Friendships and Relationships

Having My Sister There—

Published on by Kathy Baker

 

Elaine is the oldest of the three Engibous sisters and was friends with Beth Swift during her growing up years. Doris, fourteen months younger, and Judy, ten years younger, were all Maqua campers. (Ironically, Elaine ended up marrying Beth’s older brother and they must have always felt like family, since Beth had been in nursery school with Elaine and the families grew up with each other.)

Around eight years old and possibly somewhere between 1961-1963, Elaine and Beth headed to camp together. She thinks she was at Maqua with her sister one year, but only the first year that Doris attended.

“I was reserved as a child, but not moody and was not afraid of anyone, but everyone was bigger than me. Beth and I were both little goody-two-shoes. I always made sure I did the right thing and was not a troublemaker.  I liked taking care of the campers. My kids told me I put the smother in mother, “ laughed Elaine.

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Cousins and Sisters—

Published on by Kathy Baker

Helen Johnson’s first year at camp was 1968 at age seven, and she followed in the footsteps of her mother and aunt, Ellie and Nora Goddeyne. “It was only fitting that my cousin and I would go there, also. I’m not sure how many years I attended, probably five or six, and I’m not sure why I stopped going. I would go with my cousin Ann Niergarth and neighborhood friends Katie Easton and Susan Adams.”

Cindy Knapp also went with her cousin Jane Woodworth in 1968, and felt like Maqua brought out the best in everyone. She seemed to be assigned to the same cabin with friends she met at camp, who all ended up becoming staff.

In 1963, at seven years of age, Debra Osher headed to camp with her cousin Judy, who was two years older. Only slightly homesick, knowing her cousin was there, she hung out with Jan Schreiber and her friend Marcia Michelson, whose sister Nancy was also at camp. Somehow all these relations made camp less frightening for Debra.

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Someone Who Knew Someone—

Published on by Kathy Baker

Someone knew someone who knew someone who said Camp Maqua was the best. Either a mother, aunt, friend, cousin or sister would recruit future campers to enjoy the experiences they found to be so positive. Some would remain friends their entire lives and others lost touch.

“It was a huge part of our lives. We were all best friends all summer,” said Julie Bernard, who was eight years old in 1970 when she went off to camp, sharing the same cabin as Michele Plambeck and Michele Patterson. She stayed in touch with some of the girls and even stood up in Missy Plambeck’s wedding.

“I grew up at Maqua”, said Michele “Missy” Butsch of her many years at camp. “I was eight years old when I camped there for the first time in 1969 and although I was a little homesick, my sister, who was three years older, was there.”

Kim Sohigian and Michele were inseparable as young girls and shared the same cabin every summer at camp. “We are still close to this day,” said Michele. “I was shy, but I always had close friends, including Sue Williamson and Beth Hickner, who I stayed in touch all the way through high school. I was always in the middle of the group, which was popular, even though I wasn’t the most popular. We were always the screw-ups. Missy and Kim. If it could happen, it was us.”

Carol Wahl met Pam Moore at camp in 1972, the first year she was there. They ended up as college room-mates and Pam was in her wedding. While at Central she met many of the staff in her sorority, including Mary Toburen.

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You Can Never Have Enough—-

Published on by Kathy Baker

fullsizerender-20Many campers could trace their present day love for all things arts and crafts to their days at Maqua, including Maggie Young, who felt so fortunate to have the exposure during the sixties and seventies. Carol Requadt (1945) could still remember the cedar smell of the craft hut where she loved working with her hands.

Mary Hewes (1946) and MaryJane Keschman (1944-54) loved the traditions at camp, including the arts and crafts. “I remember making Gimp bracelets with four strands of plastic woven together and a leather lanyard that I gave to my brother. We also sanded wooden bowls until they were smooth, “ said Mary. For MaryJane, it was the wooden plate with her mother’s initials and the same Gimp bracelets that were her favorites.

“In the arts and crafts hut, there were work benches and tables in picnic table style”, said Caryl Sue Abendroth, who loved that they could work on their leather keychains, basket weaving or lanyards in the fifties, even on rainy days.

