Activities and Sports

Camp As A Confidence Builder–

Published on by Kathy Baker

 

Whether it was gaining confidence, being nurtured for the first time, or learning new skills in activities unknown to young girls before their arrival at camp, Maqua always had a reputation for their incredible staff leadership from the top down.

“Camp was all about confidence in terms of getting along with people,” said Elaine Engibous (left). (1961-63) “I always wanted to go over my birthday because everyone sang to you and you were a very important person on that day— not just a” run of the mill” camper on your birthday, but special. The camping experience was the opening of an exciting time, where I never hesitated to take advantage of some new adventure. I learned to share. I learned that counselors knew what careers they wanted to do—architects, nurses, and it was all okay and you could do anything you wanted to. There were incredible personalities to follow—Beanie, and the counselors.”

“You know, years later I went to Girl’s State and the Lt. Governor’s wife got up to speak about how important politics were. She told us to hold hands with each other and that we would probably never see each other again. At Maqua, we were all treated well and at the wishing boat ceremony, never did we say out loud as we held hands that we would not see each other again. We would write and hope we might see each other and we might think it, but at Girl’s State, they already had us divided!”

For Susan Prieskorn (1966-72), all the exposure to new things at camp developed her confidence in her new skills. “I loved the swimming, camping outdoors, being able to cook outside and develop athleticism in an era when girls were doing more than cheerleading! It was cool to be athletic.”

Her sister Cara, (1966-71) paid little attention to the horses, as she had one at home, but “class-wise, I always loved archery, riflery, swimming, and all the waterfront activities. I know that when you did distance swimming, the miles would be posted on the board by the waterfront. I would swim for an hour and post a mile, but I’m pretty sure it wasn’t a mile. I worked hard for my sharpshooter badge. I still swim and shoot as an adult and I think camp taught me some practical things like how to start a fire, use an ax and identify poison ivy leaves.”

Connie Cruey (left) loved the camaraderie of the sleeping cabins in the fifties that helped her form new friendships away from her existing friends in other cabins. She loved being involved in everything from horseback riding to swimming. Her goal was to make it to the raft and she succeeded. She ended up working at camps in college, teaching others to swim, while she worked on her degree in Physical Education at C.M.U. To this day, she still does laps in the pool three days a week.”

Camp Maqua was a very positive leadership experience for Kathy Hall (1966-71). She retired from marketing, but during her career in non-profits working in the community, she felt that camp helped her develop her spirit and drive. “I liked giving back,” said Kathy, who earned the Athena award and many other international leadership awards, including the YWCA. “Maqua was a happy camp, which was a mind-altering experience for me.”

“Everybody I talked to about camp thought it was special,” said Audrey Graff (below) (1948). “It was life-changing and Maqua was not an ordinary camp. I was a counselor in college at another camp, but it was not the same experience.  There was something intangible about Maqua—a feeling of community and interrelationships.”

 

 

 

Judith Moore– Camp Influence

Published on by Kathy Baker

Judith Moore’s (center front row) stay at Maqua was only two years—1970 and 1971, as an assistant director to Barb Haggart, “catching, fielding, and doing whatever had to be done for Beanie.” She had played sports at Western Michigan University with Sue Wiegand, Nancy Sautter, and Barb and was recruited from the physical education pool. That first summer was a summer she knew she didn’t have to make much money, since she had just been hired on as a physical education teacher in Sarnia, Ontario for a real job in the fall.

“My experience is short, relative to others, just two years and they were the years immediately upon my undergraduate attainment from WMU. I had a teaching job in the upcoming fall, so was talked into going to camp, with no prior experience as a camper or counselor. But, the PE degree would help. It was an amazing experience for me personally as I grew tremendously as a person. So, camp for me was about friendships and personal growth.”

“At camp I honed my leadership and organizational skills, learned to assume responsibility, learned to work with young campers and all their needs for being away from home. I learned that risk management skills were essential to all and came to understand the HUGE responsibility that had been entrusted to the leadership for about 100 campers and 30 counselors. (A very scary thought as I look back.)”

“Facilitating the counselors and their roles, planning and coordinating programs, and finding new enthusiasm after a long hot day for all was essential. Camp management was very integrated and required daily management skills that I was learning on the fly. Really, there was no support system to assist those of us who led—none! We were young 20-25-year-olds making it happen.  Just the quality of the people that were there, despite no directives from the “Y”, made me realize there were enough traditions and foundations to build upon.”

“I have one daughter that went to camp for about 6-8 years as a camper and later as a counselor. She still laughs and talks about it. It is a special time for the young campers for sure. I am bound that I will pay for the camping experience for any grandchildren that I may have, it is that important to me.”

“There is another part of this experience that was valuable. As a young woman graduate, the opportunities for me were not the same as young men at that time. This was pre Title Nine. All the counselors had on the job training for leadership as a result of Maqua. I am only guessing but would think that they are or have been leaders in their lives. They gained confidence, honed management, and organizational skills, learned empath, developed a work ethic and actually felt responsibility. These are very important skills in life. Mentoring was alive!”

