The sun smiled on us for our big celebration, with over eighty former campers, staff, residents, and their families, plus volunteers from the Plainfield Township Historical Commission. The guests enjoyed guided tours around the lodge, property walkabouts, and visits to three huts. The archives were on loan from the Bay City Historical Museum and were viewed in the Craft Hut. The laughter, singing, camaraderie, and renewed friendships put smiles on all of our faces! Cousins, sisters, and friends made plans to attend together, enjoying the boat rides, dinner under a tent, and singing all day long, plus the campfire with Beanie (Barb Haggart), Shelley Harris, and Cindy Knapp Baker. Cindy led songs during dinner, Beanie organized a trivia quiz, and the nine hours of festivities passed too quickly. Girls found their names in the huts, viewed the Buddy Board inside the boat house, and shared their photo albums. The evening ended with the wishing boat ceremony–
It was a magical day!
Traditions
GETTING READY !
From sunny Florida to blue skies and no humidity in Michigan, we are unpacked and ready to roll for the big 100-year celebration of Camp Maqua on the Loon Lake property. We have closed the ticket sales, but between the residents and campers/staff, there will be approximately 70 attendees enjoying a day at camp.
For those who sent in your payment, apologies for not responding, but our treasurer is still a working girl! Our event team each had their responsibilities, which included souvenirs, food, cake, tent, tables, chairs, parking, and publicity. We all have much work left to do, not only on our personal properties, but the association property, which includes the craft hut, boat house, Brownie, and beachfront. We also have the property being sprayed for mosquitoes!
The day will begin with check-in by volunteers from the Plainfield Township Historical Commission, followed by a tour of the lodge. You can walk about the property and reminisce with your friends. The Craft Hut will house the archives with two more volunteers. Boat rides, a dip in the lake if it’s warm enough, followed by dinner. A special cake will delight you, as will the sing-song and trivia game. Hopefully, the weather permits a nice campfire with guitars and more singing.
If you are local, bring a chair for the campfire, as we only have 16. Also, water will be provided, but bring your own beverages! If you are interested in the book “Camp Maqua”, it will be on sale for $20. Extra souvenirs can also be purchased if you have friends who could not attend. BRING CASH since my PayPal was compromised.
We are excited to spend the day with you. There will be many golf carts to ferry you from your cars to the lodge, and back and forth from the beach to the Brownie if needed.
Planning for the Centennial at Camp Maqua!
The end of Michigan’s season for us is always bittersweet. We head to sunny Florida, but the autumn leaves are so beautiful, especially around the boathouse and on Loon Lake. Our last boat ride before storing the boat for the winter was stunning. Calm lake, blue skies, baby loon growing, and foliage on display in all its glory.
The excitement of ending was the planning for our big 100-year anniversary next June 15, 2024. I have visions of the first campers arriving at the lodge, with the newness of each hut, meeting their counselors for the first time. But, I know campers and staff can envision your own realities and memories! Do you remember all the planning it took to prepare your trunks with the right items from the suggested list in your flyers? For the staff, there were days and weeks of planning for the activities for the summer; food acquisition, and preparation; medical and nature supplies; beachfront maintenance, etc.
Our committee managed to get all the details ready for tents, chairs, tables, food, entertainment, souvenirs, and volunteers to work the various stations on the day of the tours, walkabouts, and archival displays. But, we need your help to make this successful! The numbers need to be in by January for ordering purposes and for us to be able to plan for food. Your tickets are our guarantee that our planning will run smoothly on the day. Hopefully, 100 happy campers will not be disappointed with our efforts for a successful day.
There will be golf carts to ferry everyone from their cars to the lodge, and for those with disabilities–to and from the lakefront or Chapel Hill. The Plainfield Township Historical Commission will manage the check-in, tours in the main rooms of the lodge, and the display in the Craft Hut. The residents will be on hand to greet everyone and listen to your wonderful memories! We are as excited as campers on their first visit! Sending greetings from our families–The Starks, R., and B. Baker, Engel, Smith, West,Gorman, Clancey, Kirila, Braun, and Fidler families welcome you! (Photo credits Keegan Cooley)
Independence Day on Loon Lake
How many celebrations must have occurred on Loon Lake over the years with campers from the generations before us–years of traditions celebrating our independence–during the war years of the forties and sixties–mixed feelings of patriotism with fear for loved ones serving overseas? This year is no different, with many of our friends and relatives in the armed forces still deployed in troubled zones worldwide.
Having lived outside the United States for 12 years of my life, fueled by generations who served in my family—my grandfather, uncle, father, and aunt who all did their part during WWII, the Korean and Vietnam wars, I have a deep sense of Patriotism. As Americans living in England during the turbulent 60s, our families continued to celebrate our traditions of Independence from the colonies in our hometown complete with fireworks and barbecues and American potluck dishes.
In the 60s at Camp Maqua, ” special events included Worldwide Fellowship, which was celebrated in the first session in conjunction with the 4th of July. On Sunday at the Chapel Hill vespers and services, the series would begin. It was a day set aside for friendship and fellowship on a state and local level”, I wrote in one of my blogs. Not many girls interviewed mentioned what celebrations took place on the property on Loon Lake.
This weekend Loon Lake was as busy as I have ever seen it. Multiple boats, jet-skis, tubers, and floating revelers enjoyed the 90-degree weather. The annual boat parade was held, with about 25 decorated boats parading slowly around the shores for families to enjoy. Although I did not have any family up this weekend, I enjoyed seeing the shoreline dotted with deck chairs, firepits, children fishing from their docks, and inflatables filled with bathers.
