Cabin Life

Co-ed Dynamics–

Published on by Kathy Baker

The dynamics changed for Mardi Jo Link (1973-78) when Camp Maqua turned co-ed. “I never felt threatened, if anything I had a lot of friends. That time helped me form my open mindedness as a young woman with all girls around, but it went away when the boys arrived. No one felt as comfy anymore. There was an easiness to having all girls around.”

“Maqua was always my escape from the real world. When it went co-ed, it seemed like it was just like the rest of the world, even though I did have my first boyfriend at Camp Maqua when I was fifteen. Those camping years coincided with my teen years, but it certainly didn’t have the same vibes when it was co-ed. It wasn’t that” Women Can Do Anything” camp anymore. When it was just girls, it made me feel like my life was like a blank slate. I had ownership of my own life. Those years gave me a sense of permanence. Camp was really important to me. There were so many opportunities. I could ask for help and I could also help others. It was a place to show your best talents, regardless of your skills. It was a place you could be a story teller, an artist, a counselor and it was just a happy place for me.”

“I was at camp for seven years, starting when I was seven (as probably one of the youngest campers) until the year it was co-ed, “said Kellie Moore (1970-77). “Our cabin of girls that year was probably the oldest campers at the time and we were not eager to change our ways, so we spent (or were sent) off to “Primi” most of that last summer. I often wonder why they had to invite the boys!”

The girls ended up sleeping in the army tent on the raised platform off in the woods and cooked many of their own meals out there, hung out by themselves and walked to Hale Park or into town to buy candy. “We liked to do the tricks and with the boys there, it was just different. We weren’t willing to change. There were six or eight of us and we felt this sense of entitlement. We had earned our privileges as older campers and they expected us to do things a different way. It was not terrible, but we were always getting punished for our pranks. They would make us clean our cabins or some restrictions when we ran our bras up the flagpole. At that age we were really not that much into the guy dynamic and we were not happy to be part of the camp.”

Amy Johns (1967-78) was also there for the transition and agreed the dynamics changed and she hated the name change to Camp Maquois. “When there was the introduction of boys, there was all this drama about relationships. It was stressful. I think that it ruined it when the boys came into a camp that was all about girls and their relationships.  Turning co-ed meant a downturn to me. It did not become more popular. It trended downward overall. Camp changed over time, the world changed and we did, too. To me, Maqua was about the girls experience year after year.”

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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—The William Evans Family

Published on by Kathy Baker

Delphine Evans was hired as the director for Camp Maqua for the summer of 1976 and was in the unique postion of directing with her two children Melinda and Billy living on the premises. Her husband William, a lawyer with the state, managed to drive up on weekends and help out with camp duties, while doing his own legal work in between. Delphine wrote;

“After accepting the position, we agreed that my children could go to camp with me and that instead of hiring 3 kitchen aides, I would hire
four and they would rotate between working in kitchen and watching the children.  (I would reimburse the “Y” for the salary of one of the kitchen aides)”

“The kids and I lived in the lodge and that seemed to work quite well.  I could be part of the evening activities and the after hours staff gatherings without worrying about the kids.  I remember the staff as being a hard working cohesive group with no major conflicts or issues-rare among camp staffs!”

“My first session at camp has been one of the most enjoyable ones I have ever spent as a director. Who will ever forget our 1950’s party and all the great costumes? Then the fourth of July brought us parades, campfires and Chris as the Maqua monster. All the campers up here were happy and excited about camp and I really hope to see all of you next week, or if not, then back next summer”, wrote Delphine in the “Loon”.

Billy and Melinda were interviewed the summer they stayed at camp and were featured in a copy of the “Loon” in 1976, presumably to Mary Toburen, who was the assistant at that time. What a wonderful summer the two siblings must have had, enjoying camp with the other kids!

Under the heading “Infirmary” Melinda dictated, “ First we came and moved in and then we went to see what the waterfront looked like. Next we looked at the lodge and everything else at camp. Then we had to go home again with Daddy. When we came back the staff was already here and the campers were going to be coming soon. Our first day we went swimming and got into area two. After the campers came, we started doing lots of things—like arts and crafts and playing all different kinds of games. The four kitchen aides are our babysitters and we have lots of fun every day. I think that camp is really good.”

Billy’s interview was just as delightful—“First we came up, then we looked around camp and we decided to go to the lodge. Then we went home for five days before coming back. On Sunday, the campers came and we played games. The next day camp started. We started doing all kinds of stuff, like arts and crafts and swimming. We had a big bonfire on the fourth of July. The people left to go canoeing and biking. We get to sing songs and have toasts at every meal. Our babysitters are Mary, Mo, Judy and Sue. They are K.A.’s.”

