1920’s

Burnt Toast and Bug Juice–

Published on by Kathy Baker

 

In the early twenties’ each counselor brought a white enamel pitcher of milk and a plate of graham crackers to the hut. “—for it was a long time between meals and we were hungry by then. This helped us to hold off starvation overnight,” said Harriet Crumb.

Her friend Meg Dahlem remembered the hot chocolate in the morning and buscuits and butter with maple syrup as a treat. “They had good food three times a day and we ate a lot of beef, mashed potatoes and my favorite—raspberry pie,” said Meg.

The kitchen staff, and food in general, were an important component of camp life. Great care was taken to find the right staff, spend wisely and cook nutritiously for the campers and staff. In 1936, there were hints that local businesses were not happy with the amount of provisions that were purchased out of the local area, and buying in bulk from larger distributors was a common practice.

In 1943 Adelaide Macaulay left notes in a camp season report in the archives, referencing a Miss McCullough, who was affectionately nicknamed Mac, and served as the camp hostess. “I think the title is misleading—it should be housekeeper, for that is what it proved to be, and is far from an easy one. The duties start early in the morning and aren’t over until the last child has been served crackers and milk at bedtime.”

“This year was especially hard, because of the food situation, but we had exceptionally good meals, and in quantities so there was always enough for second and third servings. One Bay City mother of two girls who were given a reduction of $56 off her bill, has done a lot of criticizing, said her children did not get enough to eat, Mac was no good at her job and a lot of this kind of bunk.”

They weighed one of the children at the end of the first two weeks and she had gained five pounds! Miss Macauley noted that parents always had food complaints, and some years were justified, but this summer had not been one of them. Mac had served 23,836 meals, which included cakes, cookies and pies and the cooks were considered “treasures”, were clean and managed the budget.

Marsha Immerman (1947-53) loved the food and to this day when she smells burnt toast, it reminds her of camp. “I also loved to get those little boxes of Wheaties, because they were my favorite, but when some of my fellow campers found out, they would grab them. The girls in the kitchen were always singing and we were singing before, during and after our meals. We had a song we used to sing to the cook we called “Cookie”. The only thing I wasn’t crazy about was chipped beef on toast and my Mother complaining to the “Y” that the variety of food wasn’t good. They told her it was because I was there all summer!”

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Cooks In The Kitchen–

Published on by Kathy Baker

Meg Dahlem, camper from the early twenties’, recalled the kitchen extended across the entire front of the lodge. (When she stopped in 1987, she recognized the benches, tables, piano and porch swing were all from her time at camp.)

The camp bell rang for meals, and was located in different places during different years. It was the “core of our existence here at Maqua” read a caption under a news photo of Margaret Burr, counselor from Plymouth and a senior at Albion in 1957. “If the bell goes haywire, the camp would not know when to eat, sleep or play.”

“The lodge was very important because we ate every meal in it,” said Kayleen Jacques (1956-59). “There were picnic tables and benches that were not attached to them in the dining room. So, when we sang, we could pick up the bench and pound it on the floor for added effect. We sang before each meal and policed our own tables after we ate.”

(Jean Evans (1933-38) laughed as she related the lodge was only a place to eat and she avoided it at all costs because it was where the director and staff who could boss her around hung out.)

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Spam and Supplies–

Published on by Kathy Baker

An undated (presumably early twenties’ or thirties’) news article in the archives boasted not only the benefits of camp, but “simple, plain food of sufficient variety and excellent quality—milk and cream from an improved farm near the camp, and fresh fruit, vegetables and eggs—from neighboring farmers”. There was a dietician on staff and health standards of the day were followed.

On June 12, 1933 in the minutes and ledgers of the camp, a notation read: “The Bay City Dairy offered to supply milk at seven cents a quart with free trucking of meat, vegetables, etc. to camp”, but a few days later the committee decided to continue buying their milk from Mr. Webb.

In the mid to late-thirties’, committee members investigated raw milk and what methods should be utilized to comply with state regulations. “The need for pasteurized milk has become quite a necessity—that being the only thing that has dropped the camp health record,” stated the minutes about an item they felt needed to be settled.

Dorothy Fowley (1927) recalled her Principal at Central High School, Mr. Oman, delivered milk to Camp Maqua and Camp Mahn-go-tah-see as a summer job, and she and her friend Marie Eaton would accompany him.

In 1960 the committee met in June to discuss food orders, as well as meat servings, cereal orders, surplus cheese orders and the purchase of a meat slicer. The 4-50 extra portions of meat per meal was from Peet Packing Co. The camp had rented a food locker in Hale, and Alice Bishop (director) wanted to utilize it more frequently. (She had just returned from the National Camp Association, which dealt with food and vendors.) It also appeared that Gage Company submitted menus for a two-week period in 1961.

