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Camp Strengthened Young Women–

Published on by Kathy Baker

Ask Cindy Knapp, shown above, (1968-71)— there was no question that her time at Maqua influenced who she was as a person.  ‘I loved my summers there, treasure the memories and friendships that were formed, and am grateful to have had the opportunity. Maqua helped give me confidence and taught me a lot about leadership.  I had always wanted to be a teacher and I know some of that desire is from the modeling of teaching that I watched at Maqua.  We learned to be friendly, kind, loyal, curious, confident, respectful, responsible, trustworthy, fair, and strong.  That’s pretty good character building, if you ask me.”

“I became a teacher and there is no question that my camp experiences have influenced my career.  When I taught sixth grade for several years, it was a tradition to go to a nearby Y camp for three days.  I recreated a lot of the program, using my Maqua experience as a model.  (Prior to that, it was kind of just school in a different place and I was having none of that!). I always sang the old songs with my kids.   I have been teaching preschool for the last 12 years and the Maqua songs are especially fun with them!”

Tally Cone (1960-65) became a teacher and had always wanted to teach the younger kids, but after her Mastes degree, she taught math to middle school kids. “Maybe, I ended up being drawn to the age that I actually was at camp. I love middle school kids. One day, they are wanting a sticker on their work, and the next they are crying over a break-up of a boyfriend or girlfriend.”

She and her husband retired early, after raising two daughters. Both girls went to camp, but they never camped as a family. Instead, as teachers, they were able to take the summers off and visit the U.S. “Now when I see a birch tree or even smell “S’Mores” or a campfire, I think of Camp Maqua.”

Carol  Wahl used her camp counseling experience for years on her resume, until her resume filled up with the many jobs she had. Many of her years have been spent in education as a science teacher for adjudicated teens. “I use the lab as hands-on for the kids as much as possible, and many have returned to say it was their favorite class. When I was at camp and saw the bad behaviors in the girls, I made sure I taught mine better. Camp was a wonderful experience for campers and counselors. I still have rocks from camp painted with “Camp Maqua 1974” and a piece of driftwood somewhere.”

“When I think of camp, I think of home,” said Sharon Williams, a counselor in the seventies. “It was my summer home. We were just a group of people working together having a great time. We were open and accepting of each other. You came into your own at eighteen and nineteen and there were many changes and time to develop. Those times really helped to shape and reaffirm my career choice in physical education. My first job in teaching was junior high level in Plymouth Middle School.”

Pat  O’Tool l (1944-52) loved arts and crafts and went on to become an art teacher, convinced that the arts she learned to enjoy at camp influenced her career choice. “The leadership and supervision and forever directing something as a kid influenced me to teach, To this day, she still teaches art and still remembers the postcard from Camp Maqua featuring the girls in front of the craft hut.”

When Sue Michelson (1963-73) was not at camp, she was babysitting or volunteering with children at home—always involved in the community in some way. Her camping days and love of children helped to make the career choice of becoming a K-12 principal. As a teacher, responsible for children and talking to parents, her roots with writing reports as a camp director gave her great experience.“Camp Maqua was so influential in my life“ Part of the reason I went to Michigan State was due to many of my counselor friends going there. Half of us went to Michigan and the other half to Western. It was more than a summer experience. It was a huge part of my life. I had always wanted to be a teacher, and I looked up to those counselors.

Others were influenced to attend a certain college, Betsy Falvey, (1968-75) said, “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.”

“I think camp guided me into teaching,” said Carolyn Stanton (below) (1947+). “ I was a waitress at Camp Sherwood and Huntingdon later, so I liked camps. I ended up as a reading specialist and got my Masters in the eighties. I had good values already, but camp strengthened them.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

Camp Shaped Lives–

Published on by Kathy Baker

Priscilla Johns, (above) (1968+) loved all the activities at camp—the arts and crafts, the horseback riding and nature. “I remember the first summer as I got on my horse and walked through the woods, I thought I would rather be galloping,” she said. “I learned to pick up a snake and not be afraid, even after the little garter snake bit me. I can still build a great fire from learning at camp and I know the girls used to say, call Cilla because she will get the fire started right away. And to swim in a lake or jump of the dock is simply amazing,” said Cilla. “There is nothing like a Michigan summer. Hot during the day, but you could swim and then throw on a sweatshirt and jeans at night. Ah—the fresh air! I think this is why I got into dentistry with children. I work a lot with special needs patients and I was drawn to it from my Maqua days. I always loved being silly, so I threw myself into a profession that would accommodate my personality!”

