Blog

Camp Developed Professional Women–

Published on by Kathy Baker

Three women with three different experiences were shaped and influenced by their camping years at Maqua. Each one continued their careers as leaders and attributed many of their skills and successes to experiences at camp.

Carol Hulett, pictured left, was the “Camp Health Director” (or nurse) during the time when it was impossible to find a nurse. After her junior and senior years at Albion College, where she majored in Biology, Carol trained under the American Camping Association and came to Maqua for summers 1973 and 1974, where she ‘learned to be a nurse at camp. Carol always knew she wanted to be a doctor and had a private practice as an Orthopedic Surgeon in Mt. Clemens until 2008.

Carol’s view of camp remains to this day one of well-adjusted, homogenous and mostly white middle class. There had been kids from difficult homes who had problems, but most were happy and enjoyed taking advantage of the activities that camp offered. She had been a camper since the age of eight and had been in camp every year until she was twenty-one.

The only child of second marriage, she felt even though her family had been influential in her values and character, camp was more influential.“I was the youngest in the family and the “bossy brat” at home, but at camp it was okay to be a tomboy and be understood for who I was. In terms of the outdoors, I still canoe and if I have the opportunity, I am outside.”

Kim  Moore, pictured below right with Sheryl Biesman, was nine or ten years old in 1967 or 1968 when she attended Camp Maqua for the first time and went every summer until she turned fifteen when she ended her “career” there as a kitchen aid. Kim helped start a Charter School (DaVinci Institute in Jackson, Mich.), which is a non-traditional school that serves an at-risk population, as there is a prison there with many transitional families. “It is the hardest job I have ever loved, as it is attached to a high school and I started the K-8 section and was principal and now a curriculum coordinator, but those little things from Maqua helped me. Just weaving the plastic lanyards in the craft hut meant I could do that with my students here and I can trace relationship building back to Maqua. The sense of community, being open to meeting new people, and building relationships that I learned at camp have all been put to good use here.”

Read More

Judith Moore– Camp Influence

Published on by Kathy Baker

Judith Moore’s (center front row) stay at Maqua was only two years—1970 and 1971, as an assistant director to Barb Haggart, “catching, fielding, and doing whatever had to be done for Beanie.” She had played sports at Western Michigan University with Sue Wiegand, Nancy Sautter, and Barb and was recruited from the physical education pool. That first summer was a summer she knew she didn’t have to make much money, since she had just been hired on as a physical education teacher in Sarnia, Ontario for a real job in the fall.

“My experience is short, relative to others, just two years and they were the years immediately upon my undergraduate attainment from WMU. I had a teaching job in the upcoming fall, so was talked into going to camp, with no prior experience as a camper or counselor. But, the PE degree would help. It was an amazing experience for me personally as I grew tremendously as a person. So, camp for me was about friendships and personal growth.”

“At camp I honed my leadership and organizational skills, learned to assume responsibility, learned to work with young campers and all their needs for being away from home. I learned that risk management skills were essential to all and came to understand the HUGE responsibility that had been entrusted to the leadership for about 100 campers and 30 counselors. (A very scary thought as I look back.)”

“Facilitating the counselors and their roles, planning and coordinating programs, and finding new enthusiasm after a long hot day for all was essential. Camp management was very integrated and required daily management skills that I was learning on the fly. Really, there was no support system to assist those of us who led—none! We were young 20-25-year-olds making it happen.  Just the quality of the people that were there, despite no directives from the “Y”, made me realize there were enough traditions and foundations to build upon.”

“I have one daughter that went to camp for about 6-8 years as a camper and later as a counselor. She still laughs and talks about it. It is a special time for the young campers for sure. I am bound that I will pay for the camping experience for any grandchildren that I may have, it is that important to me.”

“There is another part of this experience that was valuable. As a young woman graduate, the opportunities for me were not the same as young men at that time. This was pre Title Nine. All the counselors had on the job training for leadership as a result of Maqua. I am only guessing but would think that they are or have been leaders in their lives. They gained confidence, honed management, and organizational skills, learned empath, developed a work ethic and actually felt responsibility. These are very important skills in life. Mentoring was alive!”

Judy found her niche in athletics as the Director of Physical Education for the University of Waterloo and through her sports, brought her field hockey teams to six different Olympics. She coached field hockey, continuing the leadership role as a mentor in sports, as well as commentating for the broadcasts.

Maqua remained a cornerstone for her growth. “What a playground it was for me to practice my leadership skills. I attribute my introduction to my career to the leadership and savvy experiences I gained at Maqua,” said Judy. “It turned out being at camp was everything it could be for me. It was rich, meaningful fun. It was a rich group of like-minded people feeding each other and it was very empowering.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Camp As A Slice Of Life—

Published on by Kathy Baker

Learning to get along with people at camp was an integral part of the whole camping experience. Thrown together in a cabin with seven others, or working beside counselors of different walks of life and ages made for interesting and sometimes challenging dynamics. Camp was like a microcosm of the world and a great place to learn how diverse a group of women can be!

