Camp Influences

Camp Friendships–

Published on by Kathy Baker


The friendships of camp often began before sessions even started!. Many knew friends from school or had cousins who attended at the same time and numerous women stayed in touch their whole lives after meeting new friends at camp.

Young girls Helen Hasty (1943-50) met at Camp Maqua would go on to become some of the best friends of her life, including Bernie Van Pelt. They shared the same sorority and Helen stood up at Bernie’s wedding. “It was truly a remarkable place. I am so happy my Mom had the foresight to send me there. It enriched my life and played a large part of my growing up years. It was a happy, peaceful place and everyone seemed to get along”,

“Everybody I talked to about camp thought it was special,” said Audrey Graff, who began in 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. It was a wonderful way to spend the summer. I made idyllic friendships and I think the wonderful spirit at Maqua came from the top down. There was always such a spiritual feeling. The whole atmosphere at camp was positive. I had a sister who died of degenerative disease at eight and it had been an agonizing few years. Maybe camp made a difference–to be with happy people, happy counselors—it just added to me having a good time.”

“In sixth grade, Mardi Jo Link and I became inseparable friends, “ said Michele Patterson (1971-76). “ I am mentioned in her book “The Drummond Girls” as Mike, not Michele. I camped every year with her. One parent would drive us up and another parent would pick us up.”

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Camp As A Family Tradition–

Published on by Kathy Baker

Aside from the wonderful experiences and skills the girls learned at camp, many were so enamored with their adventures, they made sure their kids attended a camp.

“Camp was definitely one of my top life highlights and memories that I have ever done, “ said sixties camper Holly Foss. “It was always the highlight of my year and I cried when I had to leave. There was so much bonding and it was a fun escape from living, just being outdoors and laughing so much. It was an absolute joy.”

“The confidence factor, not from the survival but the skills I learned—like sailing and canoeing and the backpack trips. I would never have done that otherwise. There was a sense of accomplishment. It is hard to know whether I would have felt that if I had not gone to camp. The girls made lifelong friendships. I know if there was a reunion right now that I would be instantly back to those days with the girls I went to camp with.”

“I live in Colorado now and there is not much of an environment for canoeing or kayaking, but when I am in Michigan, I try to fit that in. My daughter is thirteen and I send her to a Y camp in Michigan and I encourage her to do the overnight trips. I cannot wait for her to come home each summer and share those experiences with me. It is similar to Maqua, and had it been still open, she would be there.”

“I loved the arts and crafts and the decoupage boxes we made in the Craft Hut. We would beat them up and then decoupage them,” said Val Van Laan (1965-70). “I liked the whole experience at camp. Learning to swim, boat, singing “Leaving on a Jet Plane” and “Rise and Shine” with all the hand motions in the lodge. That’s why I sent my kids to camp and why I loved going to the scouting “Mom and Me” camps with them.”

Anne Shutt (1961-66) had one son and two daughters and admitted she tried to find a camp like Maqua to send her children to. One daughter was the assistant director for a Michigan camp for fifteen years. In addition to those lasting days influencing her life, she also continued her love of the outdoors with a cabin on the north branch of the Au Sable in Grayling. After camp, Anne attended an all-girls boarding school and had a great time. “You recognize who you are at camp. It was such a great time. Camp just let me be me!”

Kathy Krohn’s camping experiences at Maqua in the third through sixth grade (1965-1968)  were so memorable, that she continues to this day reading books about camps, and even sent her son to a camp as natural as Maqua, so he could have similar good memories. “I needed to share what Camp Maqua was to me—a single gender camp where most people did not know who you were, or where you came from or what you had. I did not want him in a fancy camp. I wanted a campy camp, so he went to the same one my father attended as a child.”

The camp influenced Amy Falk’s love of nature in the seventies and the simple existence, which heightened the importance of camp so much so that she sent her kids to real camps to continue the outdoor fun. “I thought it was great to be thrown together with different kids to enjoy the same things and get away from our families.”

Some. Like Pat Rehmus, (1962-65) who had triplet boys, wanted them to go to camp, but they didn’t want to go. Finally, two of them attended a camp in Lake Tahoe and the third homebody stayed home, but she found the cost of camps out west were outrageous.

“In those days camp was different. It helped mold me for sure. Just getting away from home and not being homesick was formative. It gave me self-confidence, where I could make decisions in a larger community. We had to listen to our counselors, but we had a lot of freedom, even to choose our activities.”

Carla Schweinsberg decided to send both her girls to camp, since she had such a great time in the fifties. “Where else can you all get up as a group, eat as a group, and have fun as a group besides camp? It is a place where we all learned to get along with each other and I thought it was the greatest thing in the whole world.”

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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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The Falvey Sisters/Camp Influence

Published on by Kathy Baker

“My own personal growth was tied to camp”, said Amy (1969-78). “Part of the beauty of an all-girls camp with women as counselors and directors was that girl power feminist thing. Our staff were like goddesses. We had no men telling us what to do. There was a ton of personal growth that was totally invaluable, because we desired to be like the counselors. We watched women who represented success and they were inspirational. They talked about what they were going to do with their lives and they were doing whatever they wanted. Being in that safe environment while still being able to explore out of our comfort zone was wonderful.”

