Traditions

Heartless Practical Jokers–

Published on by Kathy Baker

Dorthe Balaskas, despite her director status, was the target of many pranks, but was on the giving end of many reprimands. In 1965, the “Loon” chronicled the prank that was played on her on July 5th around the flagpole.“Bathing Suits Billows In The Balmy Breeze” was the title of the article that described the swimsuit that proudly flew over Camp Maqua.

“It was reverently lowered and duly returned to its owner, but do you know the tale of passion and cruelty behind it? This job was pulled off by those two long known criminals at camp, Mary Gay Obey and Melba Slaba Slaght. As they idly sat in the retreat after dinner Wednesday, they spied Dorthe’s  swimsuit fluttering from the clothesline. They stared at it, and stared, then suddenly their crafty little heads filled with maliciously mischievous thoughts. Equipped with needle and thread, Obey and Mel stole the suit and sewed the legs together in the comfort of their hideout. Later, under cover of darkness, they sneaked out and impudently raised the swimsuit on the flagpole. But, what of the victim of the miserable joke, of poor Dorthe and her sewn-up swimsuit? As yet, she is still too stunned to avenge herself on those heartless practical jokers. But our advice to her to make the counselors take some of their own medicine. 1. Make them undo what they’ve done. 2. Take away their store and town privileges and 3. Make them do calisthenics all through the night, before our camp criminals really start acting up.”

Poor Dorthe happened to be headlines again on July 19th—“What Happened To Reveille?” Dorthe found her records gone, her rope tied up to the bell she usually rang and the ladder missing to take the flag down. Betsy (Elizabeth Pollard) used a broom to untie the robe and bells were used in place for taps and reveille.

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Squeezing In A Few More Tricks—

Published on by Kathy Baker

The “Loon” during the summer of 1965 listed the favorite pranks of the girls. “Short sheeting Reb’s bed, croquet balls in Archie’s mattress, cold cream in someone’s sheets, purse hidden near the fire bowl, bristles were taken off a toothbrush with a jackknife, the honor banner was hidden, a fluffy slipper was hidden in a bed and mistaken for a mouse, sand in a counselor’s bed, false mice in bed, hid Mel’s alarm clock in the back of a crate and set it to go off at 3 a.m., plastic frog in a bed and campers croaked and pajamas tied in knots.”

Jodi Tripp (1957+) said one of the sillier things she recalled from camp included a counselor who constantly used a rolling pin on her hips and thighs to get the fat off, but the most fun was hearing the girls scream when they discovered frogs in their bed.

Shaving cream was a favorite in the early sixties for Elaine Engibous and Cheryl Short. Both had vivid memories of squirting shaving cream in the hands of sleeping girls, then tickling their noses with a feather, hoping to witness a face full of the white foam. Jenifer McLogan (1965-71) was also part of the short-sheeting and pillow cases filled with shaving cream crew during her time at camp.

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Cabin Pranks–

Published on by Kathy Baker

Timeless camp traditions included pranks, which inevitably involved the bed. Pranksters followed their mothers, aunts, cousins and sisters into the antics that were handed down for years to make their cabin mates and counselors lives more interesting. The short-sheeting of beds was the most popular prank over every summer session, which was either taken well or not, depending on how tired the person was on the receiving end of the prank.

“We did get into a lot of mischief,” laughed Pat O’Tool. “We, or maybe it was I, collected twelve frogs and put them in one of the counselors’ beds. We also decided that the counselor with the name Muriel Funk was a name that we could adjust, so to speak. We called the camp “Muriel Funk’s Home For The Mentally Impaired”.

“We used to stay awake at night thinking of pranks to pull on our counselors when they had the night off, “laughed Liz Anderson (1973-74). “We were so mean. We greased the doorknob, we put balloons between the boxspring and mattress and they would pop when she got into bed.”

Audrey Delcourt (1968-69) said the girls were always trying pranks out on her and she recalled the spider web made with string, lathered in toothpaste, which she spotted before heading into the mess.

“I saw it, stood back and waited for the campers to get into it,” she laughed. “On the last night they put my mattress on the ceiling and croquet balls in my inner spring. The lights were out and the bed was made, and I climbed in and had these wooden balls in my back and they all had the best time laughing. I got them all settled and we sang a sweet song.”