Judy found her niche in athletics as the Director of Physical Education for the University of Waterloo and through her sports, brought her field hockey teams to six different Olympics. She coached field hockey, continuing the leadership role as a mentor in sports, as well as commentating for the broadcasts.

Maqua remained a cornerstone for her growth. “What a playground it was for me to practice my leadership skills. I attribute my introduction to my career to the leadership and savvy experiences I gained at Maqua,” said Judy. “It turned out being at camp was everything it could be for me. It was rich, meaningful fun. It was a rich group of like-minded people feeding each other and it was very empowering.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Boys Have Arrived!

Published on by Kathy Baker

Only one summer and two weeks at Maqua, but Mark Blumenthal had the distinction of being in the last group of campers to attend the camp before it closed permanently. It was the summer of 1978 and Dave McEvers had scheduled his cross-country team to utilize the camp and its  great surroundings for the team practices. His group were post-session, but the summer of 1978 had co-ed sessions.

“It was the summer between my 17th and 18th year. I remember staying in the wood- sided cabins with the bunk beds down the hill from the lodge. We would run Loon Lake, eat breakfast, hang out and eat lunch before our speed work in the afternoon. I think our high school added two girls to the team that year, but I only recall one at camp and I don’t know where they put her,” he laughed. “That summer we invited our rivals to come up to practice with us, which was probably unwise, as they bested us in regionals that year.”

Mark said the horses were there and the rowboats were still at the waterfront. The team did some swimming while they were at camp, but he learned to skim board on the flat shallow beach. There was time to also go into Tawas to the movies and play volleyball, but most of the equipment was put away.

The camp store was closed, but the boys could see camp tee shirts (white with green trim and the logo on it), so someone opened it and he still has the shirt. What he wished he had was the recipe for the pizza burgers the cook made them the summer he spent at camp! (He also has memories of listening to Bill Cosby comedy albums while they played board games in the lodge until lights out.)

The other male camper, besides staff, interviewed was Matthew Prieskorn. (His was mother is Geraldine Prieskorn, and sisters are Cara Prieskorn, Susan Prieskorn, and Rebecca Prieskorn—and all attended Maqua.

Matthew’s mother Geraldine, who had attended Camp Maqua in 1942, forced Matthew to go to camp the year it was co-ed in 1976 at the age of twelve. Unlike Mark, he was in the regular sessions. He hated it, didn’t know a soul, and left after a week. It was his first time away from home. His memories include one canoe trip, which was rained out and a pretty cool sail on the lake. He left without keeping in touch with any of his cabin mates.

What do you recall of the first arrival of the boys?

 

 

 

 

 

Families Who Felt Like Camp Was Theirs–Marney Watson

Published on by Kathy Baker

INTERVIEW WITH MARNEY WATSON 

Sister of Stewart Watson and daughter of William and Alma Watson

“My folks made a trip to California after my father retired as a carpenter and when he returned to Bay City in 1951 or 1952, he applied for the job as caretaker of Maqua and they hired him,” said Marney. “That started an adventure for our family for the next sixteen years. As far as I know, they had never hired caretakers, but they felt like they needed them. My Dad was the kind of man who loved to surprise his employers with whatever he was working on, so they could see how well it could be done. It would be his glory to do a great job and it was the way he approached every job.”

“My parents would start in the early spring and we would help them with the big jobs, even though they always told us they didn’t need any help. My sister and brother and all our kids would help with the cleaning. If the varnish was fading, my Dad would scrape the whole floor and re-varnish. He loved to surprise the counselors. He worked so hard.”

“In the fall we would empty the cabins and the mattresses were stored in two metal lined buildings, where we would pile them up to the ceiling so the critters wouldn’t get into them,” she said. “ We didn’t like to see them doing all the work by themselves, so we told them if we can bring our three kids up and stay in the lodge, then we would help them. We would stay there for two weeks and get the camp all closed up.”

“They were good kids and were close in age, so they never squabbled and were content to play outside. In the evenings, we would light a fire in the big fireplace and sing songs, play games, and roast marshmallows. We played the ribbon game, but I guess you have never heard of that.”

“Sometimes my Mom made homemade cinnamon rolls. My sister and I would dream up a hunt for the kids with a prize at the end. We went ahead and tied the cinnamon rolls in a cloth with a knot and the end result was the cinnamon rolls were the prize. We mostly worked, but we had fun, too,” said ninety-five year old Marney. “It was a special place.”

“My Mom made the curtains, cleaned the cupboards, varnished and painted and she was never the one to be idle. She put the woman’s touch on the camp. My husband was an electrician, so he helped with that. My brother built the fountain and my Dad was good with carpentry and all that needed to be fixed.”

“My daughter Marilyn and her cousins would take and sit in a rowboat on the water for hours. They spent time fishing and all were big fishermen. Back then they caught mostly Trout, but back in Maqua time, the Walleye were thick. These years I think the Walleye are fished out.”

