Traditions

Skits!

Published on by Kathy Baker

KayMary Young (1951) recalled a round of singing where everyone got in on the act by adding “One dark and stormy night” to the song. She giggled remembering someone playing a villan and another playing the widow who couldn’t pay the mortgage, ending with a kiss and much clapping.The skits in the lodge at night were enjoyed by the staff and campers alike.

The “Wild Bill Hiccup” skit was remembered by many campers, especially Pat O’Tool and her sister Nan, (who camped in mid-forties’ and well into the fities’) and practiced their skit feverishly before the big production. (Pat and Nan can be seen on page 101 in the book “Camp Maqua’, dressed in their outfits in front of the “Dirty Dan Saloon”.)

The skits were always fun for Marcia Michelson (1963+) and one special memory was of one of the counselors tying herself to another to form one heavy woman, with hands reaching from behind to apply make-up.

(There was only one girl–Kim Wynne-Parry (1963-68) who admitted she did not like participating in the skits. “I know others liked them, but I would rather write them or decorate around them, but I am pretty sure I ended up being in at least one.”)

Judy Engibous (1973-75) loved the puppet shows and skits in the lodge. One night as the counselors prepared to get their skits ready, Judy took a seat in the front row. One of her new friends at camp had saved her a seat, but because of her insecurities, she had a Nicholas Alexander book in her hand, (probably to heighten her look of intelligence she admitted. ) The skit began with a bag filled with objects. The counselor had to reach her hand into the paper bag, and create a skit out of whatever was in her hand.  It happened to be a stick.

“It’s a stick. It’s great stick. It’s a wonderful stick. You can do all sorts of things with this stick,” fumbled the counselor, attempting to come up with something clever. Suddenly, she reached down and pulled Judy out of the front row.

“I was a sticky mess, covered in some tangy taffy all over one of my hands,” laughed Judy. “I’m in my impressionable years and I am supposed to bail out this counselor? She was expecting ME to get her out of this mess? I grabbed the stick with my hand that was not covered in taffy and threw the stick across the room and yelled “FETCH” Well, I brought the house down!”

“No-one was expecting this from me. I had just spent two weeks as a wimp and now I was getting compliments for being cool.  It even rated a mention in the camp newsletter. I finally felt like I was recognized for being me”, said Judy. “I also remember about ten years later I was still a nerd, but someone noticed I had waited a period of time after one of their remarks before I said something funny and they told me I was funny. I told them I already knew I was! So, I guess camp helped me become comfortable with myself. It was an empowering place.”

Her sister Doris (1966+) loved Laurie Cullen and Jennifer McLogan doing “Daddy Cool”, which she agreed held the same fascination as ‘Beanie” playing “Montague”. Page 103 of the book “Camp Maqua” featured this pair, who later passed on their roles to Doris Engibous and Priscilla Johns.

Did you enjoy being a part of the skits or would you rather watch?

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Snipe Hunts–

Published on by Kathy Baker

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Just what is a snipe hunt? It is a wild goose chase, a fool’s errand, a practical joke, and it was a favorite game to play on the innocent campers who had no idea how this imaginary task would play out. The inexperienced camper was given instructions on how to capture a snipe, which usually involved making crazy noises, carrying a bag and a stick, and banging rocks in attempts to ferret out the snipe.

Audrey Graff (1948) and Mary Jane Keschman (1944-54) both had funny memories of snipe hunts. “We would round up a new girl and walk out to the woods and tell her we were going to bring back a ground snipe from the woods, and send it her way to catch. Poor girls,” laughed MaryJane,” what we did was just leave them there and they would wait and wait for us.”

“First the camper was given a bag or a pillow case, then taken to the woods. She was told, everyone else will scout around for the snipes,” said Barb Cruey (1956). “She was to call the snipe and it will go in her bag. Everyone then left her and waited. Eventually, the camper returned with the empty bag and was told it was a prank. I don’t remember anyone ever being upset or crying, just feeling silly and couldn’t wait to pull snipe hunting on someone else.”

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Hunts, Captures and Elves–

Published on by Kathy Baker

92e496f841cd77b903d37c58319b6865The A-Z Scavenger Hunt in 1947 utilized a paper bag, white paper and a crayon with the directions for collecting items from nature with each letter of the alphabet. (Usually q,u, x, y and z were difficult, ( “But to my amazement,”  noted the “Loon”,”Cabin B did get all of them!~ Many of the girls came up with the argument that everything came from nature in the beginning and as a biology major I agree, but for purposes here, it must be nature as we find it out of doors or on their person.”)

On Monday the juniors had a scavenger hunt and the hut winners received camp stickers. They had to find a purple sweater, ten empty bullet cartridges, a striped sock, an Eversharp pen, a snail shell, a bar of Lux soap, a piece of green Kleenex, a picture of Guy Madison (actor), a signature of someone over twenty, a four leaf clover, a flowered kerchief, a yellow flower, a nail, a piece of flowered stationary, an out of state letter, an ID bracelet, an orange pencil, and a needle and blue thread.

Every year had its own brand of activities, either dreamed up by the program/activity director, or a tradition that had been passed down through the ages. In 1950, the “Loon” noted there was a fashion show, backwards day, talent scouts, story telling, a P.J. party, and a scavenger hunt.

