The Generosity Of Others–

Published on July 6, 2016February 21, 2017 by Kathy Baker

The YWCA had always relied on the kindness of strangers and the help of volunteers. Without them, Camp Maqua would have never existed or survived. Many grateful young girls whose families could not afford to send them off to camp were on the receiving end of the generosity and kindness of such people, sponsoring sessions to camp. Applicants were interviewed by the committee and chosen from the many requests, which sometimes included foster children.

Minutes from the camp committee mentioned in June 1936 that the President of the Exchange Club promised to send one girl to camp for two weeks. Another club, Zeta Rho, sent a girl to camp in 1943, paying $30. The same year a total of $110 was donated from various men’s clubs in the Bay City area.

The Rosenbury Furniture Company donated $500 in 1944, Ladies of United Commercial Travel in 1957, the Bay City Women’s Club, Kiwanis and other fraternal organizations took the camp under their wing as their project. Rummage sales, an “April Showers” list to choose from and private donors each year raised money to send an “underprivileged” girl to Camp Maqua.

Mary Jo Stegall, who had camped from 1939-41, remembered many of the prominent families, committee members and benefactors to the camp. The Otto Sovereign family of Aladdin Homes, Mr. Earl Perry, Adele Macauley’s daughter Pat, the Foss family, Frank and Sybil Johnson, Lee and Kitty Hudson, Charles Coryell, Ben Calvin and Don Rayburn were some of the kind donors of time and money. Many of the names can be seen as committee members and volunteers in the ledgers and minutes.

“I always admired the girls who had been there for many years,” said Sue West (1975). “One girl couldn’t afford to come one year and they raised the money to get her back. I can remember she used to sing this hilarious song—Elvis Presley’s “Black Cat” and they would all clap and holler to get her to sing that song.”

Registration And Rates–

Published on July 4, 2016February 21, 2017 by Kathy Baker

“Attendance records were broken in the first two weeks of camp for the first time in camp history,” read the minutes from November 2, 1934. “There were a total of 168 campers, 79 of which were from Bay City and 89 from other cities and states. The largest enrollment was during the fourth week. For the entire season the total campers numbered 428.”

The earliest mention of registration in the minutes left by the camp committee was June 1935. The camp rates were $11 for the first week, $10 for the second, and $1.50 registration fee. The monthly fee was $43.50. Notes from February 15, 1937 stated a fee of $1.00 was charged just to register by the Saturday before camp and presumably the balance was paid upon arrival.

On February 9. 1945, the minutes indicated a discussion of how many periods or sessions to have at camp. “Some thought that four two-week periods scheduled as in previous summers is advisable because there are many other changes in the camp situation. Mrs. Coryell mentioned the state camp that holds its two four-week periods with the advantage of continuity of program for four continuous weeks. During the discussion, the idea of planning for two four-week periods or two two-week periods (were) considered. No decision concerning the matter was reached.

All periods in 1952 were full, with the exception of the first period. The camp committee was pleased with the successful season consisting of 263 girls.

In 1955, there was a discussion about raising the camp fees to $40 for Bay City girls and $50 for out-of-town girls. By 1957, they were up to $50 and $60.50 for the same breakdown. By 1959, the fees were stated by week sessions and $27/$53 was charged for locals and $32/$63 for out-of-town.

And Now To Find Counselors–

Published on June 29, 2016February 21, 2017 by Kathy Baker

Counselors had entirely different reasons for attending camp. Some had been counselors at other camps, as Nancy and Tricia Sautter had, before their years at Maqua (1968-70), but many had never been to camp. A summer job on a lake was enticing, but also utilized skills and talents they possessed that were geared toward camping jobs. Many of the counselors had been campers, not only at Maqua, but other Michigan camps and had the previous experience of how a camp day progressed.

Nancy and Tricia were recruited for their waterfront skills. The sisters were naturals in a pool of athletic friends at Western Michigan University. “I was hired a package deal”, laughed Tricia, who said if Nancy was going, she was going.

Others like Linda Doering, a first time counselor in 1967, had water safety certification and was hired by fellow physical education major and director Barbara Haggart to be the waterfront director. Sue Wiegand was a physical education major at Western also, “stewing about a summer job” when she was hired as a counselor. Sue had never been a camper, but had talents for skits, and worked as activity and program directors.

