Camp committee minutes in 1959 indicated suggestions to not only employ a camp director that could be a year round employee for better integration between the camp and the association, but preferably a YWCA staff member.
The job descriptions from the sixties were available for the position of director. The interview process was through the YWCA and colleges and universities were the favored hunting grounds for applicants.
A bachelor’s degree and five years of camping experience was preferred, but I am certain there were less qualified applicants who were hired. It was an intense job in the summer, working full-time from June pre-camp until the close of camp, which was usually mid-August. The job was part-time from January until pre-camp.
Approximately thirty staff members had to be hired each season, food had to be ordered, as well as supplies for each department. Staff had to be trained, and programs put in place for the spring rally and pre-camp. Finances were a huge part of the responsibility of the director, as well as public relations between tradesmen, YWCA members, parents of campers and neighbors. It was not easy to find the perfect candidate for a job with such responsibilities.
Kathleen Dillinger, also known as “Woody” was the director from 1955-58. A small article in the Bay City Times dated August 7, 1955 titled “Off To Camp We Go” featured Camp Maqua and listed her as the physical education professor at Alma College. She described the training she offered for counselors in training.
Melda Lynn was the society editor and wrote in “Patter Patchwork” about the camp in the same edition. “Each year for the past four years I have spent a day at Camp Maqua. Each year I come away thinking what a wonderful camp it is—that is if I had a daughter. I would like for her to attend a session or two there.”
She continued with a few paragraphs about how “spic and span” the entire camp was and listed some of Woody’s credentials, including the fact that she taught a course on camping procedures at college, which meant she could select counselors who were trained in her method—a “definite advantage” for the campers.
All the counselors that summer were college students or graduates, with one teacher—Jane Mount. The junior counselors were required to take the training course and pass an exam before becoming a full counselor. The staff, all from Bay City, included kitchen aide Karen Wright, camp nurse Mrs. Earl Loessel, waterfront assistant Jean Weber, assistant counselor/sailing instructor Jane Richards, camp craft instructor Suzanne Pfundt, counselor Jane Mount and canoeing instructor Ann Gunn.
Barb Cruey, camper from 1956, had distinct memories of Woody as very strict, but Mimi Lefkiades (1956-60), had memories of a well-respected and genuinely nice person.
How many of you camped under Kathleen Dillinger, known as “Woody”? How do you remember her style of directorship?