Camping Life

The Legend Of Princess Maqua

Published on by Kathy Baker

 

“Long ago when the trees stood tall and waters ran clear, two Indian tribes lived on the shores of Loon Lake. The tribes were called the Oyiesas and the Tawankas. For many moons the two tribes lived in peace and friendship. The evil spirits came among the Oyiesas and the Tawankas. Many were the battles fought. The dead numbered greater than the ripples of their beloved Loon Lake.”

“One of the greatest braves of the Tawanka tribe was Chief Thunder Cloud, so named because on the night of his birth the thunder rolled and clouds were fierce and black. Though only a young chief, her was respected by all and the tales of his strength and skill in battler were told far and wide.”

“While walking through the forest one day, Thunder Cloud came upon a young squaw picking berries. She was as beautiful as the first flowers of spring and as gentle as a summer breeze. As he watcher her, Thunder Cloud’s heart raced as that of a deer’s heart when it flees the hunters.”

“As he walked into the clearing the young girl stared at him in terror. Thinking to ease the fear, Thunder Cloud said that he meant no harm to her. He asked her name. Here then is the tragedy of our legend. For, the beautiful girl was Princess Maqua, daughter of the chief of the Oyiesas. Because their tribes were at war the two young people could have nothing to do with each other. Yet, already it was too late to stop the spirits of fate, for the two had fallen in love.”

“At the end of the day, both returned to the tepees of their fathers, each to plead for peace between the two nations. Their pleas fell on deaf ears as deaf as the rocks in the fields. Princess Maqua’s father forbid his daughter to ever set foot in the forest, for fear that Thunder Cloud would steal her away.”

“Finally the two young people could stand to be apart no longer. Stealing from her father’s teepee one night, Princess Maqua met Thunder Cloud by the shores of the lake. He placed her in the bow of his canoe and began to paddle swiftly away fromt the shores of the Oyiesa tribe. But, the spirits of evil were against them. The chiefs of both tribes, discovering their children missing, set out in search of them.”

“As Thunder Cloud paddled swiftly, the canoes from the Tawanka and Oyiesa villages began to overtake them. Approaching the far shore it seemed that their capture was near. Suddenly, the lake opened and the two young Indians in their canoe sank from sight. Long and hard did their fathers search, but they found no trace of them. The Great Spirit, seeing their tragic plight, had taken pity on them.”

“It is said that they went safely to the Happy Hunting Ground of their people. Our camp rests on the spot where Princess Maqua joined Thunder Cloud on the night of their escape. On still nights, one can see the spirits of Princess Maqua and Thunder Cloud come slowly across the lake in their canoe.”

(Unknown author of this legend from the archives)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The “Loon” Newsletter Over The Years

Published on by Kathy Baker

Copies of the “Loon” in the early years, with their tissue paper thin pages, were preserved in the archives at the “Y”, along with other memoribiia. They were written and published by campers and staff in each session, usually reviewing activities at camp, anecdotes of the day, confessions of the campers, humorous stories, vignettes of the staff and cartoons.

As the years went by, the paper quality was heavier, and different columns were added. In 1947, Carolyn Abbott was the editor with Marge Niedzielski as her co-editor. The July 23-August 6th edition had a beautifully designed cover by K.J. Carroll, with “The Loon” in birch bark styled letters and sketches inside drawn by Ethel Feldman. At the back of the newsletter was a drawing of the actual camp layout.

Reporters that summer included Betty Miller, Ethel Feldman, Mary Lou Winn, Pat Kula, Barbara Jacoby, Pauline Clark, Judy Alcorn, Lucy Clark and Janice Reid. They created sections on the ideal counselor and camper, a ”What If?” section, jokes and other columns.

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Hut Sayings and Expressions–

Published on by Kathy Baker

How many of you could identify the era a girl camped by the expressions, slang or sayings of the times? If you can’t remember some of the famous ones, go to this site for a memory refresher—-http://people.howstuffworks.com/53-slang-terms-by-decade6.htm

Judy Alcorn wrote the famous sayings in 1947 for the “Loon”, which included Dona Johnson’s “We never do that in hut 6”, Nan Kendall’s “Ain’t that quaint?”, Beverley Schlatter’s “Oh Man!”, Pauline Clark’s “Oh, Hegenauer!”, Nancy Hamme’s “Oh, be quiet”, Shirley Blunden’s “Oh, for John Pete!”, Yolanda Erickson’s “Oh, Pot!’, Sara Leet’s “Oh, Corn!” and Jean Sayle’s “Whoop-e-do”.

The hut sayings, according to an edition of the 1949 “Loon” included “Gee Whiz, Bear It Or We’ll Move You Down, Oh Fizz, Oh Norman, Cheese and Crackers, Wa Happened, Baby?, Holy Toot, What’s Up With The Polish, Gotta Go Bim, and Don’t Get Hysterical”.

There were “Famous Last Sayings” in 1950, which included “Vickie, come here”, “Clean up the hut”, “If you go to the Brownie, wake me up”, “Pass the potato chips”, “Anyone got some gum?”, “Run! A motorboat!”, “Get off my bed”, “Sweep the floors before inspection”, “Oh, be quiet”, and “Eek! A spider!”.