Lanterns and tile ashtrays were the craft of choice for Helen Thompson in 1968. A paperweight with a four- leaf clover embedded inside, formed with a regular three leaf and a single one added, pleased Bev Lemanski’s father in 1945. For Beverly Schlatter, who loved the craft hut in the forties, it did not matter what she brought home to her parents, she just liked working with flowers, stones, glue and scissors.

The little yellow painted bowl, with I LOVE YOU inscribed on it, is still in the possession of Maureen Moore’s mother from the sixties, as well as Patsy Walsh’s little leather woven purse in the shape of a triangle from 1938!

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Bullets and Bows–

Published on by Kathy Baker

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“I loved the riflery and still have my NRA diplomas and archery certificates from camp, “ said Diane “Dodo” Dudley (1957-63). “I still shoot and use my pellet guns to shoot at balloons or targets. I am not much for the rifles anymore, since they make too much noise, but I have been back and forth across the country about four times camping, so Maqua did influence me.”

Many of the girls learned new skills that came with these sports, bearing bruises as badges. Kathleen Clements (1961-62) decided after the welt on her forearm from archery, it was not for her, but it did not deter Chris Lambert (1958), who later taught the skills to others at camp.

“I loved riflery and my grandfather had given me a 22 when I was fairly young. I loved learning to shoot standing up, sitting down and laying down. I liked archery, but in the beginning my arm would be all black and blue, so I took an archery class before I taught it, so I could hold it the right way.”

Kim Wynne-Parry (1963-68) felt archery and riflery broadened her horizons and was pleased at how proud her Dad was when she came home from camp with her awards. Rosemary Orgren (1956-58) had to be encouraged to try archery and riflery, but loved that she could hit a target. “My Dad was a hunter and I had learned to shoot tin cans off a log, but the archery always bruised my arm.”

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Falls From Horses–

Published on by Kathy Baker

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Other riders were not so brave. Brooke Sauve (1949-51) would rather have been on a horse than swim. Her parents purchased her first horse when she was four, but she fell and broke her arm. Then the fear set in, so they sold the horse. When she was twelve they bought her another one. “The horses at Maqua were very calm, but I was still afraid and I still am today,” said Brooke.

Coleen Gasta loved the outdoors and also liked the horseback riding in the early sixties, but she had a hard time controlling her horse. “I was too intimidated. I remember my instructor yelling YOU CAN MAKE IT DO ANYTHING YOU WANT! “ (She eventually got into horses later and ended up renting one.)

The “Loon” in 1953 had a “Bulletin” on August 14. “One horse plus one canter equals one broken arm. (Name is Marsha and she’s slowly mending,)” read the piece about instructor Marsha Immerman, who never gave up her love for horses.

During the same time period, her cousin Audrey Graff and friend Molly Olson, recalled the steep embankment on the camp property that was an adventure to ride. It was far from the corral. The three girls loved to ride, but Audrey always had a degree of fear and was not as comfortable with riding as her friends. One day their friend Sherrie Susskind lost her footing in the stirrup and was dragged by the horse, had teeth kicked out and had to have plastic surgery later.

Marcia Sherman, who was also a friend of Marsha Immerman, took riding lessons when she was old enough. “I wasn’t a very big kid, but remember how huge I felt the animal to be in relation to me. One day it threw me and I was knocked out or stunned for a few minutes. The counselor wisely told me to get back on the horse, which I did and made it back to the stable. I may have riddet a few more times that summer, but never became fond of riding as Marsha did.”

Although not a seasoned rider, Amy Falk (1971-74) enjoyed riding. If a horse acted up, she was instructed to get off, but she only remembered doing a dive from a horse that acted up! Pamela Hartz (1966-75) had never been on a horse until camp. “I’m not sure if I was adventurous, but after falling from the horse there, I never wanted to go back on. I didn’t mind being around them, and I liked to groom them, I just didn’t want to ride them.”

Michele Patterson (1971-76) had one event, involving horseback riding, stand out in her mind. She fell off a white horse on an overnight trip. The horse spooked on the trail and she slid backwards off the horse named Champagne. “I was scared to death and I knew you were supposed to get back on the horse, but I just couldn’t. I have spent time with horses in my life, just walking them, but I have never been back on.”

Did you ever fall from your horse at camp? Were you injured?