1930’s

Gays And Girl Crushes—

Published on by Kathy Baker

K.W. knew there were crushes on counselors in the sixties and that many of the girls “would show you theirs if you showed them yours and they would giggle and dance around in their underwear, but it was a time when they didn’t talk about women liking women. My friend was a tomboy and there were many tomboys. We instinctively knew who they were and they were the ones we asked to climb the trees to get us things, just as we knew who the girly girls were. By the time I was in fifth grade, girls were popping boobs and getting their periods and we had our medical forms and our check ups and I’m pretty sure the camp nurse was a pretty important person.”

Alternately, J.B. was aware of the strong female friendships at camp, even during the co-ed years and realized looking back around 25% of the women might have been gay, which did not cause problems unless they broke up with each other. “It wasn’t a big deal and there was no sexual tension, but there were the tightest knit friendships made in the shortest amount of time at camp.”

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Not Out In The Open—

Published on by Kathy Baker

“I know there were girls at camp that had feelings for other girls and counselors, but it was a time that if you had those feeling, you kept them to yourselves. It is not so socially taboo anymore, but back then, you kept your feelings in check,” admitted A.C., from the late sixties and early seventies, who met her good friend at camp. She recalled staying up ridiculous hours talking to her friend in an intense and intimate way, admitting she was attracted to her as a friend.

D.R. had a crush on one of the counselors in the early seventies. “There was not a lot of talk about gay issues and I was a tomboy, but not gay. I wasn’t athletic or into sports, but until my brother came along, my Dad had me cutting the lawn and doing the sfuff with the dogs, etc. But, I can remember all the counselors were at a campfire and my three cabin mates went on a tangent trying to make me mad, saying things about (my crush). I defended her and then I started to cry and the counselors had to yell at them. I still don’t know why I did that.”

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Girls In A Girls Camp–

Published on by Kathy Baker

An all girls camp with female staff and female campers. Some may be inclined to think of it as a breeding ground for the type of stories that make headlines today. I found the opposite to be true, upon interviewing many women over the past few years, although many admitted to their own discovery of their sexuality or to innocent girl crushes.

Although the twenties hearalded a type of sexual revolution, the sixties marked an era that headlined such words as free love, gay rights, feminism, hippies, the pill and women’s movements. A large majority of the women who shared their stories were from the 60’s to 70’s.

M.J. began camping in 1933 and continued for eight years, aware that many of her counselors were indeed gay, “but I never had a problem with that, and just did not get mixed up with it.”

Certainly, girls like M.I., J.L. and G.J. were not the only ones who had girl crushes. It was the late forties and early fifties. Some were tomboys, but others shared sweet stories of having camp crushes on their instructors and counselors.

“There was a counselor I admired and I think that is why I wanted to be a C.I.T., so I could come back and hang out with her on the weekends when the kids were gone between sessions. I hated to leave her and I embarrassed to tell you, because you are the first person I have ever told, that I guess I had a girl crush on her. I was attracted to her. I hated for camp to end. I remember crying before my Mom would ever get to camp every year because I never wanted it to end.”

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Jewish Girls In A Christian Camp

Published on by Kathy Baker

Chapel Hill was a quiet place, with a vision of a spot in the clearing of the woods bearing a cross on a platform. It took years for Sheryl Biesman (1973-78) to realize that YWCA on the podium stood for Young Women’s Christian Association. She was Jewish, but felt no prejudice and if there had been, she would not have camped there.

Kerry Weber (1952) recalled the marches up to Chapel Hill, singing all the way, but another incident occurred that she had not forgotten. “Something that impressed me was the day I heard two girls talking to a Jewish girl. One was Episcopal and one was Catholic. They told the Jewish girl she shouldn’t be in a Christian camp, and she told the Catholic girl, you’re not Christian, you’re Catholic!”

“I am Jewish and there were very few of us at that time in Bay City and at camp. I remember climbing up to Chapel Hill on Sundays all dressed in white. I loved it,” said Laya Hennes (1939). “To join in the singing touched my heart. In a Jewish service, it is so different. I love my religion, but it is not in English. There was something so familiar and wonderful when I heard those melodies and words, especially in the midst of the trees overlooking the lake.”

Ilene Zacher (1959-62), as the oldest Jewish girl in her school, remembered she mouthed the words to the Christian songs on Chapel Hill, but did not recall if she was able to “opt out” of the services. She never experienced any prejudice, and remarked “You have to remember in that day, we still said the Lord’s Prayer in school, so I took those things in stride.”( Her father was very involved in the Anti-Defamation League and was also one of the soldiers who liberated the prisoners in Dachau.)

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Minorities–

Published on by Kathy Baker

Having the opportunity to camp with girls of all ages, backgrounds and religions helped to develop Kathy Krohn’s (1965-68) sense of self at a very young age. “It was very freeing to be around so many types of people. I felt no prejudices, despite being Jewish. I just felt a great group dynamic and it was a very valuable experience for me.”

The earliest mention of any minoritiy was from 1942 camper Dorothy Bonnen who had this memory; “There were eight cabins and they all had screened windows all around. My younger sister Muriel went, but she was down the trail. There were some colored girls from Saginaw and they picked Muriel, Louanne Young  and Pearl Majeski to bunk in with them. I guess they thought they had the personalities to handle the situation. It was not the greatest cabin to be in and they expected trouble, but these girls were exceptionally good at handling it all.”

“There were always little contests being set up, to see who could learn to set a table and the colored girls, I don’t think, had ever done anything like this before. Well, my sister’s cabin set the table and the colored girls stood at the end of the table with towels over their arms. They stood like they were waiters and went one past us to out-do us. I think they got an honorable award.”

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Square Pegs in Round Holes–

Published on by Kathy Baker

“Most of those who went to the “Live-Y’ers” in Bay City tried Maqua later,” said one of the self-described precocious campers, “and I had my first introduction to camp at aged ten in 1959. I liked my first session and since I was an only child, I liked the chance to meet new friends. I was a lonely child and had never really been part of a group, but I went for one week. I had difficulty making friends, since I was “overly brainy” and had hung out with adults in my parent’s clothing store. I was not very well-socialized, and had interests that were more adult than my friends.

“I was trouble, though.  I was very verbal as a pre-teen. I didn’t fit in with the younger girls. I was into studying and advanced reading. So, instead of hanging out with the girls my age, I was asking the college girls about their classes and studying. That didn’t go over too well with some of the physical education majors who were counselors there, who were no match for me. They thought I was messing with their heads, and they would complain about me.  Since I was one of those kids in school who was into reading to the exclusion of sports and getting along with people, the director finally suggested that I needed to be on their side!”

“So, the following year, I became a kitchen aid. It was great. All I had to do was bus a few tables and my fees were paid. I can still remember there was an Italian cook in the kitchen that summer.”

“I learned to choose my battles, and the director, who was Dorthe Balaskas at the time, handled me just fine. She commanded respect and had great composure, but was very low key. As I grew older, I learned how my inner processes and intellect worked and the gap closed, and I realized there were many more out there that were much more intelligent than I was!”

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