“We loved swimming and so did our children. They had learned at the state park because we lived by the bay here, but the found new strokes at Maqua. They loved walking through the woods. We would look for trilliums, wild violets and wild raspberries. “

“I always thought the wealthier kids were the ones that went to Camp Maqua, but I know there were many from Ohio. There were no inland lakes in Ohio, so many of the counselors came up to Maqua. I know my Mom and Dad heard from counselors year after year. On the weekends of registration, they would plan a cookout and have home cooking with things like fried potatoes,” said Marney. “They always tried to do nice things for the counselors.”

Marney remembered Dutton was the place the director would stay and there was an outhouse with a path from Dutton. Her parents would stay in the lodge until the holidays, living in kitchen with the rest of the house basically closed off. She remembered buying them an electric blanket, but the roads were not good, especially in the spring when they turned muddy, so the Watsons would have to stay with Marney.

Marney’s sister Eleanor and her husband created “Deer Acres” and nephew Roger sold it to a pharmacist. The figures were carved by Eleanor.

 

Hut Happenings–

Published on by Kathy Baker

From the fifties to the seventies, the “Loon” newsletter included the activities each session from each hut. Each cabin would contribute a few sentences, and the compilation of the different years added up to a diary (of sorts ) for the camp experience.

There was backwards day, tin can stove making on the rifle range, a banquet with entertainment, a historical parade and bragging rights from Hut 7 in 1950 when the entire cabin earned their blue caps in swimming. One hut hosted a fortune telling booth at the camp carnival in the lodge during another session that summer, while another had the distinction of having no Bay City girls in their hut.

There were cracker box sessions, where you could ask the counselor anything, and pennants for neat tables, hours of canasta on rainy days, scavenger hunts and marshmallow roasts. Girls bemoaned the fact they couldn’t get fires started on their cookstoves, or laughed when they had to sidestep cows on the path to Hale Park for their outing.

Some huts that summer bragged about the fact they all took tap dancing or arrived on the same bus to camp. Others were sad that their frogs did not win the frog contest, due to not being in top shape. Rain spoiled some activities, but inside the chains were finished for the Christmas in July tree. Jean Robinson’s mother had a cake sent up for her birthday to share with her cabin mates, and Jan Mosier and Shirley Miller won prizes for being the best dressed babies on Baby Night.

Gab sessions, tales of the Moms who attended, singing, hut rearranging, and gossip about the girls who were on a diet, counselors who missed their beaus and the girls who fell asleep early were topics in the newsletters. The girls wrote about how well they made friends and how energetic and contented they were.

In 1951 two campers from a hut had to have shots at the doctor’s office and when they stepped outside one of their friends was spotted riding a spotted black and white mare named Belle! One hut never had to get acquainted with each other, as they already knew each other! Others wrote of eating dinner in their canoes. Another hut had seven counselors in training—Ann Gunn, Pat O’Tool, Pat Parsons, Karen Temple, Jean Robinson and Judy Miller—all involved in creating the 16-18 ft. birch front gate sign.

Hut 9 had a “Hate Hut 9 Day” in which they said nothing but nasty things to each other, followed by a “Love Hut 9 Day”, where they expressed nice things. One hut in 1952 could not get over their counselor nonchalantly picking up spiders. Hut 2 laughed about going home with Texas accents with Chris as their counselor, while Hut 10’s claim to fame was three CIT’s—Nan O’Tool, Marsha Immerman and Shirley Blunden.

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Sentimental Saves—

Published on by Kathy Baker

Many of the special memories from camp were preserved in copies of the “Loon” from the beginning years at camp. Not only were there many copies in the Bay City YWCA archives, but campers saved them and many donated them for reference for the history. Along with the little newsletters, photos from camp (both professional and personal) were saved in albums and many of the girls to this day cannot part with them.

Gail Schultheiss (1966) saved many mementoes, including the brochure that would arrive every year to the campers. Nancy Keeler (1973-74) is still in possession of her newsletters, diary entries, photos and ribbons. Coleen Gasta has her autograph books of all her cabinmates from the early sixties. Carol Wahl (1974-75) has her rock with “Camp Maqua 1974) painted on it and a piece of driftwood. Sue Michelson (1963-73) says her camp rock goes everywhere with her. (“If I move, it moves with me,” she laughed.)

While Karen Magidsohn (1965+) was interviewing with me, she was pulling memoribila from her drawer with excitement, remembering how much she loved her arts and crafts at camp. In her hands was the little decoupage box she had kept and used all these years, and tucked inside was the jewelry from her Mom and the leather bracelet she made at camp.

Having always been a sentimental saver, she finally found all her old photos, brochures, award ribbons and the lifesaving books signed by her instructors from 1968-71. She also saved copies of her “Swim and Stay Fit” program, which logged each segment of her laps to track her progress.

Jane Linder (1956) saved her marksman’s bars from riflery and Kimela Peck (1966-74) saved her medals and certificates from archery and riflery, as did many of the women who shared their stories.

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