Directors, Counselors, Staff

Overnight Biking and Horseback Riding Trips

Published on by Kathy Baker

img_7554A circle bike trip was one of the clearest memories for fair-skinned Nancy Keeler (1973-74), who ended up in the Infirmary with a sunburn. Six girls, accompanied by Pam Hartz (1966-75) and Mary Bent, biked nine miles the first day, twenty miles the second day, and another nine on the third day.

“I was totally wiped out,” she said., “but they gave us salt tablets. We stopped along the way on lawns and people would bring out water and lemonade to us. It was a more trusting time back then. I remember one of them bringing “Gorp” out to us, which was M&M’s, raisins and peanuts.”

In 1974, James Sweeting evaluated the camp for the state and had noted that a three- day trip had been planned. Sue Patenge was the director at that time and had given her blessing to this adventure.

Another biking trip led by Mary Bent and Pam Hartz took six girls for a two-day overnight camping bike trip. They spent the night in pup tents, cooked over an open fire, packed lunches and rode the Rifle River campground trails. At night they had foil dinners and returned on the third day with “scraped knees, sunburns and pleasant memories”.

Bonnie Schlatter recalled three or four different groups of girls she led on a bike hike in the seventies. “One was older and I don’t know if I suggested it, but I took a few on a bike ride and headed to Tawas, ending at the Lumberman’s Monument. I know we had to be picked up at the end due to the rain. We got drenched,” said Bonnie, who still loves to bike.

“The Peddlin’ Pals” were Mary Surabian, Debbie Agarwal and Bonnie. They started their bike trip on July 6, after some short practice trips heavily loaded. On the first night they stopped at Tawas Point State Park, and the second day into Osoda for lunch and on to their destination at the Lumberman’s Monument. According to the “Loon”, they encountered the rain at the Foote Dam and were picked up, but continued their ride around Long Lake the following day, with sun, swimming and a picnic.

Read More

Floating Food and Bug Sandwiches–

Published on by Kathy Baker

10177426_10202732006813156_7359505230034526984_n“I can remember piling eight kids and two staff members into an open truck with all the food and supplies and they would drop us off at Rollways. I look back now that I am a Mom and think—there were no cellphones, no place to contact anyone in an emergency, “ said Laurie Cone, (1962-68) who figured there had to be a ranger station somehwhere—“and driving in an open truck with deer possibly jumping out in front of us? I guess times were different. It was not a litigious world. It was a simple time and we didn’t know any better.”

Tracy Topping (1962-63) also remembered piling into the pickup truck with a “gaggle of girls” singing “We Are The Girls Of Camp Maqua” on the way to the river. “I don’t think that water in the river ever got above our knees and it was slow moving, but if you had too much in the canoe, it would get stuck. I can still see the string of hot dogs all hooked together that came floating down the river. We tried to save the food. I guess one of the canoes had capsized.”

Her sister Randi was at the front of the canoe line, when her sister was at the back. “We all witnessed the giant sausage links floating by our canoes. We were quite impressed that they floated and we tried to catch them,” she laughed, recalling how they were careful to duck the giant tree limbs in the current as they tried to catch the lost food.

Many girls, like Sue Purdue (1964-68), were city girls and took very few trips growing up. “I was very rugged and would not have known camping was in my blood, had it not been for Maqua. One year I was on one of those three or four day camping trips, which I did every session. We didn’t have tents, just sleeping bags. My cousin Laurie was a kitchen aide at the time and had packed the food. There were thirteen of us and she packed enough for six. Also, since there were no coolers, we had something with sour cream and it was in our stew or some dish. All I remember is I threw up all night, but she didn’t know.”

Read More

It Was A Big Deal!