“I think about how much positive energy there was with all the awards, working with our cabins as a unit, taking care of our belongings and working with other girls to win the Honor Cabin banner. I tell you no one could be lazy or the other type A’s would drag you up to take part in the cleanup. It was team building! Even playing capture the flag with the entire camp outside divided up into two groups was team building. Hiding the bandanas and then being told not to run to locate it, as we were busy racing all over camp, was one of my favorite evenings.”

Basically camp was “Nirvana” for Amy because the days were busy. “It was like going home. It was our summer home. When the “Y” had their spring event near St. Patrick’s Day, I started packing. From that day forward, it was all about camp. I packed and that was my whole social structure. I was always extremely independent, but camp was a huge in leadership formation for me. Betsy and I ended up at Alma College with the same homey family atmosphere as we left at Maqua. I studied International Business, but I minored in theatre and dance. We always had to create skits and perform and sing and I still do have a passion for community theatre. I was shy in the beginning but I became more extrovert and by the end of my camping days, I was leading in silly skits and songs.”

“Maybe due to the fact we didn’t have a large extended family, camp was that much more important to me,” said Betsy (1968-75). “It was my first experience with this large family of women. I didn’t care for high school or junior high. I was socially miserable from September to May. I never felt appreciated because I was straight, smart and conservative in most things. I was not wildly popular and I just never felt a part of school. I felt far more accepted at camp. It wasn’t about the makeup or the boys. I was smart and sarcastic, but my friends at school were not wildly popular either. If the popular girls went to camp, it was usually just one summer.”

“ I never got picked to be anything, but when about fourteen or fifteen girls applied for the kitchen aide job and I got picked, it was a big deal to me! It was the first time I had ever “won” anything. I was popular for grades and was the teacher’s pet, but this was ME they picked! I think I figured my pay for the summer worked out to be seven cents an hour, but that was $100 to wash dishes for the summer,” said Betsy.

“But, I do feel like camp influenced my choice of college. I chose a small college and I was active in my sorority and my major was history, but my minor was in music. Everyone was singing and playing guitars at camp, including me, so I was in a band in college. I think I am the only one I know with a liberal arts degree that has made it work in my life.”

 

 

 

 

The Augustyniak Sisters/Camp Influence

Published on by Kathy Baker

Camp had a tremendous influence on sisters Chris and Sue Augustyniak. “There was a regular rhythm to our camp experience”, said Sue (1962-68). “Our parents would drop us off and on the way home we would go out of our way to have fried chicken at Frankenmuth. Our parents wanted us to become independent and they encouraged us. We felt like we could do anything. We mastered skills. We were expected to do well and we did.  Saying goodbye on the last day was always a sad day.”

“I was an extrovert and made friends easily, but I was also a well-behaved kid”, said sister Chris. (1963-66) “We lived in Bloomfield Hills near Pontiac and I remember that I liked being out of doors picking wildflowers, strawberries and asparagus in rural farmland, but I hated those overnight canoe trips. I hated the bugs, sleeping on the ground and not having a shower,” said Chris. “Although one year when our family took a trip out west, Sue and I convinced our family to rent a cabin and we made a campfire, because we had done that at Maqua. I had an appreciation for the outdoors, but I love having my shower and cream in my coffee and a bed. Sue and I enjoyed our Maqua experience, but our much younger sister Stephanie missed out because it was already closed by the time she could have attended.”

Chris, who was at Camp Maqua from aged ten to sixteen, was three years older than her sister Sue. A friend of hers, Patty Dale, wanted to go, but not alone. Chris had never thought about camp, but she decided to give it a try. She was not homesick and despite the fact that her friend Patty did not return the following year, Chris and another friend Mary Dudley did return. Chris continued until aged sixteen when she reached an age that she could work.”

“In 1967 our family returned to the ancestral homeland of both our parents, who were war refugees from Poland and Italy. Since my parents came to the United States as adults, we didn’t learn the Americana and traditions that other girls may have. Toasting marshmallows, singing the folk songs and other activities were learned at camp,” said Chris.

“Our family was very familial (traditional) and wanted my sister and me to have an education. They also waited until we were done with camp to have family vacations, unlike some of the parents who had them when their kids were at camp. By age six I knew I wanted to go to college and our parents wanted us to be independent and self-sufficient. They taught us to drive at thirteen and I think our camp experiences added and reinforced that self-sufficiency.”

“I was introduced to many new things at Camp Maqua, including archery, which I was very good at and rowing, swimming and canoeing. Sue and I persuaded our family to rent canoes one year because we had learned those skills at camp. There were many beautiful rivers in Michigan, but our family was never very athletic.”

“Learning to swim at Maqua was a benefit when I went to Harvard.  One of the requirements to attend happened to be swimming the length of the pool, which you would not think Harvard would be known for. I did make the length, even though I hate getting my ears wet. You could pass if you could get across in any way—floating, swimming or dog paddle. That requirement was due to the memory of Mr. Harry Elkins Widener and son, who lost their lives when they were unable to swim as the Titanic went down. His wife had a library built in their memory with $2 million, which was an incredible amount in that era! Another stipulation— every Harvard student had to pass a swimming test.”

“I know that my parents were delighted when I came home from camp one summer to find that I had lost weight from running up and down the steps to and from the lodge and my cabin. I was kind of a chubby kid., “ laughed Chris.