Friendships and Relationships

Camp Friendships–

Published on by Kathy Baker


The friendships of camp often began before sessions even started!. Many knew friends from school or had cousins who attended at the same time and numerous women stayed in touch their whole lives after meeting new friends at camp.

Young girls Helen Hasty (1943-50) met at Camp Maqua would go on to become some of the best friends of her life, including Bernie Van Pelt. They shared the same sorority and Helen stood up at Bernie’s wedding. “It was truly a remarkable place. I am so happy my Mom had the foresight to send me there. It enriched my life and played a large part of my growing up years. It was a happy, peaceful place and everyone seemed to get along”,

“Everybody I talked to about camp thought it was special,” said Audrey Graff, who began in 1948. “It was life-changing and Maqua was not an ordinary camp. I was a counselor in college at another camp, but it was not the same experience.  There was something intangible about Maqua—a feeling of community and interrelationships. It was a wonderful way to spend the summer. I made idyllic friendships and I think the wonderful spirit at Maqua came from the top down. There was always such a spiritual feeling. The whole atmosphere at camp was positive. I had a sister who died of degenerative disease at eight and it had been an agonizing few years. Maybe camp made a difference–to be with happy people, happy counselors—it just added to me having a good time.”

“In sixth grade, Mardi Jo Link and I became inseparable friends, “ said Michele Patterson (1971-76). “ I am mentioned in her book “The Drummond Girls” as Mike, not Michele. I camped every year with her. One parent would drive us up and another parent would pick us up.”

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Camp As A Family Tradition–

Published on by Kathy Baker

Aside from the wonderful experiences and skills the girls learned at camp, many were so enamored with their adventures, they made sure their kids attended a camp.

“Camp was definitely one of my top life highlights and memories that I have ever done, “ said sixties camper Holly Foss. “It was always the highlight of my year and I cried when I had to leave. There was so much bonding and it was a fun escape from living, just being outdoors and laughing so much. It was an absolute joy.”

“The confidence factor, not from the survival but the skills I learned—like sailing and canoeing and the backpack trips. I would never have done that otherwise. There was a sense of accomplishment. It is hard to know whether I would have felt that if I had not gone to camp. The girls made lifelong friendships. I know if there was a reunion right now that I would be instantly back to those days with the girls I went to camp with.”

“I live in Colorado now and there is not much of an environment for canoeing or kayaking, but when I am in Michigan, I try to fit that in. My daughter is thirteen and I send her to a Y camp in Michigan and I encourage her to do the overnight trips. I cannot wait for her to come home each summer and share those experiences with me. It is similar to Maqua, and had it been still open, she would be there.”

“I loved the arts and crafts and the decoupage boxes we made in the Craft Hut. We would beat them up and then decoupage them,” said Val Van Laan (1965-70). “I liked the whole experience at camp. Learning to swim, boat, singing “Leaving on a Jet Plane” and “Rise and Shine” with all the hand motions in the lodge. That’s why I sent my kids to camp and why I loved going to the scouting “Mom and Me” camps with them.”

Anne Shutt (1961-66) had one son and two daughters and admitted she tried to find a camp like Maqua to send her children to. One daughter was the assistant director for a Michigan camp for fifteen years. In addition to those lasting days influencing her life, she also continued her love of the outdoors with a cabin on the north branch of the Au Sable in Grayling. After camp, Anne attended an all-girls boarding school and had a great time. “You recognize who you are at camp. It was such a great time. Camp just let me be me!”

Kathy Krohn’s camping experiences at Maqua in the third through sixth grade (1965-1968)  were so memorable, that she continues to this day reading books about camps, and even sent her son to a camp as natural as Maqua, so he could have similar good memories. “I needed to share what Camp Maqua was to me—a single gender camp where most people did not know who you were, or where you came from or what you had. I did not want him in a fancy camp. I wanted a campy camp, so he went to the same one my father attended as a child.”

The camp influenced Amy Falk’s love of nature in the seventies and the simple existence, which heightened the importance of camp so much so that she sent her kids to real camps to continue the outdoor fun. “I thought it was great to be thrown together with different kids to enjoy the same things and get away from our families.”