The hut sayings were “That’s An Insult”, “Don’t Be Snippy”, “Crumb”, “Jumping Catfish”, “Day Of Sorrow”, “Irma Ohla”, “Very Good”, “We’ve Got A Riot Of A Hut”, and “Hmmm”.

In 1952, the “Loon” listed more hut sayings with “I Yi Yi”, “Wha-chamma-jigger”, “Jeepers”, “Go to the staff table”, “That’s news!” “Hot Spit”, “Bilge”, “Shut Up”, “Taps have blown”, “Roger Dodger”, “You Old Codger”, “Match Me”, “By Gum”, “Ain’t that the peaches”, “Go over to the staff table”, “That’s a failure”, “Remember the golden rule”, “Raise the flag”, and “I’m going to get the hair brush”.

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Sentimental Saves—

Published on by Kathy Baker

Many of the special memories from camp were preserved in copies of the “Loon” from the beginning years at camp. Not only were there many copies in the Bay City YWCA archives, but campers saved them and many donated them for reference for the history. Along with the little newsletters, photos from camp (both professional and personal) were saved in albums and many of the girls to this day cannot part with them.

Gail Schultheiss (1966) saved many mementoes, including the brochure that would arrive every year to the campers. Nancy Keeler (1973-74) is still in possession of her newsletters, diary entries, photos and ribbons. Coleen Gasta has her autograph books of all her cabinmates from the early sixties. Carol Wahl (1974-75) has her rock with “Camp Maqua 1974) painted on it and a piece of driftwood. Sue Michelson (1963-73) says her camp rock goes everywhere with her. (“If I move, it moves with me,” she laughed.)

While Karen Magidsohn (1965+) was interviewing with me, she was pulling memoribila from her drawer with excitement, remembering how much she loved her arts and crafts at camp. In her hands was the little decoupage box she had kept and used all these years, and tucked inside was the jewelry from her Mom and the leather bracelet she made at camp.

Having always been a sentimental saver, she finally found all her old photos, brochures, award ribbons and the lifesaving books signed by her instructors from 1968-71. She also saved copies of her “Swim and Stay Fit” program, which logged each segment of her laps to track her progress.

Jane Linder (1956) saved her marksman’s bars from riflery and Kimela Peck (1966-74) saved her medals and certificates from archery and riflery, as did many of the women who shared their stories.

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Awards And Ribbons–

Published on by Kathy Baker

 

Margaret Dahlem stopped on the lodge lawn in 1989, soon after we bought the property. Her trip down memory lane, as a first-time camper in 1925, included the awards when she camped.  Her friend Harriet Crumb, who wrote a letter to me soon after, mentioned the same award.

There were competitions between the huts, including a parade of decorated row boats. The winner was awarded the “Bracken Fern Award”. There was also a “Spirit of Maqua” competition, based on the girl who most typified the ideal Maqua camper, with friendly voting that took place to choose one.

The awards were important to many little girls who excelled in a sport or activity that they had never tried before. Many of them saved their awards, ribbons and certificates from camp, as proof positive of their achievements.

Mary Lou Winn camped in 1946 and 1947 and remembered all the awards were presented on parents’ night at the end of camp. For her, it always seemed that the older campers seemed to get more than their share, but looking back her memory might have been tinged with envy.

“We had a three-day canoe trip, which was wonderful. I just remember how exciting it was to do this canoeing and camping. There were girls who were bickering on that trip—just amongst themselves. It was hard for the counselors. The girls were difficult and I always felt my role in life was to keep peace. I was shocked and amazed when I got an award for the “Most Cooperative On The Canoe Trip”, said Ann Ward (1958-61). ““They had never given that award before. I guess I was just a peacemaker. I was never the type that gossiped.”

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Weathering The Weather–

Published on by Kathy Baker

Camping in sunny weather was ideal. It meant no freezing or shivering when you went into the lake for waterfront activiites; sunny skies for boating; great days for overnight camping and canoeing, beautiful sunsets and starry skies for campfires and good sleeping weather inside the cabins whose only air conditioning was the breeze that blew through the screened windows. But, mix in cold air or rain and many activities were canceled, or worse than that—ruined!

“I also went on several of the overnight canoe trips and was even in charge of one of them. We never had tents, and just enjoyed the sun. If it rained, too bad, so sad,” said Susan Kiltie (1960-68) . “We probably had bad weather fifty percent of the time and if the weather was not conducive to sleeping outside, we would sleep under the canoes in our sleeping bags. We were young enough to think it was all one big adventure.”

As early as 1956, there were mentions of inclement weather in the minutes and ledgers from the camp committee. There was a note that parents were not happy that some of their daughters lived in the tents and not the cabins, especially during the wet and cold summer. The tents were also used for camp craft and other programs. There had been a tornado warning on July 1st and with no real plan in place for safety. It was suggested that they “get to the east side of the knoll by the rifle range”, but a Mrs. Brown underscored the amount of panic that involved and that that plan should only be a last resort.

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