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Stories In The Night–

Published on by Kathy Baker

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As and extrovert, Kathy Krohn (1965-68) always made friends easily and despite knowing some of the girls from school, she loved meeting new ones. The assistant director at the time, “Beanie”, used to call her “Itty Bitty Wee One” after the story about Montague the Rabbit she always told the campers and because Kathy was such a tiny girl.

Upon returning from camp one summer, Kathy told that story to her father. It was a story that Beanie would tell all the campers, but Kathy was too young to understand the moral of the story—“Hare today, gone tomorrow”. Her father would laugh and laugh and it would become their private little bonding connection.

“He would say to me, here comes itty bitty baby rabbit,” said Kathy, “and it was not until I was about fifty years old that I finally understood what the moral of the story was. He passed away, but until the end he always brough up Montague the Rabbit.”

Valerie Monto had an experience in 1968 that remains clear in her camping memory– the magic of one special night. “One evening, after lights out, our counselor had us get up and get dressed. We walked quietly to the lodge where the other older campers and counselors were gathered. We were divided into small groups and were given a nursery book rhyme or storybook assignment.”

“Two other campers and myself were given “Three Blind Mice”. We put together costumes from what was available and rehearsed. Our groups were then placed around the camp along the trails. The younger campers were awakened and led through the camp. As they would come to one our groups, the counselor would shine flashlights at us and we would perform our act. Once they had been taken through the camp, the younger campers were sent back to bed and we returned to the lodge to clean up before returning to our cabins.”

“The next morning at breakfast the younger campers were very excited and would approach us older girls saying, “I saw you last night. You were one of the Three Blind Mice, or you were Little Bo Peep,” or whatever . We older girls acted like we didn’t know what they were talking about and told them they had been dreaming. To this day, I wonder if those little girls are still unsure about their own experience.”

Do you remember any of the night-time performances?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Camp Clothes–

Published on by Kathy Baker

Like many of the Moms who sent their daughters off to camp, the little labels were sewn into Jeri Smith’s camp wardrobe in the sixties. The list for camp would arrive in the mail to check off the activites and articles of clothing plus items needed for the two-week sessions. Of course, there was always the excitement of checking the boxes next to the ones she loved. In addition, there was the yearly physical, so that she was up to date on her shots.

“I remember my Mother marking every piece of clothing by sewing in little labels,” said Karen Short (1945-48) who added there were now marking pens for the same thing.

Randi Wynne-Parry”s Mom would shop with her for special camp clothes (1969-73)– then the labels went inside. Rosemary Orgren (1956-58) only recalled labels inside her “undies”.

“My Mom would always get me some clothes for camp, so I could last two weeks without washing them. I recall sitting in my bedroom writing my names on all the tags on my shirts, shorts, swimsuits,” said Lindy White (1970-73). “I used a light blue trunk to pack all my clothes and set it at the end of my bed in my cabin. There was a tray in my trunk that I would keep all the miscellaneous stuff, including stationary to write home.”

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More Firsts—

Published on by Kathy Baker

“I can still see that L-shaped dock,” said Karen Magidsohn (1965+).” We would take baths down at the lake, but we would also sit on the dock and shave our legs. I can remember the older girls were shaving their legs and it was a peer thing, so I thought I should. On the way home from camp that summer, my aunt who was only ten years older than me, was sitting next to me in the car and asked if I had shaved my legs. So, I had to tell my Mom.”

More than one girl shaved her legs in the “water fountain/Bradley Basin”. According to Missy Plambeck (68-78), it was the perfect place to do it, although other girls like Pat Rehmus (1962-65) thought it was odd.

Judy Engibous (1973-75) shaved hers for the first time at camp. “My Mom was a control freak and insisted I bring Nair to camp, but the sheer practicality of shaving far out-weighed waiting for some cream to work, so I shaved!”

And then there was hair and makeup. Kerry Weber (1968-70) recalled a little girl named Jane, who came to camp with makeup and was probably only in the fifth or sixth grade. “I can still see her with this bright purple lipstick. I know she figured her parents weren’t around to see her experimenting with it.”

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