Two of our neighbors with grandchildren try to outdo each other every year, competing with their boat themes. The West boat, loaded with ten children and ten adults in hula skirts, straw hats, and pineapple drinks, cruised through the waters with their entire boat dressed in grass skirts, bellowing out tropical music. The Joe Clancy family featured the Olympic logo fashioned from hula hoops, a torch made from a blower, and their grandchildren dressed as different Olympic sports competitors. The Bill West boat, decorated by Robyn West Turpin and friends, was declared the winner and was presented the Loon flag for 2021 from last year’s winners, and the Clancy family vowed to win next year.
The lake lit up at night with the multiple fireworks from each end of the lake. My husband and I joined his brother Mike Baker, nephews Max and Mike Jr., families and friends for a rousing concert on their deck, followed by great fireworks from their neighbors. (I keep hinting we should have a Loon-A-Palooza concert series from the docks on the 4th with bands staged around the lake.) The kids toasted marshmallows, made paper fans to keep themselves cool, and clapped in delight for the fireworks while dogs hid and howled. It was a perfect night of tradition with family and friends.
Camp Envy–Celebrating the 4th and Family
There is no place more special than the 4th of July on a lake, but ours was double the special this year with the addition of a new family member. Our firstborn son Kyle, wife Liz, and foster son arrived on the 26th of June. As they picked up their luggage and hopped in the car to head north, they opened the email announcing that their foster son was now their officially adopted son! What better place to celebrate than Camp Maqua, the place that holds so many memories for his new parents! (Kyle was eight when we bought the lodge and he and Liz were married at Maqua.)
I painted a chair with his new name, Flynn Troy Baker, which is a tradition I started at the birth of each new grandchild. I hand-painted a sign announcing the days in foster care and the date of his official adoption. Let the celebrations begin!. Liz and Kyle’s friends in Tampa pitched in for the most wonderful gift to honor this special time. A local photographer showed up for a photoshoot of the new family by the lake, and he was all smiles, hamming it up for the camera with bribes of gummy worms and bubbles for his efforts.
With jobs furloughed, on hold, and in transition, the new family decided to stay an extra week. We have had record heat, but low humidity and warm lake temperatures. Loon Lake comes alive for the holiday week, but more so this year with the isolation factor still looming over the country. Everyone wants to get outside and the shores and lake were filled with boats, floats, jet-skis, kayaks, tubers, and skiers.
We had our annual boat parade, with twenty boats participating this year. We have already captured a Loon Lake parade flag for our win a few years ago, so we decorated for Flynn, but not competitively. With an under the sea theme, complete with balloons, sharks, dolphins, and a shark bubble blowing machine, operated by Flynn in a shark hat, we set off in the stream of great themes. A Michigan/ Michigan State boat, with kids dressed in mini cheerleader and football uniforms and a goal post at the front of their boat; a double-decker pontoon with a dozen kids in troll headdresses, and rainbow balloon decor; patriotic themes and flags galore paraded for the spectators onshore. The winner was a college kids’ entry of the Edmund Fitzgerald.
The week has been a series of festivities with family picnics outdoors, fishing, loon spotting, tubing, jumping off the top of the “Mothership”, campfires and a night on the water under a full moon watching the fireworks. Memories have been made to last a lifetime, and the next generation with the grandchildren guarantees that the summers will hold more memories as they all grow up together, despite the distances between the families during the winters. Summers on Loon Lake, holding fast to family traditions, are the best.
Camp Envy/Out of Isolation 2020
Michigan is finally opening their doors after long months of quarantine from Covid-19. The beautiful spring flowers seem to be celebrating by opening their blooms and showing us all is well. Social distancing and masks still seem to be the norm, especially for the small family businesses in Hale, but I feel fortunate to enjoy two rural areas to call home, with fewer cases of the virus.
Our kids and grandkids had it the roughest, teaching and working from home, plus agonizing through two successful emergency surgeries for one family. With all the time at home eating up vacation time and loss of income, we won’t have the same amount of family visiting this summer. Our eldest grandson, Keegan, drove up with us to help open up and begin the first of many projects with my husband. A new clapboard ceiling is being installed after a leak on our roof ruined our previous installation. (The porch has an addition from the original to accommodate all the historical tables and benches for our entertaining.)
Our Adirondack chairs, that survived a few Florida hurricanes, received a new coat of paint, but my favorites are the old heavy metal lawn chairs. Years ago I had them sandblasted and powder coated, and they look like new. Does anyone remember them at camp? They were beige and rusting and looked beyond repair, but these heavy chairs are great on the lawn. We sit out there at twilight until the mosquitoes chase us inside.
Our campfires and outdoor seating areas will be the new summer meeting spots. The residents of Maqua are predominately retired folks with underlying conditions and our hearts want to hug and socialize, but our heads know that if we want to keep ourselves and family visitors safe, we need to continue to distance. The original spot for the campfire pit is the most used, but my sons built a small one for us on the lodge lawn, so young mothers could hear their toddlers inside and still enjoy a campfire.
Thank heavens for our pontoon boats, where we can dock side by side, converse and float on Loon Lake, We have one baby Loon to watch this summer, but the resident Eagle enjoys tormenting Mama and baby. Our boat was in for new upholstery, console and motor, but the businesses are just opening up and work loads are heavy, so we are praying it is here before our son and family arrives for the July 4th festivities and boat parade. The highlight of every sunset cruise is spotting the Loons, but we pray the geese don’t stop and “drop” on our decks. 
Clean-up of the surrounding property is a never-ending project, but beach and boathouse area are all weeded. The lake had a high water level this past winter, so erosion is evident, and it’s pine pollen season, so there is a fine yellow powder dusting on everything. It is nice to sit on our boats and deck area and watch life go by, but many of our porches are still under tarps until the pollen eases. To all the previous campers and staff, we wish you a happy summer outside!