in 1950, due to the proximity of the range to the cottages. (It is unclear where the shooting range was located during earlier years, but there were archival photos of riflery classes.)

According to Linda Lee Harp’s 1969 directors’ reports, there were only seven guns, so only seven could attend class at one time. The guns were in a riflery cabinet that was locked at all times. The camp charged seven cents a round, which bought a round of five cartridges, so the girls knew not to charge up too high, knowing it was going on their store bill.

The safety procedures in place included a red flag to let anyone in the area know that shooting was in progress. The horse trail ran past the range and firing had to cease when the riders went through.The correct way to hold a gun, how to site in, and the positions were taught, as well as the certificate process. Each student moved at their own rate according to their mastery of their guns and the director and her assistant kept good records for certification.

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