Some. Like Pat Rehmus, (1962-65) who had triplet boys, wanted them to go to camp, but they didn’t want to go. Finally, two of them attended a camp in Lake Tahoe and the third homebody stayed home, but she found the cost of camps out west were outrageous.

“In those days camp was different. It helped mold me for sure. Just getting away from home and not being homesick was formative. It gave me self-confidence, where I could make decisions in a larger community. We had to listen to our counselors, but we had a lot of freedom, even to choose our activities.”

Carla Schweinsberg decided to send both her girls to camp, since she had such a great time in the fifties. “Where else can you all get up as a group, eat as a group, and have fun as a group besides camp? It is a place where we all learned to get along with each other and I thought it was the greatest thing in the whole world.”

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The Falvey Sisters/Camp Influence

Published on by Kathy Baker

“My own personal growth was tied to camp”, said Amy (1969-78). “Part of the beauty of an all-girls camp with women as counselors and directors was that girl power feminist thing. Our staff were like goddesses. We had no men telling us what to do. There was a ton of personal growth that was totally invaluable, because we desired to be like the counselors. We watched women who represented success and they were inspirational. They talked about what they were going to do with their lives and they were doing whatever they wanted. Being in that safe environment while still being able to explore out of our comfort zone was wonderful.”

“I think about how much positive energy there was with all the awards, working with our cabins as a unit, taking care of our belongings and working with other girls to win the Honor Cabin banner. I tell you no one could be lazy or the other type A’s would drag you up to take part in the cleanup. It was team building! Even playing capture the flag with the entire camp outside divided up into two groups was team building. Hiding the bandanas and then being told not to run to locate it, as we were busy racing all over camp, was one of my favorite evenings.”

Basically camp was “Nirvana” for Amy because the days were busy. “It was like going home. It was our summer home. When the “Y” had their spring event near St. Patrick’s Day, I started packing. From that day forward, it was all about camp. I packed and that was my whole social structure. I was always extremely independent, but camp was a huge in leadership formation for me. Betsy and I ended up at Alma College with the same homey family atmosphere as we left at Maqua. I studied International Business, but I minored in theatre and dance. We always had to create skits and perform and sing and I still do have a passion for community theatre. I was shy in the beginning but I became more extrovert and by the end of my camping days, I was leading in silly skits and songs.”

“Maybe due to the fact we didn’t have a large extended family, camp was that much more important to me,” said Betsy (1968-75). “It was my first experience with this large family of women. I didn’t care for high school or junior high. I was socially miserable from September to May. I never felt appreciated because I was straight, smart and conservative in most things. I was not wildly popular and I just never felt a part of school. I felt far more accepted at camp. It wasn’t about the makeup or the boys. I was smart and sarcastic, but my friends at school were not wildly popular either. If the popular girls went to camp, it was usually just one summer.”

“ I never got picked to be anything, but when about fourteen or fifteen girls applied for the kitchen aide job and I got picked, it was a big deal to me! It was the first time I had ever “won” anything. I was popular for grades and was the teacher’s pet, but this was ME they picked! I think I figured my pay for the summer worked out to be seven cents an hour, but that was $100 to wash dishes for the summer,” said Betsy.

“But, I do feel like camp influenced my choice of college. I chose a small college and I was active in my sorority and my major was history, but my minor was in music. Everyone was singing and playing guitars at camp, including me, so I was in a band in college. I think I am the only one I know with a liberal arts degree that has made it work in my life.”

 

 

 

 

The Augustyniak Sisters/Camp Influence

Published on by Kathy Baker

Camp had a tremendous influence on sisters Chris and Sue Augustyniak. “There was a regular rhythm to our camp experience”, said Sue (1962-68). “Our parents would drop us off and on the way home we would go out of our way to have fried chicken at Frankenmuth. Our parents wanted us to become independent and they encouraged us. We felt like we could do anything. We mastered skills. We were expected to do well and we did.  Saying goodbye on the last day was always a sad day.”

