Activities and Sports

Hunts, Captures and Elves–

Published on by Kathy Baker

92e496f841cd77b903d37c58319b6865The A-Z Scavenger Hunt in 1947 utilized a paper bag, white paper and a crayon with the directions for collecting items from nature with each letter of the alphabet. (Usually q,u, x, y and z were difficult, ( “But to my amazement,”  noted the “Loon”,”Cabin B did get all of them!~ Many of the girls came up with the argument that everything came from nature in the beginning and as a biology major I agree, but for purposes here, it must be nature as we find it out of doors or on their person.”)

On Monday the juniors had a scavenger hunt and the hut winners received camp stickers. They had to find a purple sweater, ten empty bullet cartridges, a striped sock, an Eversharp pen, a snail shell, a bar of Lux soap, a piece of green Kleenex, a picture of Guy Madison (actor), a signature of someone over twenty, a four leaf clover, a flowered kerchief, a yellow flower, a nail, a piece of flowered stationary, an out of state letter, an ID bracelet, an orange pencil, and a needle and blue thread.

Every year had its own brand of activities, either dreamed up by the program/activity director, or a tradition that had been passed down through the ages. In 1950, the “Loon” noted there was a fashion show, backwards day, talent scouts, story telling, a P.J. party, and a scavenger hunt.

Geraldine McDonald camped in 1954. “There were several parties in there. I remember one where they blindfolded us and we had to stick our hands into the bag and guess what was in there. I felt slimy worms or nightcrawlers in the bag, but it was really just spaghetti. There were skits and scavenger hunts that started in the main lodge. We had to hunt for these treasures and it was all about nature. We had everything, except the lightning bug, so one of the girls put on a white shirt and we tucked a lit flashlight up her shirt!”

Judy Crissey also camped in 1954 and loved the scavenger hunts. “We had a small group and followed all the clues, all outdoors, of course. I was probably not very good at it, but ii is one of my best memories.”

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Programs and Activities 1947

Published on by Kathy Baker

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The “Loon” captured the types of activities the campers enjoyed in 1947, but the older scrapbooks had wonderful photos of young campers dressed in gauzy scarves, with fun activities from the twenties’ and thirties’.

The “Evening Program” section started out on Wednesday with games. Paired by twos and armed with slips of paper with articles written on them, the girls had to find the members of the other team with the matching article-((i.e. salt and pepper, pen and ink) The second game consisted of finding as many things in the lodge that started with the letter F. On Thursday, the seniors had a free night and the juniors played the lodge game with the letter S. On Friday, the juniors played games in the lodge while the seniors played baseball, followed by a group singsong around the piano.

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Pow-Wows and Events Under Toni Young

Published on by Kathy Baker

1609788_10202732001933034_204850777022464540_nSpecial events included Worldwide Fellowship, which was celebrated in the first session in conjunction with the 4th of July. On Sunday at the Chapel Hill vespers and services, the series would begin. It was a day set aside for friendship and fellowship on a state and local level.

There was a traditional picnic, but the girls dressed as colonial or famous Americans, which challenged their creativity. Prizes were given for prettiest, most original and funniest. In the evening, the girls were divided into teams in preparation for International Night, which was a Tuesday. France, the Congo, the Netherlands, USA, Argentina, Mexico and Thailand were represented and each “country” dressed accordingly with tables decorated. (The Y sent blue and white placemats.) They made up a song and had an accusation from the World Court, which was similar to the Kangaroo Court. Toni then asked if the girls could share something of themselves, so a fellowship offering was taken up and it was usually the price of an ice cream or candy bar the girls were giving up and donated.

A circus was held second period and each cabin was given a special part. Clowns, acrobats, horses and riders, elephants and trainer, poodles, a circus band, lions, tigers and trainer, tightrope walker and jugglers were represented with costumes. They had Monday night to invent and create and presented their performances on Tuesday with popcorn and punch for snacks.

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Program Director–Toni Young

Published on by Kathy Baker

23505_115400745153606_2925893_nActivity night, cabin night, skits, puppet shows, scavenger hunts, themed parties, races and plays embodied Camp Maqua’s reputation as a happy camp. Program and activity directors were selected for their ability to encompass that fun into programs the girls could enjoy every night of their session.

Toni Young was the only program director whose report in 1966 was in the files at the Bay City YWCA. It was a detailed report and she wrote that she had done most of her planning before camp began. It was a great synopsis of what types of activities were formulated for the campers.