Published on by Kathy Baker

100_2259“I loved the canoe trips down the AuSable and made two or three trips as a camper. It was a real big deal to me,” said Priscilla Johns (1968+). “We took our backpacks, (which were considered cool back then), and our sleeping bags and would throw it all in the back of THE truck,” she laughed, as she recalled the girls standing up or bouncing down the highway. “We would camp overnight and on the river, if we lost sight of one of the canoes we had some chant we called back and forth between us. We even had some canoe songs we sang, like “my paddles flashing bright.”

It was a big deal to Dawn Sohigian (1966-74) who learned to canoe at camp. “I was excited when I was finally old enough to go on the canoe trips, which I loved. I kept thinking—when is it my turn—and then felt like such a big girl when I went on one.”

Kathy Butsch rembered the landmarks on the river– Steven’s Bridge, Jolly Redskin Canoe Livery, and coming out at Lucerne. “It was a big deal that we were older than our sisters and could go on the canoe trips. We were super close as siblings, but there was always this big drama as we left to go on the trip. The canoe trip was the highlight of the summer, but the trauma was trying to pass the swim test.”

“I loved the canoe trips, both as a camper and a counselor,” said Jodi Tripp (1957+). “We spent three nights on the AuSable, and then one year we were on the river up near Grayling. It was a faster section of the river. We got rained out the first night and we were all sopping wet. We ended up staying where they stored the canoes to dry out and had to stay an extra night–sleeping out in the open in our wet sleeping bags. We were freezing, but sang a lot by the campfire.”

Jane McKinley (1956-59) learned to canoe at camp and loved to swamp and bounce on them, but loved the three-day trips on the AuSable, despite getting totally soaked. It appeared that she was always close enough on the river to walk for hamburgers and milkshakes, which was a nice change from campfire food.

“One canoe trip down the AuSable as a C.I.T. was so much fun,” said forties’ camper Marsha Immerman, who loved the singing back and forth, the view of the canoes in a single file and the “bobbing” that pitched them into the water. The food was not to her liking, and she was not alone.

Read More

It’s Not Just About The River–

Published on by Kathy Baker

f5y5n50hxvpz07z-mediumNan O’Tool wrote about a two-day trip in “O’Tool’s Activities” in the July 12-26,1950 issue of the “Loon” describing the canoe trip by Hut 7. “We left with the canoes hanging out of the back of the truck on Monday morning. Our counselors, Irene and Dickie and Betty accompanied us and showed us what to do almost every foot of the way. After going about three miles from Loud Dam across the AuSable River, we came to a small inlet. After looking around, we beached our canoes and made our camp, which we used for the next two days. “

“We were gifted with delicious food for every meal. Some of the outstanding foods were: cube steaks, smoked ham, sausages and eggs, and huge servings of ice cream. The fishing was good, but in the morning only. We caught seven Rock Bass all together. By mistake, the fish were left on the side of the canoe and some lovely water creatures ate all except one head. We, at least, had the enjoyment of catching them. The water was quite clean, so we all went swimming several times during our stay. It was a rather sad departure at first, but when it began to rain we agreed it would be good to get back to camp.”

Sister Pat O’Tool said some of her fondest camp memories were of the trips away. Her first overnight trip was to Rollways and sleeping bags were unheard of. She took blankets and rolled them with newspaper for insulation.“We took a number of canoe trips and normally it rained. We knew how to pack and we packed carefully. We would sleep in our tents in the rain. I can still remember the Angel Bread we made with sweetened condensed milk. We would dip two pieces of white bread in the milk, then dip them in coconut and roast them over the fire. We also used large cans to make stew with vegetables or sloppy joes over the fire. I think I tasted apple butter for the first time at camp and it was strange, but I liked it.”

Read More

Calling All River Rats!

Published on by Kathy Baker

img_7544

Elanie Engibous (1961-63), decked out in her prescription sunglasses, loved the canoe trips down the AuSable River. “I can remember eating red licorice and making Kiltie laugh so hard she would pee in the boat and we would have to stop and clean it out! There was a “hi-low-eenie-meenie” song that we hollered to connect to each other,” laughed Elaine.