“I loved the campfires and the friendship circles and the bonding with others. Just being in nature and yet having a routine was great,”  said Laya Rose (1937-48)  “ I came from a home where my parents both worked and I was on my own a great deal. I realized that everyone needed something and everyone brought a gift to camp. My needs were met there. I think my gift was listening to others with kindness and connecting to people. I had enthusiasm for living and camping—maybe because I am not a low-key type of person. I was a people person then and I am still a people person now.”

Jenifer Penzien (1969-71) recalled the movie “The Parent Trap”, starring Hailey Mills as twins separated who find each other at camp, which aired around the time she thought about going to camp. She attributed her camping experiences for her love of horseback riding, canoeing, and kayaking—all of which she continues to do to this day.

Sue Robson’s career as a “User Experience Counselor” with web page design involves observing people using software and she feels as if her observer tendencies as a child have come in handy with her work. She also volunteers at an art center and it always reminds her of the arts and crafts of her camp days in the seventies. Barb Ballor expressed how camp fostered kindness to others, which encouraged her into the nurturing profession of nursing, as well as to send her boys to camp.

Sometimes, it was just the little things that camp taught the girls that meant the most.  For Karen Kaiser (1959-62), it was simply music, campfires, the ceremonies and “ the chance to become who we were” and for Judy Kessler, her love for the outdoors began at camp in 1946 and it was always just a magical place.

Three women, Kathy Butsch (1968-74), Randi Wynne-Parry (1969-73) and Beth Taylor (1966+) were influenced to become involved with the Girl Scouts, either as a leader or member of a troop. All three drew on their experiences at camp and to this day they all enjoy the outdoors.

For Sue Purdue(1964-68), shown on the right of this photo with fellow staff member Anne Pennington, the realization of how important the camp experience did not occur until she was older.“Who knew they would be such formative years. We had instincts and urgings of vulnerability but since it was a girl’s camp, it was instrumental in my self-esteem.  I believed in myself and I felt like I could do anything. I felt like I could speak my mind. Camp was a culmination and a big part of who I am. I always knew I wanted to work with kids after that and earned a Masters degree in guidance and counseling after my undergrad degree in physical education. I believe I came into my own and look back at the fact that I was in charge of such young kids at a young age, but Dorthe did a great job as a director with seriousness and responsibility. We had fun, we made a few bad decisions, but we were all searching for acceptance and now look………all the close friendships are being re-consummated!”

 

 

 

Camp Influenced Many Lives—

Published on by Kathy Baker

 

 

With so many girls gaining many experiences, each unique to their personalities, their home life, their own skills and interest, it is not surprising how many different answers came to the question, “How did Camp Maqua influence your life?”

Jan Schrieber (left)(1962-70), now a Psychologist in San Francisco, was the creator of the Camp Maqua Alumni page on Facebook in 2010, following the death of her mother. She was extremely close to her Mom, who she described as creative, funny and truly wonderful. “I started thinking about the things that made ME! How much of life has passed now and that was just a nugget of experience, but I stayed connected to many of those girls.”

What began as a page with about six members has grown to 250 members in the eight-year period and has been a tremendous networking forum for those who treasured their times at camp. It has also been a feeder platform for obtaining the history for the book “Camp Maqua” and the blogs on www.girlsofcampmaqua.com

“I’m an oncology nurse now and manage a research department,” said Debi Gottlieb (!968+). “I cannot imagine that going to camp did not affect me in my life. It was a place where girls could be themselves and get to know other girls without their parents,  and the usual rules. It was just a fun place to be!”

Camp transported Nancy Weber away from home in the sixties and influenced her future career. “I was the youngest child of older parents. By the time I was ten, my brother was in high school and my sister was in college. I look back and realize camp made me comfortable with my eccentricities. You can take me anywhere and I fit in. Whether it is camping, raising coonhounds, or with the gentry, I cherish that I can fit in.  It didn’t show up at camp but did later—my comfort with myself. And fifty years later, I can still fold a flag perfectly!”

“I have memories of my sister’s time at camp, and I knew all the songs before I went to camp, but it was a different time and a different experience. I have a degree in teaching and counseling and I am now a public speaker, but I sang songs to my kids when I was teaching that made me a hit.”