Geraldine McDonald camped in 1954. “There were several parties in there. I remember one where they blindfolded us and we had to stick our hands into the bag and guess what was in there. I felt slimy worms or nightcrawlers in the bag, but it was really just spaghetti. There were skits and scavenger hunts that started in the main lodge. We had to hunt for these treasures and it was all about nature. We had everything, except the lightning bug, so one of the girls put on a white shirt and we tucked a lit flashlight up her shirt!”

Judy Crissey also camped in 1954 and loved the scavenger hunts. “We had a small group and followed all the clues, all outdoors, of course. I was probably not very good at it, but ii is one of my best memories.”

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Passing On The Songs—

Published on by Kathy Baker

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The legacy of camp songs continued to be passed down through the generations as campers and staff sang the camp songs to husbands, friends, children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, patients in their practices or students in their classrooms.

The songs and singing were a standout to Audrey Graff (1948), who taught all three of her children the camp songs and they sang them on car trips. “There was a nice feeling of sitting at those big tables after a meal singing rounds. Or the circle we formed at the end of the day, squeezing hands while we sang “Day Is Done”. I also loved being in my cabin hearing the Loon songs and “Taps” at reveille.”

‘It ws a great time day in and day out,” said Sarah Smith, whose camping years spanned 1968 through 1975. “When I left, I wanted to go back. My husband hears me mention Camp Maqua and when I sing the “Welcome To Camp Maqua” song, he and I both know that the song is hardwired into my brain and he understands. He camped at Bronx House for fifteen years and was a counselor and had all his firsts at camp.”

Nancy Weber (1962) knew all the camp songs from her sister before she ever arrived! “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. “Ga-goon went the little green frog one day-ga-goon went the little green frog,” sang Mary, who loved the folk songs from the Peter, Paul and Mary, John Denver era. “Different songs for different eras…all those experiences and relationships influenced my career.”

Shirley Colbert (1941) still sings the camp songs to her grandchildren. “One of the best things I ever decided to do was to go back to college and get my teaching certification in reading after raising my three kids,” said Shirley, who already had her degree in journalism from MSU and worked with Scouts and taught in Florida.

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Camp Songs Influenced Me—

Published on by Kathy Baker

553128_3521087476507_547449468_n“It is an amazing thing to look back and have those memories of those relationships, the counselors, the campers, the music—-as you can see from the online songbook that is now being retyped, singing was the thread,” said Pamela Hartz. “In the early years, there was a Christian message to many of the songs, but I recall one called “Watermelon Man”, which I am sure is a pretty prejudiced song. The songs at Maqua shifted naturally with the transitional changing values of society at that time. When I heard those camp songs in later life, the folk music like Peter, Paul and Mary, it was very central to my core. I taught my nephews those songs!”

“My taste in poetry and music was so influenced by my time at camp,” said Betsy Falvey (1968-75). “I still have my dog-eared books of e.e. cummings and “The Little Prince”. The music of Judy Collins was popular and the Moody Blues, but I could hardly stand to hear the song “Tuesday Afternoon” after helping Judy Engibous with her synchronized swimming students at the waterfront, hearing that song play over and over and over again.”

‘I loved singing and still do,” admitted Cindy Knapp. “There are so many of them I still remember and sang with my children and have always sung with my students.   One summer when I was back in Michigan, the family was roasting marshmallows over the fire.  My cousin Jane Woodworth was there too and I started singing some of the old songs.  It was like we were back there again, though I remembered more than Jane. We laughed a lot!”

Linda Greenwald (1948-49) taught music in college and still plays in an orchestra today. “I loved the group singing. We sang before meals, after meals, at bed, in line and at Chapel Hill.” Singing harmony and rounds was bonding time for Tally Cone in the sixties’, who said she would come home from camp singing all those songs in the car. “I probably drove my parents nuts,” she laughed.

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The Music Is Tucked In My Heart–

Published on by Kathy Baker

Maqua scans_Aug73_1-2Sheryl Biesman, contacted me after googling Camp Maqua, ( after finding the article from the Bay City Times), and belongs to a writers’ group and has always been interested in writing. Some of her writings are centered on camp memories.

“I wrote about the music, because the camp songs were trapped inside my head. It was a time in my life that music influenced my life. I have been searching for a cassette tape that I captured as a twelve-year old at the final ceremony. I love to record everything. (Photos, music, etc.) When I listened to it, I realized someone had whispered in it—hope to see you next year,” said Sheryl, who realized that it would never happen since the camp closed. She carried the memories and songs and friendships in her mind, as well as her pen-pal relationships.

With her career in marketing and degree from U of M in communications, Sheryl was an early adopter of technology.  When camp closed in 1978, the internet was already in process, with e-mail not far behind in 1995, according to Sheryl. “There were twenty years with music in my head. Napster rolled around and I searched and found the songs from camp. It was my first experience hearing them since camp and it was incredible. With YouTube, I could see many of the songs being sung. Hundreds of camp songs. There was nothing I could not find on YouTube. It was a major revelation when I googled this wacky song by Tom Lehrer in 1962, who turned out to be a folk artist who sang this song “Rickity Tickity Tin”, It was also a revelation to me that all these songs we sang at camp were covers for popular songs like Peter, Paul and Mary’s songs. I can remember a Spiders Web song, but I can’t find the origin.”

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