Viking Boats Across The Lake–

Published on December 12, 2018December 12, 2018 by Kathy Baker

When Elaine Levinsohn (1927-30) camped at Maqua, there were no homes around, just a pretty lake with many trees. “All the girls knew there was a boys’ camp there,” she laughed, as she recalled a vague memory of boating over to the camp, like many before and after her years at camp.

As the boating director, Anne Pennington (1964-72) recalled some of the fun on the water on Hawaiian Day when the girls would decorate the canoes and rowboats. The boys across the lake would also decorate their large boat, which she said resembled a Viking ship. The boys tried to throw things from their boat onto the girls’ boat. One summer she was dating Larry Roberts, who was caretaker Homer Robert’s son from the boys’ camp and she enjoyed the mixers with the boy counselors in the pre-sessions the week before camp opened.

“I remember a beauty pageant in bathing suits with a Hawaiian theme’” said Tami Nagel, who camped in the sixties. “Although I can’t remember her name, she had blonde hair and she won something, and I remember the boys from Camp Mahn-go-tah-see coming over.”

Sarah Smith, whose camping years spanned the late sixties to the mid-seventies, had a vivid memory at the end of her camping experience when the boys came over from camp and she was chosen to be the Indian Maiden. “I had dark hair and dark skin, so that’s probably why I was chosen, but I was thrilled since I was a chubby kid.”

Pranks Between Two Camps–

Published on December 5, 2018November 24, 2018 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.”

Where The Boys Are—

Published on December 3, 2018November 12, 2018 by Kathy Baker

For decades Camp Maqua girls made jokes about the Camp Mahn-go-tah-see boys’ camp across the lake; how maybe they would swim over to see them; or the boys would boat over past them, so they could see them. And as many of them that dreamt of that, there were thse girls who said they were far too young to even notice.

Andrea Gale (1970-74) said she was too young to pay attention, but by the time she left camp that last year, she was just as boy crazy and screamed like the other girls. Randi Wynne-Parry (1969-73) said they all knew the boys were there, but all they did was talk about them. Cindy Rose(1968-70) figured the talk of the boys and girls meeting in the middle of the lake was just talk– the great boy talk.

Patrica Purcell, a self-professed late bloomer in the fifties, loved the concept that there was a boys’ camp across the lake, but laughed that she would not have known what to do with them had they boated over!

“I was a late bloomer and I was so glad there were no boys at camp, “ said Jan Schreiber (1962-70). “In fact my least favorite part was when the boys from the camp across the lake would come over. I didn’t even have my first boyfriend until I was seventeen. I was glad not to have to deal with boys because it facilitated the freedom from the issues and pressures to be a particular way.”

Dating At Camp–

Published on November 28, 2018November 12, 2018 by Kathy Baker

A rabbit, in front of the Maqua flag, peers through the woods through binoculars toward the Camp Mahn-go-tah-see flag on the cover of a 1951 edition of the “Loon”. The girls would agree—the boys camp across the lake held campers and staff alike at Camp Maqua fascinated and interested for centuries. Meg Dahlem, early twenties camper recalled that they were allowed a great deal of freedom and could cross the lake in rowboats to meet the boys at Camp Mahn-go-tah-see.

There were mentions in the early editions of the “Loon” of spirited battles between both camps, meeting in the middle of the lake with their boats, but it was not just pranks that held the girls’ interests. The mere spotting of a male, whether it be near the shores of Maqua or the shores of the boys’ camp, could draw shrieks and giggles. Many of the staff had boyfriends who were on the staff across the lake. (As early as 1937, the camp committee had discussions about rules for smoking and dating at camp.)

“I remember a boyfriend stopping at the camp and trying to visit me. Because he was with his aunt and uncle, he was allowed to do so, but boy was I the talk of the camp!” laughed Carolyn Waits (1955-57). “We were not supposed to have any visitors, especially boys. It was long before cell phones and he was one of my earliest boyfriends. I can still remember his name—Jimmy Murray. It was cool. All the girls at camp asked me about him.” (She also recalled trying to figure out a way to accidently sail over to Mahn-go-tah-see, but never succeeded. When the girls would row over, they would sing the popular song “Hey Mambo” and substitute “Hey Mahn-go” as they rowed past the camp.)

Nicknames–

Published on November 26, 2018February 8, 2018 by Kathy Baker

Nicknames were a way to make girls feel included with a sense of intimacy and camaraderie. “Magot” (or maybe Maggot) would not be the cutesy nickname a young girl would pick, but Karen Magidsohn won that name. It was very common for girls to be christened with new or short names at camp. Sue Purdue, who taught tennis in 1968, was remembered as one of the favorite counselors with the greatest nickname—Super! (Supercalifragisticexpealadocious was too difficult to spell, so they called her Super or Superdoo.)

Nicknames were especially popular with the staff and in 1966, Karen Boger was Bogie, Lorraine Buban was Collie, Oleta Engel was Lee, Kathy French was Frenchie, Ann Giebel was Snoopy, Carol Griffith was Ginger, Barbara Haggart was Beanie, Linda Harp was Harpie, Emogene Host was Emmy, Mary Laich was Buff, Janet McLeod was Squirt, Ann Temple was Rusty, Ursula Witkowski was Urs, Gretchen Sharpley was Gretty, and Nancy Westfall was Nan.