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Camp As A Confidence Builder–

Published on by Kathy Baker

 

Whether it was gaining confidence, being nurtured for the first time, or learning new skills in activities unknown to young girls before their arrival at camp, Maqua always had a reputation for their incredible staff leadership from the top down.

“Camp was all about confidence in terms of getting along with people,” said Elaine Engibous (left). (1961-63) “I always wanted to go over my birthday because everyone sang to you and you were a very important person on that day— not just a” run of the mill” camper on your birthday, but special. The camping experience was the opening of an exciting time, where I never hesitated to take advantage of some new adventure. I learned to share. I learned that counselors knew what careers they wanted to do—architects, nurses, and it was all okay and you could do anything you wanted to. There were incredible personalities to follow—Beanie, and the counselors.”

“You know, years later I went to Girl’s State and the Lt. Governor’s wife got up to speak about how important politics were. She told us to hold hands with each other and that we would probably never see each other again. At Maqua, we were all treated well and at the wishing boat ceremony, never did we say out loud as we held hands that we would not see each other again. We would write and hope we might see each other and we might think it, but at Girl’s State, they already had us divided!”

For Susan Prieskorn (1966-72), all the exposure to new things at camp developed her confidence in her new skills. “I loved the swimming, camping outdoors, being able to cook outside and develop athleticism in an era when girls were doing more than cheerleading! It was cool to be athletic.”

Her sister Cara, (1966-71) paid little attention to the horses, as she had one at home, but “class-wise, I always loved archery, riflery, swimming, and all the waterfront activities. I know that when you did distance swimming, the miles would be posted on the board by the waterfront. I would swim for an hour and post a mile, but I’m pretty sure it wasn’t a mile. I worked hard for my sharpshooter badge. I still swim and shoot as an adult and I think camp taught me some practical things like how to start a fire, use an ax and identify poison ivy leaves.”

Connie Cruey (left) loved the camaraderie of the sleeping cabins in the fifties that helped her form new friendships away from her existing friends in other cabins. She loved being involved in everything from horseback riding to swimming. Her goal was to make it to the raft and she succeeded. She ended up working at camps in college, teaching others to swim, while she worked on her degree in Physical Education at C.M.U. To this day, she still does laps in the pool three days a week.”

Camp Maqua was a very positive leadership experience for Kathy Hall (1966-71). She retired from marketing, but during her career in non-profits working in the community, she felt that camp helped her develop her spirit and drive. “I liked giving back,” said Kathy, who earned the Athena award and many other international leadership awards, including the YWCA. “Maqua was a happy camp, which was a mind-altering experience for me.”

“Everybody I talked to about camp thought it was special,” said Audrey Graff (below) (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.”

 

 

 

Camp Developed Leaders–

Published on by Kathy Baker

Camp Maqua developed some amazing leaders, not only on the camp grounds but later in life. Women in leadership roles influenced young girls at camp, whether they were aware or not. The young girls looked up to the counselors, who were in college attaining degrees in fields that women of the past dare not dream about as a career.

Cheryl  Short was twelve years old in 1964 and the second oldest in a family of seven in Bay City when she first attended Camp Maqua. A self-described driven and in charge person, Cheryl said she was always the giver and not the taker. “I was a nurturer. A lot of the values and qualities that were instilled in us at camp, I already had. I was not shy either. It was one week out of one year in my life. I already knew who I was as a child. I just enjoyed that time just being a kid, being free to be me for a whole week with no dishes, no chores, and no responsibilities.”

“When I became a Mom, we worked to get our kids into the special camps they wanted to attend, so they could share those values. It was one part of my life I wanted my son and daughter to share,” said Cheryl. “ I was President of the “Special Days” Cancer Camp and now sit on the board. I have been involved for many years. Those times reminded me of my camp experience and it was fun to see kids who had cancer having fun because I don’t remember ever really being a kid.”

Cheryl’s position is one with large responsibilities now—President of McLaren Bay Special Care, with a great many initials behind her name!

In 1967 Lin Harris had just graduated from college and sent out twelve postcards looking for jobs. Eleven of them replied. With credentials in water safety instruction, she was just what Dorthe Balaskas needed for Camp Maqua, plus Dorthe was curious who would apply for a job by postcard.