Carolyn Waits, pictured above, insisted all the skills she learned at camp in the mid-fifties in archery, riflery, swimming, and boating contributed to her confidence as a young woman, as well as relationship building. “When you are in a situation where you have to get along with a lot of people and especially an environment without your family, you learn. I had good lessons in getting along and put them to use when I worked with NASA as a manager on the Hubbell Telescope. When you have so many different people working on a project like that, you have to get along.”

“Camp Maqua taught me to get along with other people. There was never any competition among the girls. The counselors did a fabulous job making sure of that,” said Mary Hewes (1946). Patsy Walsh (1938), who was an only child, also felt camp taught her to be with other girls and older girls, as well as conformity to rules and regulations. Audrey Delcourt (1968-69) learned skills that helped her work with people, especially when she began to teach college kids.

“For a girl like me who was introverted, camp grounded me into a natural world.,” said Kim Wynne-Parry (1963+) “I had the ability to relate to other girls in life and meet girls from all over, not just Michigan. The college girls were role models and they must have chosen them wisely because they had much to offer and emulate. It was a unique experience that I could not duplicate for my daughter. I am so grateful for my parents, who sent me there, I am sure, to experience that.”

“I had the greatest childhood every at camp,” said sixties camper Dawn Sohigian.”I cherish the memories and friendships with girlfriends. I still do sleepovers and Kathy, Missy, Kim and I sing the camp songs and know all the words. Camp taught me to be a good person. I developed bonds with women and they made me a better person who thought of others. Patenge was the best. We looked up to all those girls.”

“When you go away for a summer, all of a sudden it teaches you to adjust to new situations and to get along. Just living with others, not having your family around, and even not having your parents there to protect you, it is a very rewarding experience,” admitted Susan. Kiltie (1960-68) “ Camp Maqua was a wonderful place to go in the summer.

Pamela Hartz  (1966-75) had two career paths after she left Maqua. One was teaching special education and the other was counseling older adults and working with marketing and communication. “It is fascinating that both my careers were primarily influenced by connections and the communications of being with women. I was always more comfortable relating to other women.”

Socially, camping in the sixties helped Cindy Morrison, who feels like she can now command control of a whole room in the restaurant business. Alternately, if she is put in a room with a few people, she develops stage fright. “I was always the last one to volunteer to do a skit in the lodge, but camp taught me to get along with everyone, which I still do.”

Pat Kula (!946) learned skills she didn’t know and eating and living together with other girls were new to her. Lucille Greenwald (1947-50) learned to get along and to do her share. “Even though I had always gotten along with people, we learned to take turns.”

Dorothy Bonnen (1942) felt her timidity was lessened by learning to live with other girls, which in turn allowed her to become more friendly. Jennifer Fenton (1971-78) now feels like a well-rounded person and although camp sometimes positioned her into situations that were not always comfortable for her, she developed into a team player at camp and in life.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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.”

Read More

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.”

Read More

Camp Was A Gift–

Published on by Kathy Baker

Diane Dudley(1957-63) was one of the writers for “The Loon” and saved many of her copies.  Her time at Maqua was very influential, and her love for the woods influenced her to continue living in the woods to this day. She sent a passage from a book by G.K. Chesterton from one of his short stories-”The Sins of Prince Saradine”, from the book “Father Brown—The Essential Tales”.

“Father,” said Flambeau suddenly, “do you think it was all a dream?’ The priest shook his head, whether in dissent or agnosticism, but remained mute. A smell of hawthorns and of orchards came to them through the darkness, telling them that a wind was awake; the next moment it swayed their little boat and swelled their sail, and carried them onward down the winding river to happier places and the homes of harmless men.”

“Well, that’s the feeling I remember most— reminds me of the whole point of summer camp,” said Diane. “The memory of good things also brought on the smell of 612 insect lotion.”

“I remember not liking air conditioning in our house after returning from camp. I loved the outdoors, the water and the smell of camp,” said Sally Hurand, who camped in the mid-sixties.“ That place was a place to live out being a child outside the academics and expectations of our parents. I could become one with nature, be an Indian, be in a different place and time. I never perceived camp as an escape but as a gift. It was the luxury that my parents could afford for me. When I first started, it was scary for a kid who was away from home for the first time, but I did ask if I could go back. It was an adventure and it was part of being healthy as a kid—to go to camp. The more I experienced the natural world, the more I liked it. The more I liked it, the more it felt like a gift to me. I just remember camp was camp and life was life.”

Read More