“Beanie”, as she was known at camp, received her nickname the first summer at Maqua. “I didn’t have a name and I remember Lee, who ran the camp store, came out with the staff and showed us what she was going to sell in her store. Everyone laughed when she pulled out this little green beanie,” she said. “No-one thought it would sell. I came out with one, rigged up with two tongue depressors like a “Beanie Copter” and they sold out!” (If you remember, the Beanie Copter hat was from the Beanie and Cecil show—- an animated color cartoon.)

The “Loon” in 1965 ran an article “How Counselors Got Their Nicknames”. “Frenchie’s last name was French; Bubble’s initials are BUB; Scotch’s name was Ginny, shortened to gin, then scotch; O-B’s last name was Obey; Beanie received her name for wearing a beanie: Snoopy had the name of Napolean, which was Nappie for short, which was associated with the blanket of Linus in the Snoopy cartoon, which was associated with Snoopy; Horse was in a cabin with too many Kathys’ and she liked horses; Peachy’s real name was Gail, but her little charges named her Peachy for no reason; the souvenirs all around the room of Colorado, who was from Colorado, earned her name; Saunders was Candi’s last name: Melba was shortened to Mel; blowing up rafts on vacation earned Windy her nickname; Corky was first named Curly for having curlers in her hair, but she renamed herself; Reb supposedly had a Rebel accent and Smokey wore a fire hat the day she was named.”

Laurie Cone had two nicknames in 1968—Coon and Pinecone! Jeanne Kiltie also was known as Froggy (for her raspy voice) or Little Kiltie, since she was Sue Kiltie’s little sister. Kathy Hall (1966-71) laughed like Phyllis Diller, so she was known as Diller. Quiet Linda Doering was crowned (facetiously) by Beanie and was known as Yakky, while Cindy Morrison (1960) was known as Bug Eyes for her blue eyes and always considered it an endearment.

When Karen Kaiser (1959-62) was asked how she got her nickname, she said there were three girls named Karen in her hut when she was seven and everyone called her friend’s mother Billie and she loved the name, so it stuck. Valerie Monto (1964-68) had a girl from Florida with a southern accent and her nickname was Southern. “By the end of the session, half the camp had caught her accent and it was “y’all this and y’all that”, she laughed.

Sue Wiegand earned her nickname Flash from Beanie. (“I think it had something to do with the fact that I was not particularly quick in the morning. But, as I’ve gotten older, I have actually become a morning person.”) She was also described in a paragraph of the “Loon” in 1968 in an article “The Legend of Flash Gordon”. “Yes, Flash does live and we are proud, yes, very proud, deep down in our hearts that we, the humble staff of Maqua have actually seen her.”

“Camp was just a place where I began to think about my identity,” said Debbie Tweedie (1965-72). “Because my last name was Tweedie, I was always nicknamed Tweetie Bird and my friends would give me gifts of Tweetie Birds. At camp my counselor decided to give me a new name. I was Peanuts. I suddenly realized I didn’t have to be Tweetie Bird anymore, and I did not have to be defined by others. It was a big moment.”

Diane Dudley (1957-63) got her nickname as a small child and it stayed with her at camp. “I was named for my Aunt Doris, who was called Dodie or Dodo and my Mom said when I tried to pronounce my name as a small child, I would say Dodo, so either I mixed it up or it was all I could say. I didn’t tell people at school, but one year a friend came up to me in Cunningham’s Drug store and said “Hi Dodo” and the president of our high school heard it and that was it.”

Karen Cox (1967-69) was nicknamed Cowboy pretty much the first day on the job. Linnie Harris, who was the waterfront director at the time, did not know the names of all the new staff members. Karen just happened to be wearing her plastic “Broncos” spirit hat decorated with flowers by her first assigned roommate at Western Michigan University. “Hey Cowboy”, she yelled to me to get my attention at the waterfront,” said Karen, “and the name just stuck. But many of them just called me C.B. for short.”

“I think my nickname at camp was Charlie,” said Kathy Butsch (1968-74). “I wore this ball cap that was blue with white polka dots. I always hated to leave camp and remember moping on a shopping trip with my Mom when I ran into a friend from camp. Karen Evans. She recognized my hat!” (Just that little incident gave her instant happiness.)

The camp nurse, Carol Hulett was nicknamed Hypo in 1974, and the”store lady” Rhonda Thayer received her nickname from her mother, who was always yelling RhonnyJo!

“One of the girls was nicknamed “Spaz” (Cindy Knapp) because she was always tripping over everything. She had those wooden Dr. Scholl’s sandals and wore painter pants, so of course when we drove back home, I had to get my own painter pants,” laughed Sue West (1975+). “My nickname was “Squat” because I could pee outside without getting it down my leg.”

Cindy Knapp (1968+) had her own version of how she got her nickname. “I earned Spaz after I fell, hurrying to class. I tripped over a root. (I think it was in the path coming down from cabin 6). It ripped open my hands and knees. I went to the Infirmary to get it cleaned out. I remember the nurse working to get the sand out of my hand, while she sang, “Boom, Boom, Ain’t It Great Tp Be Crazy?” Sadly, I was promoted to Super Spaz a few days later when I tripped over a root at the bottom of the boat house stairs and tore everything open again. Thankfully, the Super part didn’t stick, but Spaz did and I was Spaz every summer after!”

What was your nickname and how did you receive it?

Hut Happenings–

Published on November 21, 2018November 9, 2017 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.

Girls of Camp Maqua

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