Her Mom died when she was fourteen in 1957, and she had attended Indian Beach Camp in Grand Traverse Bay. It changed her life and she said her heart was there. That camp allowed her to see strong women in leadership positions running the camp. Even as a swimming instructor at the “Y” in Flint, she realized that women were not given the same opportunities, despite the fact that she felt like she was doing something positive teaching women a skill.

“Up until then, girls were just teachers or airline stewardesses or nurses. Women were not given the opportunity. I did not have many women role models until then. I realized I could do anything I wanted to.”

She and a friend took 14 girls on a primitive trip to Manitou Island. Jennifer McLogan and Laurie Cullen were two of the girls from Maqua that were on that trip. Lin was amazed later to find out many of the girls on that trip became doctors.

Lin taught physical education in high school, mainly swimming. “Maqua meant the whole world to some people and provided opportunities they may not have had. It also filled in empty spaces for staff and campers alike.”

Karen Selby’s friend Rene Baker was the daughter of her father’s law partner in Bay City and had camped at Maqua for a few years. Rene’s Mom had invited Karen and her Mom, who had been on the board, to attend the camp rally or jamboree at the “Y” when she was about twelve or thirteen in the early seventies. “I was interested since Rene was my older and more mischievous friend, so I thought it would be fun.”

Karen then returned as a counselor and spent the last three years (1976-1978) as an arts counselor with some huge changes taking place at the camp. Unbeknownst to her, she spent the last year of her camping days in a camp that would close that last summer, as she donned her pale blue shirt to distinguish herself from the campers.

“As a human being, going to camp began to teach me the value of service and the understanding that I had many opportunities and how many I had been given. Those were invaluable things. It also taught me to be self-assured and confident in my competence. It taught me to be willing to walk out on a limb and to have faith in what I was doing—that failure was alright and that I was not made by my failures. It was up to me to decide what to do with my failures. Part of being able to go so far in my profession (Ph.D. Professor at U of D Mercy in research, literacy, and education) was pushing the envelope. I didn’t wait to be given permission to succeed and that if I failed, I was not my failure.”

“My teaching style was cemented as a camp staffer. I am still today who I was when I arrived at camp. I have trust and faith in my students and their ability to bring their brilliance to the table. I recognize it in others and myself.”

 

 

 

 

 

Camp Envy–The Next Generation

Published on by Kathy Baker

Spring has thawed the ice on the lake and our photographic friend, Carole Elizabeth Wilson, is famous for getting up early for her daily sunrise photo to share. She is the weather girl on the lake, letting us all know when the loons are out or nesting, what the temps. are and what incredible sunrises and sunsets we enjoy. I am in Florida awaiting the journey north to escape the Florida heat and humidity that is just around the corner.

This year our summer home is even more meaningful to us, after selling our home of 38 years with all its memories tucked in each corner. The house was built with love by an uncle of my husband, who is from Hale, and his brother, who was my husband’s father. Various family members helped to build this first home we ever owned, and a Hale stonemason created the Michigan fieldstone fireplace that held our many stockings at Christmas and even a few fires!

Our four children had mixed feelings about the sale of the home they grew up in but had one thing to say. “Do not ever sell the lodge!” For all the memories that were stored in their childhood home, none could compare to their relaxing and carefree summers on Loon Lake. It is where they learned to ski, build campfires, play in treehouses, hike trails, and enjoy the out of doors. Their happy times included making new summer friendships, driving the boat, fishing, catching fireflies and camping in the bunkhouse next to the lodge with their cousins. For all of you who camped and worked here, those were memories that are relatable.

This summer the entire family will gather in July and for the first time ever we hope to have every one of our children, spouses, and grandchildren all in one place. It will be a new experience for this growing family, who we manage to see on a regular basis, but not as a huge unit. With the new loft and extra space, we have room for everyone on the east side. The importance of the lodge as a gathering place will be cemented by the new memories made by the next generations.

With our life in transition and retirement just around the corner, the lodge gives us a sense of permanence and a place for future projects and reunions. It will always be our summer happy place. Our hearts remain in Florida where our children were born and raised, but our Michigan souls remain at Maqua. As the blogs come to an end in June, the transition of this website will turn to stories from the existing residents and perhaps a laugh or two. Thank you for all your special memories that have helped to keep the history of this magical place alive.