Camp Influences

Not Out In The Open—

Published on by Kathy Baker

“I know there were girls at camp that had feelings for other girls and counselors, but it was a time that if you had those feeling, you kept them to yourselves. It is not so socially taboo anymore, but back then, you kept your feelings in check,” admitted A.C., from the late sixties and early seventies, who met her good friend at camp. She recalled staying up ridiculous hours talking to her friend in an intense and intimate way, admitting she was attracted to her as a friend.

D.R. had a crush on one of the counselors in the early seventies. “There was not a lot of talk about gay issues and I was a tomboy, but not gay. I wasn’t athletic or into sports, but until my brother came along, my Dad had me cutting the lawn and doing the sfuff with the dogs, etc. But, I can remember all the counselors were at a campfire and my three cabin mates went on a tangent trying to make me mad, saying things about (my crush). I defended her and then I started to cry and the counselors had to yell at them. I still don’t know why I did that.”

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Girls In A Girls Camp–

Published on by Kathy Baker

An all girls camp with female staff and female campers. Some may be inclined to think of it as a breeding ground for the type of stories that make headlines today. I found the opposite to be true, upon interviewing many women over the past few years, although many admitted to their own discovery of their sexuality or to innocent girl crushes.

Although the twenties hearalded a type of sexual revolution, the sixties marked an era that headlined such words as free love, gay rights, feminism, hippies, the pill and women’s movements. A large majority of the women who shared their stories were from the 60’s to 70’s.

M.J. began camping in 1933 and continued for eight years, aware that many of her counselors were indeed gay, “but I never had a problem with that, and just did not get mixed up with it.”

Certainly, girls like M.I., J.L. and G.J. were not the only ones who had girl crushes. It was the late forties and early fifties. Some were tomboys, but others shared sweet stories of having camp crushes on their instructors and counselors.

“There was a counselor I admired and I think that is why I wanted to be a C.I.T., so I could come back and hang out with her on the weekends when the kids were gone between sessions. I hated to leave her and I embarrassed to tell you, because you are the first person I have ever told, that I guess I had a girl crush on her. I was attracted to her. I hated for camp to end. I remember crying before my Mom would ever get to camp every year because I never wanted it to end.”

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Jewish Girls In A Christian Camp

Published on by Kathy Baker

Chapel Hill was a quiet place, with a vision of a spot in the clearing of the woods bearing a cross on a platform. It took years for Sheryl Biesman (1973-78) to realize that YWCA on the podium stood for Young Women’s Christian Association. She was Jewish, but felt no prejudice and if there had been, she would not have camped there.

Kerry Weber (1952) recalled the marches up to Chapel Hill, singing all the way, but another incident occurred that she had not forgotten. “Something that impressed me was the day I heard two girls talking to a Jewish girl. One was Episcopal and one was Catholic. They told the Jewish girl she shouldn’t be in a Christian camp, and she told the Catholic girl, you’re not Christian, you’re Catholic!”

“I am Jewish and there were very few of us at that time in Bay City and at camp. I remember climbing up to Chapel Hill on Sundays all dressed in white. I loved it,” said Laya Hennes (1939). “To join in the singing touched my heart. In a Jewish service, it is so different. I love my religion, but it is not in English. There was something so familiar and wonderful when I heard those melodies and words, especially in the midst of the trees overlooking the lake.”

Ilene Zacher (1959-62), as the oldest Jewish girl in her school, remembered she mouthed the words to the Christian songs on Chapel Hill, but did not recall if she was able to “opt out” of the services. She never experienced any prejudice, and remarked “You have to remember in that day, we still said the Lord’s Prayer in school, so I took those things in stride.”( Her father was very involved in the Anti-Defamation League and was also one of the soldiers who liberated the prisoners in Dachau.)

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Minorities–

Published on by Kathy Baker

Having the opportunity to camp with girls of all ages, backgrounds and religions helped to develop Kathy Krohn’s (1965-68) sense of self at a very young age. “It was very freeing to be around so many types of people. I felt no prejudices, despite being Jewish. I just felt a great group dynamic and it was a very valuable experience for me.”

The earliest mention of any minoritiy was from 1942 camper Dorothy Bonnen who had this memory; “There were eight cabins and they all had screened windows all around. My younger sister Muriel went, but she was down the trail. There were some colored girls from Saginaw and they picked Muriel, Louanne Young  and Pearl Majeski to bunk in with them. I guess they thought they had the personalities to handle the situation. It was not the greatest cabin to be in and they expected trouble, but these girls were exceptionally good at handling it all.”

“There were always little contests being set up, to see who could learn to set a table and the colored girls, I don’t think, had ever done anything like this before. Well, my sister’s cabin set the table and the colored girls stood at the end of the table with towels over their arms. They stood like they were waiters and went one past us to out-do us. I think they got an honorable award.”

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Socialization—

Published on by Kathy Baker

“I was very independent and made friends easily and I recall there were never any problems with kids and no one got moved out of the cabins, “said Ruth Wiesen (1957-59).” I don’t remember anyone going home early either. We were all so busy and signed up for activities before we started. In the activities, you were in with other kids from other huts, and if you wanted to switch activities, the counselors would let you.”

Jan Mosier’s good friend Mary Lou Clay went away to Camp Maqua with her in 1947 just before Jan turned eight. Both sets of parents were good friends and Jan and Mary Lou ended up going to college together.

“I usually went to fourth period for the first few years and I never remember being in the first sessions, but I attended for six years until 1952,” she said. “The other great thing about my friend going up with me was that her Mom could drive.  If I stayed for more than one session, my Mom would send up new clothes—all with the labels sewn in.

Jan looked forward to going to camp every year and could not wait,” I guess I was an extrovert and made friends easily. I wasn’t bold, but I certainly got along. Every year I was chomping at the bit to get back to camp. When I look back, I think it taught me tolerance to live with other people and a love for the outdoors.”

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I Was That Girl—

Published on by Kathy Baker

I was the nerd, the pale, buck-toothed, self-conscious, freckle-faced redhead, who befriended another little red-headed camper named Lillian, whose Mom was a cook and a single Mom at a time when single Moms were uncommon. (Ann Meisel 1962-66

I was the little girl, who had a wake-up moment at camp, when the third-grade girls thought I bragged too much about my archery. While pretending to be asleep, they talked about me and my friend Heidi Dean stuck up for me, insisting I was a nice person, which cause me to love her and become humble at that moment. (Debbie Tweedie (1965-72).

I was the middle child between two brothers who felt like staying in the cabins was a wonderful experience because it was like a slumber party all the time. (Pat Purcell, fifties).

I was the camper who came back a second year, but was more homesick than the first and was saved by my counselor Mary Jane Keschman and two weeks with horses. (Judy Crissey 1954+).

We were those girls who came to camp and found friendships that allowed us to be ourselves.

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