“We would spend the night and would be so sore from paddling, and then we would sleep on the ground, but loved it. We were always so hysterical. We would be gone from camp for three days and wonder what we missed, but it was clear when we heard the other girls describe the canoe trips that we had to go. It was awesome. We had the food up in the trees to keep the bears out and we would get so burnt on the rivers—some girls would even blister.”

“The canoe trip were another level of independence, “said Doris Engibous. “I remember coming around the bend in the river on one trip and we were young and we spotted older kids skinny-dipping. It was the first time I had seen breasts and genitalia out in the open!”

The  famous boat call. Valerie Monto (1964-68) remembered it and also had several versions of the call and the answer; “high-low-eany-meany-i-ki-oo-chow-chow-pea-wa-wa” or “hi-lo-eenie-meenie-caw-caw-um-chaw-chaw-e-waw-waw”, followed by “eany-einy-ony-ony-you-ho” or “hecta-minika-anika-zanika-boom-de-ada-yoo-hoo”.

Jeanne Kiltie (1966-71) loved the three-day canoe trips. “No showers, but bathing in the river. I can remember one girl was sick and they had to come get us, but another trip it poured like crazy and we took our sleeping bags and all crammed into the bathroom and slept there! How crazy was that? And I can also remember them telling us all to prop our aluminum canoes against the tree with a tarp over us! It was lightning and we were under a metal boat! When I look back, I wonder sometimes,” she laughed. “Then there were the raccoons that broke into our food and counselors were all yelling for us to save it all. As an adult now in a boat, there is no tipping in my boat!”

Kim Moore became an expert canoeist at Maqua (1967-72) and felt like she knew what she was doing and felt very confident. She packed for trips as a kitchen aide, “even though I am left-brained and not very organized. Someone would inevitably come to my rescue to help me pack in an organized way. I would say, somebody help me and I think Cindy Knapp was the one.”

The second year Sue West (1976) took thirty girls on a canoe trip on the AuSable for five days with counselor Gail Savage. The girls had received a week of intensive canoe lessons before the trip. “We put in the water on a beautiful sunny day, but it poured down river a few miles. We slept in puddles that night. We went back on the river the next day, still soaking wet, but we had to stop and call camp to come get us. Our sleeping bags were like baggies holding the water in.”

“My whole life I dreamed of going back and drifting down the river again, so I took a vacation one year with a friend, and it was just the same dream I remembered,” said one of the sixties’ campers whose memories of the river still cause deep nostalgia.

Do you remember the boat call? What is the version you recall?

 

 

 

 

Take Me To The River!

Published on by Kathy Baker

img_6878

The trip scheduling was not always perfect since there was lack of transportation and conflicts with canoe areas, according to notes left by the program director Toni Young in 1966 (for canoe overnight trips), but those trips remained the epitome of fun and adventure for girls of every decade.

A sample sheet was attached in the report with Gayla and “Squirt” from cabin seven leaving at 5:15 for Rollways, followed by dinner there, a clean up and explore time at 7:30, snacks at 8:45, taps at 9:30 and pick up and returned to Maqua at 8:15 the following morning.

There were near drought conditions that summer with a fire ban in place. Combined with “not too enthusiastic or inexperienced staff, very few cookouts were taken and just as few sleepouts,” wrote Toni. “Most of the cookouts were taken in conjunction with overnights, thus killing two birds with one stone.”

Four firebowls were available in camp in Senior Village, waterfront, and primitive. The one in primitive was only used when they were gone on a trip and the one between the lodge and the archery field wasn’t used at all that year.

Anne Obey was the campcraft packer, so the counselors were only responsible for the cooking utensils, tarps and hatchets from the campcraft hut and first aid kit from the nurse. Ann had impressed her director very much with her mature manner and how well she handled her responsibilities. “I could not have asked for anyone who gave willingly and actually showed loyalty and love for Maqua and its campers as Anne” she wrote in her report in 1966.

Read More