Food staples, kitchen supplies and appliances were always in demand and at times the camp went over budget. Dorthe Balaskas wrote in her 1966 report, “ Once the orders are submitted, the director does cost comparisons to find the best prices—The director was also responsible for food orders, but menus from previous years were submitted to the head cook, approved by a dietician and submitted to food companies. “

Food was often re-ordered, but any unopened cans or food could be returned for credit or a refund and the frozen items were stored at the “Y” in Bay City. She was very conscientious about waste.

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Skinny Dipping!

Published on by Kathy Baker

“Having a boys’ camp across the lake did not stop the tradition of bathing in the lake in the forties’ and fifties’. Mary Jo Stegall camped in1933-41 and did just that. (I imagine the campers had been participating in this ritual when the camp was built in the twenties’ and kept it up until showers were installed.)

“I remember how silly we got when we got into the lake to bathe in our bathing suits,” said Shirley Colbert (1941). “Part of the suit would eventually come off, and although we never saw them, we always worried about those boys at the camp across the lake coming over.”

Back in the day, there were Saturday night baths and Bev Lemanski (1945). remembered Ivory was the requested soap because it floated. “There we all were in Loon Lake “au naturel” and then we would spot the canoes from the boys camp trying to get close enough to see us,” she laughed. The coldness of the lake and going in for the first time is a memory that stayed with Ellen Hydorn (1954), who had a special little soap dish she used for her lake baths.

Sally Harris, who camped in the late forties’ and early fifties’, could still remember taking those Saturday night baths, and the girls worried so much about the boys that they would run into the water as fast as they could.

Janice Moore (1953) laughed as she related an incident when some of the girls went for a walk off limits and close to the water. “There was poison ivy, so we went into the hut near the water and took off our shorts and washed off with soap in the lake in case we did get poison ivy on us. I guess there was a couple in a fishing boat that came by and saw this horrible display and we were all admonished for being off limits.”

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Taking The Path To The Brownie–

Published on by Kathy Baker

There was no such thing as an indoor toilet in the huts, but the little girls wished there had been, since that dark path to the Brownie was a scary trek. Phoebe Atha (1947-48) thought it was a frightening walk to get there, as did Karen Short (1945-48) .Even the buildings themselves housed creatures that scared the little girls. (The only time it felt safe was in the middle of tornado warnings, when it doubled as a shelter.)

“The cabins were dark at night. There were metal bunk beds and it was so disorienting when you tried to go to the bathroom if you did not have a flashlight,” said Susie Utter (1954-56). “It was pretty traumatic the first time I went and it was quite a hike at night as a little girl. As we got older, I remember we had to do Brownie duty, which no one liked.”

“I can still remember getting up in the middle of the night to walk down to the bathroom from my cabin and seeing all those Daddy Long Leg spiders,” said Sally Hurand, who camped in the mid-sixties’. “I had a conversation with myself to make friends with those things.”

Kellie Moore and Sue Robson camped in the seventies’ and there was a protocol for visiting the Brownie. They would stand by the front door of the hut and yell, “Cabin 5! Brownie!” and someone would answer by yelling out that they could go. “I think they were at the lodge partying,” laughed Sue. (Poor little Kellie encountered a skunk as she was taking the pathway up the hill with her flashlight to go to the Brownie and decided she didn’t have to go that badly.)

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Primitive Camping

Published on by Kathy Baker

The precursor to primitive camping at Maqua may well have been in the early twenties’ when Meg Dahlem talked of their trips overnight by truck to the AuSable. They would sleep on the ground on a hill with no sleeping bags, but probably makeshift bedrolls. The appeal for outdoor camping of this sort waxed and waned over the years.

It was decided by the camp committee to establish three new postions as junior counselors in October 1963, with a new primitive site to be established, complete with all the necessary equipment and a salary for the counselor.

On November 14,1964, a list of suggestions was made to the camp committee. “Primitive Camping-Miss Balaskas will again attempt primitive camping with restrictions upon the primitive camp leader,” the notes read.

“I recall a survival night where we ate only what we found in the woods,” said Shelley Harris (1965-75). “I can still hear Dorthe reminding us that there were hot dogs in the kitchen if we came back hungry. She was nervous, but we ate dandelion soup and Queen Anne’s Lace root, which were nothing but wild carrots, and we didn’t die.”

The last couple years Karen Magidsohn (1965+) camped in Primitive. “If I remember correctly, it was past the riding stables There was a platform with a big green tent. It was our cabin and we cooked all our own meals and stayed out there the whole time. We had a pit toilet, built our own campfires and it was pure camping,” said Maggie, who to this day camps every summer somewhere in the U.S.

Jeanne Kiltie (1966-71) also loved the primitive camping past the tennis courts, where they slept in tents and ate their breakfast and lunches, but dinners back at the lodge. “We ate Queen Anne’s Lace roots and strange soups made from greens, but I have to say what I learned there I have used all my life.”

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