“I was an extrovert and made friends easily, but I was also a well-behaved kid”, said sister Chris. (1963-66) “We lived in Bloomfield Hills near Pontiac and I remember that I liked being out of doors picking wildflowers, strawberries and asparagus in rural farmland, but I hated those overnight canoe trips. I hated the bugs, sleeping on the ground and not having a shower,” said Chris. “Although one year when our family took a trip out west, Sue and I convinced our family to rent a cabin and we made a campfire, because we had done that at Maqua. I had an appreciation for the outdoors, but I love having my shower and cream in my coffee and a bed. Sue and I enjoyed our Maqua experience, but our much younger sister Stephanie missed out because it was already closed by the time she could have attended.”

Chris, who was at Camp Maqua from aged ten to sixteen, was three years older than her sister Sue. A friend of hers, Patty Dale, wanted to go, but not alone. Chris had never thought about camp, but she decided to give it a try. She was not homesick and despite the fact that her friend Patty did not return the following year, Chris and another friend Mary Dudley did return. Chris continued until aged sixteen when she reached an age that she could work.”

“In 1967 our family returned to the ancestral homeland of both our parents, who were war refugees from Poland and Italy. Since my parents came to the United States as adults, we didn’t learn the Americana and traditions that other girls may have. Toasting marshmallows, singing the folk songs and other activities were learned at camp,” said Chris.

“Our family was very familial (traditional) and wanted my sister and me to have an education. They also waited until we were done with camp to have family vacations, unlike some of the parents who had them when their kids were at camp. By age six I knew I wanted to go to college and our parents wanted us to be independent and self-sufficient. They taught us to drive at thirteen and I think our camp experiences added and reinforced that self-sufficiency.”

“I was introduced to many new things at Camp Maqua, including archery, which I was very good at and rowing, swimming and canoeing. Sue and I persuaded our family to rent canoes one year because we had learned those skills at camp. There were many beautiful rivers in Michigan, but our family was never very athletic.”

“Learning to swim at Maqua was a benefit when I went to Harvard.  One of the requirements to attend happened to be swimming the length of the pool, which you would not think Harvard would be known for. I did make the length, even though I hate getting my ears wet. You could pass if you could get across in any way—floating, swimming or dog paddle. That requirement was due to the memory of Mr. Harry Elkins Widener and son, who lost their lives when they were unable to swim as the Titanic went down. His wife had a library built in their memory with $2 million, which was an incredible amount in that era! Another stipulation— every Harvard student had to pass a swimming test.”

“I know that my parents were delighted when I came home from camp one summer to find that I had lost weight from running up and down the steps to and from the lodge and my cabin. I was kind of a chubby kid., “ laughed Chris.

 

 

Ashes On The Lake

Published on by Kathy Baker

INTERVIEWS WITH GEORGE BROWN AND SHIRLEY WONTORCIK–Husband and best friend of deceased SANDY LANGELL BROWN

Sandy Langell spent three or four summers in the late forties at Camp Maqua and told her husband, daughter Trina and best friends Shirley and John Wontorcik that they were the best years of her life.

“One of the last things she asked me to do,” said her husband,” was to spread her ashes on Loon Lake. She loved the water, lakes and the country. I was able to determine what lake the camp was on from some notes she had made one year.”

“My wife’s personality was that of a bright and shiny person—always smiling. She was part fish and loved the water. She was so torn up to leave Midland when her father was transferred to Boulder, Colorado. Even though she graduated from high school in Boulder, she always came back for the Midland reunions.”

Sandy suffered a stroke and the passed away from cancer in December 2009 at the age of seventy-three. Shirley and John were able to track down who to contact at the camp and despite the fact that my husband and I were not up at the lake in early summer of 2010, residents Thom and Lydia Engel took her husband, daughter and two friends out by boat for the ceremony.

“We had a little service on their pontoon boat and spread her ashes and felt we couldn’t have been luckier,” said George. “The people who took us out were absolutely fantastic and they treated us like they had known us forever and even gave us a tour of the camp.”

Shirley and Sandy were close friends in middle school, but their friendship developed even more in high school. Although Shirley did not attend Camp Maqua, Sandy’s friend Dixie Maxwell went with her and has since died, also. Shirley also described her best friend as a fish but said she was very easy to get along with.