Bonnie Schlatter saw an ad in the Bay City Times and lived fairly close to the YWCA. “I lived on a farm and I was always busy. That summer (1976) I thought, maybe I can take off for a bit and try something different My Dad was not happy. He needed the help on the farm, but I liked the experience. It helped me get out of my shell. I was quiet. It was good to get out and work with young people”, said Bonnie who felt like her fun summer helped her gain more confidence.

Escaping Home–

Published on June 27, 2016February 21, 2017 by Kathy Baker

A great many girls found camp to be their escape and distraction from their tumultuous lives at home. Dawn Kober’s father had just remarried a woman she was not fond of, so her grandmother brought her to and from camp in 1977 with her friend Kelly Kirk.

“It was totally foreign to me”, said Elaine Engibous, who had her first exposure to girls who came from divorced families in 1961 and described girls who were there for the entire summer to escape the situations at home.

Anne Duffield (1947-50) attended with her stepsister from their blended family with a lot of illness. “I was glad to be away. It was an escape for me. At home all we had was vacant lots near our home where we played football, baseball and built tree houses.”

There were three kids in Cindy Raposa’s “dysfunctional family” and as the middle child she could not wait to get away from the fighting. “Camp was such a stable place for me. You got up in the morning, you did this and that and there was freedom there. I always considered myself so fortunate to get away.”

“Camp Maqua was like a dream to me”, said Brooke Sauve, who remembered her days from 1949-51 with her friend Linda. “At that time it was unusual for anyone to be divorced, but her Mom was, so she stayed for six weeks while her Mom worked.”

Sally Allen’s parents were also divorced just before she left for camp in 1968. It was also like a dream for Sally. “My house was in a huge upheaval and allowed me to be a little girl again. I was like a wallflower as a child, and I didn’t stir the pot. I was quiet but I had fun with my friends. Later, I became an extrovert, long after camp”, she said, describing the love for Maqua, where she could get dirty.

Camp As A Life Adjustment

Published on June 22, 2016February 21, 2017 by Kathy Baker

Many families sent their daughters off to camp during or after moving to the area to make new friends before school started. Marcia Kessler (1959-61) remembered her friend Buffy, who had just moved. Had she met her at school and not at camp, she still would have been an instant friend, she admitted.

For Priscilla (1968) and Amy Johns,their family had been transferred back to Michigan from New York the summer before. “Cilla” went with two friends, Evelyn Biggs and Doris Engibous, and loved it from the beginning, happy to get away from a less than peaceful household. The parents had decided that camp would be a great way to acclimate the two sisters to the move. The sisters had travelled a great deal with family, were very independent and begged to stay extra sessions. “I never looked back”, said Amy, who continued every summer until 1978 between her freshman and sophomore years of college. “It was easier than getting a real job during the summer.”

Kathleen Clement’s family moved to Bay City when she was nine, shortly after her parent’s separation. They lived with her elderly grandfather at the time, and helped to care for him after multiple strokes. “When I got to camp, it was like Heaven! I was never shy and I didn’t want to come home. When my Mom came up on visitor’s day, I hounded her to stay another week, so I finagled three weeks and was happy. I was always good at begging. I don’t know how he afforded it because he had a greenhouse and lost it, but it was the only thing I got to do. I only went the two summers of 1961-62 at aged eleven and twelve, since I helped to take care of my grandfather.”

Where The Girls Are–

Published on June 20, 2016February 21, 2017 by Kathy Baker

Girls who came from homes as an only child, homes with all boys or even a house filled with children—the reasons were varied as to why campers loved being with all girls for an extended period of time.

Elaine Levinsohn spent three wonderful summers from 1927-1930 and loved being away from home. She had one brother and no sisters, and like many of the girls camp was appealing because she could be around other girls her age.

“I was the only girl out of four kids in my family,” said Sarah Smith, whose mother Joyce was President of the YWCA board and main fundraiser in the seventies. Her mother had attended Holyoke, which was an all girls’ college, and had valued those friendships. “She sent me on purpose to an all girls camp, so I would understand the world was not all about men!”

Beverley Schlatter (1944) spent four summers there. Her friends had gone and she begged her parents to go. “I had never been away from home and I was an only child, which was a lonely life, since I really had no one to play with. Many of my friends tried to go at the same time as I did, and I begged to go back after my two weeks there.”

Girls of Camp Maqua

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1960’s