 

 

 

 

Families Who Felt Like Camp Was Theirs–Marilyn Watson

Published on by Kathy Baker

 

Marilyn, (daughter of Marney, granddaughter of William and Alma Watson) was eight or nine years old when her grandparents took over the care and maintenance of Maqua. “It was a super playground that we enjoyed at the end of summer in late August,” she said. “We used the canoes, rowboats, and swam out off the docks to the raft. We stayed in the lodge and the kids used the bunk beds in the bedrooms that faced the lake. Grandpa taught us to fish. He would throw down the anchor and we would fish Loon Lake. I have such fond childhood memories of all that.”

“We would ride in the old truck down the rutted roads with our grandfather and talk. He taught me to take the steep hills walking by taking three steps and inhaling and three steps and exhaling, so I wouldn’t run out of breath. While he was taking care of the buildings, we would help him move the mattresses and store them in two metal buildings, and take the garbage to Durham farm to feed to the pigs. The truck was a big old truck that was dark with old wood panels. He was really excited when he got a new truck. I think the sides rolled up on that old truck,” said Marilyn.

“We would do our own thing. If I was visiting, I would just tag along. I remember the homes all along the lakefront and when we got a motorboat, we would visit friends on the north end of the lake. There were loons on the lake and we were always aware of them.”

“My folks came down to stay with me in the winter, if they weren’t house sitting for people in Hale,” she said.

 

Maqua Declares War–

Published on by Kathy Baker


“One of the years I think some of the pranks got out of hand with the boys from Camp Mahn-go-tah-see. We had never had any official activities with them, but this one summer there was a mixer, so we got to know some of the boys. We would wave to them when we saw them on the lake and there was some pranking back and forth. One day we got a call on the phone, with the question of what would ten pounds of molasses do to our horses, so while we were at the stables checking, they showed up at the lodge and tee-peed the place, I think Carol  Nieman thrived on it, personally, “said Betsy Falvey (1968-75). “She was single, and flattered by the attention since she was young. But, all I could think of was how much work my Mom had done to raise money to keep the lodge and camp going and if it was going to get damaged. I was probably overly-sensitive.”

The banner at the heading of the “Loon” spelled “WAR” in huge letters. “On July 17, 1975, the sovereign and free, peace-loving land of Mahn-go-tah-see served upon Camp Maqua a declaration of war. This was not our first tangle with Mahn-go, but one of many”, the article continued.

“According to the declaration of war, Maqua was the camp that gave cause for the war to be declared. How? Well, on July 13, when some “young ambassadors” from Mahn-go entered our territorial waters, the declaration states that Maqua ambushed their “mere lads”. But, we say these men have nerve calling themselves “mere lads”. They are no more mere than we mere gals, and we know they are not mere. Therefore, these guys should own up to the fact that they came over here looking for some action, and we gave it to them.”

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Pranks Between Two Camps–

Published on by Kathy Baker

“We loved to torment the boys across the lake,” laughed Geraldine Folkert (1942-47). “Every year we would paddle over and take their canoes, so they would have to paddle our boats back over to get theirs. We never really had any social outings with them, but I think some of the counselors used to mix with them.”

“We did little cabin pranks every summer, but by far the best prank was paddling over to Mahn-go-tah-see and escaping with their war canoe,” laughed Cindy Knapp (1968+). “We decorated it, renamed it the S.S. Maqua, covered it with shaving cream and seaweed. We were so proud of ourselves. Thankfully, we didn’t get into too much trouble.”

Judith Moore, assistant director, agreed that there were no organized mixers when she was at camp in 1970 and 1971, but also agreed the boys could get up to no good in the evenings, but never anything serious.

Carol Wahl (1974-75) loved that they never got caught when they took the big canoe, which could handle most of the staff, and paddled across the lake to the boys’ 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.”

“It was always tantalizing knowing the boys were across the lake,” said Pamela Hartz (1966-75), but for the staff, there were patrols to make sure the boys were not in Maqua. Shelley Harris (1965-75) recalled a whistle system for alerting when boys were in camp. Since Hut 5 was elevated, they could crawl under and knock on the floors to scare the girls.

“At night we could hear all the noises outside the cabin and when we were in Senior Village, we would do patrol or guard duty around the camp to check to make sure everyone was in their cabins and all was well,” said Chris Lambert (1958-65). “We were never worried about animals, but we were worried about the guys across the lake. One night we chased some of them and came pretty close to catching one, but he ran up Chapel Hill and made it to the property outside the camp. Good thing we didn’t get a hold of him,” she laughed. “He would have been a mess.”

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