“It was the circle of life,” said George. “Those were the happiest days of her life. It was the biggest thrill for her to swim in Loon Lake and spend time with the other girls in the little cabins.”

Maggie LeDoux had a friend who passed away that had attended camp. She bought a book of camp songs from Restoration Hardware and sang them to her while she was ill, along with photos from camp. Cynthia Gregory was also at a funeral for a fellow camper and discovered at the wake that many of her friends had also camped at Maqua, so they all sang the songs. Kerry Weber had one wish from her camper friend who passed away—for her to share Maqua memories. These stories are reminders of how lasting the Maqua experience was for many young girls.

A few years ago, one of our beautiful Maqua residents, Sandy West, passed away from ALS. Those who loved her boated out on Loon Lake and spread her ashes over the water, as one of her favorite songs was played. I’m quite certain these traditions won’t be the last from our friends.

A Safe And Happy Camp

Published on by Kathy Baker

The physical plant of Camp Maqua was listed as ‘rustic” in the 1971 report from the Dept. of Social Services, but “conducive to a quality camp experience”. The report confirmed the positives of the camp stating, “Camp Maqua is definitely a fun place to be for YWCA girls. The program is varied and complete and the leadership is mature and experienced.” With that recommendation, the camp received it license for 1972.

“It appeared all fears and anxieties relative to being away from home had been dispelled,” wrote James Sweeting, who evaluated the camp in 1974 for the Dept. of Social Services. “A wholesome rapport between campers and staff members was obvious throughout the camp.”

Ann Pennington (1963-72) said, “Maqua was never a pretentious camp. The simple things made it special. The camp directors concentrated on the basics of outdoor life and physical activity, and it was a building block for me. That atmosphere of activity helped me make the decision to go into teaching and physical education”,

Dorothe Balaskas was the camp’s director for most of the years Ann was there, and she remembers that all the girls respected her so much that they would have done anything to help her out. Ann went off to college, thinking it would be the last time she would attend Maqua, until she heard there was to be a new director. She drove to Bay City to a meeting at the Y, only to discover that her physical education teacher Sue Patenge was going to be the new director. Ann decided, along with her friend Ann Carney, that they should return to help Sue transition her first year as a director with knowledgeable counselors under her.  Both Anns were indicative of the strong leaders that kept Camp Maqua’s reputation so positive for all those years.

Alice Bishop had been the camp director in 1961 and her report illustrated the type of order that made for such an organized camp. The counselors were in their cabins from 1:00-4:00 to receive the campers and other staff members were assigned to jobs with parking, luggage delivery, waterfront watch, and money collection.  This type of schedule was used for every session and helped with the continuity of the camp.

Cathy Hawkins, who camped in the sixties, said, “It was a happy camp and there was something for everyone. It was a good nature experience for girls, especially to be away from home.”

“It was a happy camp with no bullying. It wasn’t tolerated. Everyone got along because there were strong leaders with a strong, positive influence, “ said Missy Butsch, who also camped in the sixties.

Ilene Zacher (1959+) attended camp in the era when the Jewish camp movement began and attended Tamarack, but thought it was more like a retreat than a camp. She enjoyed the feel and experience she had at Maqua much more.

“As much as I loved my summers at my cottage with my family, I loved the giving and loving environment of Maqua. Everybody had a place there. Everyone got awards. There was one summer when I was twelve that I went to tennis camp in downtown Detroit. Mrs. Hoxie, who was famous in the tennis circles and a friend of my grandmother, took me under her wing. I was with older kids that summer and it was completely different, but I went back to Maqua the next summer. Honestly, I was so busy that summer, I never had time to miss it,” said Chris Lambert, who began in 1958.

“It was one huge family and there was so much inclusiveness. I was a shy kid then, but the thing that struck me then was how much we were all included. Our cabin became our family and we all became close. Later, as a staffer, we wanted to do that for our campers—-provide that feeling of being included.”

Stephanie Patterson (1961-65) went off to Maqua at the age of ten, reluctant, but came away with a great feeling of being welcomed with open arms from a diverse group of people. Others, like Jane Linder (1956+), felt it was run as a true Christian camp and Barb Rehmus (1965-76) loved the warmth and safety she felt over her long camping years at Maqua.