“The heart of each program and its success depended to a great extent on the staff, so the planning was not completed until I knew the staff and was able to recognize their talents and their areas of interest and support,” wrote Toni.

It was a hot summer, according to her report, so she substituted free swims and more quiet activities instead of more active programs. Free swim or open house on Sunday night, with snacks every night after the evening activity. The staff was introduced and vespers were conducted with songs, dismissing four cabins after two songs, four more after the next few, etc. There was a friendship circle in Senior Village, followed by bed and “Taps”.

On Mondays and Tuesdays, it was the first all-camp activity. Wednesday was cabin or unit night. Thursday was unit or cabin night—whichever one they did not do the night before. Friday all camp activity, since half the counselors have their time off. Saturday was cabin day and all the other staff took off and the rest do skits.

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Nature Directors 1970-71

Published on by Kathy Baker

When Joan McKinney arrived in 1970, she took an inventory of the nature hut (Dutton) and its equipment, cleaned it and readied during her pre-camp. She described the surroundings as central to all the cabins and by the water, with a front screened-in porch that faced the water. She kept her reptiles and amphibians there, plus the two bird’s nests to be observed. (Phoebe and Robin)

The main room held sixteen to twenty people or two cabins, blackboard, large work room cabinet to store chemicals and paints, bulletin boards, shelves, racks, tools. equipment, chairs and tables. A small back room held a toilet and an unplugged cooler. The second floor was sleeping quarters for unattached staff. She had a little diagram, which indicated a sink in the workroom that faced the road, and “Dorthe’s Island” to the right of Dutton, which was an outdoor nature terrarium that had been built three summers previously.

Joan’s bulletin boards featured “Animals Around Us” with photos of reptiles, birds and mammals and specimens and explanations of pressed leaves and photos of trees. She conducted nature contests each session, tree identification of twenty-five trees, and competitions between the cabins. Her prizes included penny candy and nature ribbons at the closing ceremonies.

There was also a boa constrictor, mice and a Blanding turtle that Joan brought with her, which the campers cared for over the summer, as well as a painted turtle found at camp.  Her father had made a poster on wild flowers entitled “Let them live in your eyes, not die in your hand”, which she thought was appropriate since many of the campers decorated their wishing boats with flowers at the end of the session. Other posters pertained to Smokey the Bear, poison ivy and poison sumac. An assistant was on hand from the first week and they worked together on scheduling lessons and rainy day activities.

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Nature Director-1968

Published on by Kathy Baker

Audrey Delcourt  was a first-year biology major at Albion College in 1968 and had a few classes in her field when she was hired as the Nature Director. She had relatives in northern Michigan, and had often gone up to Oscoda. She saw the sign as she passed through Hale, and her Mom wrote the camp name down. The director came to her house to interview her and that was the beginning of her north woods adventure!

There were no notes left for her to follow, despite the camp having always had a nature studies program. Audrey made charts and used her own interests and knowledge for the program. There were scavenger hunts, where the girls would run around and find plants on lists, including “Lady Slippers”. “They don’t grow everywhere,” she said, “so I told the girls not to pick them.”

Dissection was also on her program and she believed the girls thought it was fascinating. One of the maintenance staff secured a cow’s head and they dissected the eyeballs. There was also an outdoor site, which was a moat with a little island on the side of the nature cabin.

imagesThe second year, Audrey came in as the assistant cook, hoping to try something a little different. “It looked more like perseverance. I got up early for this job. I burned my fingers a few times and decided I needed to change my attitude,” she said. “Then I had fun. Before my attitude change it was just work. I remember bringing my plant press into the kitchen because I needed a heat source to dry my plants. I used a shelf over the huge stove.” (Audrey’s explanation for this fascination was the recent plant course she had at college.)

Audrey received excellent ratings from Dorthe. “Nature went very well this summer. I felt Audrey worked very hard and had planned some new interesting activities for the campers. A great deal of hard work went into the completion of the island started last year. The Nature part of Dutton was always neat and clean at all times and it was a pleasure to visit her classes and observe her in action. She was an asset in many ways to our staff.”

“Audrey was new to Maqua but right right into the spirit of Maqua. She was always interested in the campers and was most effective with them. She ran a good program in Nature and had a variety of activities. She was always on the job and most mature in the way she assumed her responsibilities. She could be called on for extra duty or to help out in the kitchen and she was always a willing worker. She was liked by her co-workers and was indeed an asset to our staff. I found her most cooperative.”

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