“I grew up in Essexville. I did not have many friends growing up and pretty much kept to myself throughout school. But, camp, well…many friends were made. One friendship is still maintained—Carrie, who I have known since I was three, although we don’t see each other as we’d like. Carol Besaw was from Bay City, only a few miles from where I lived. To go out of town to find a friend from home!” wrote Beth Phillips (1972-78).
“I was the only girl in the family and Bay City was a small town, so it was fun to get to know other girls and although I was pretty shy, I got over it,” said Zoe McGrath (1956-57). “I did not keep in touch with anyone, except the Japanese counselor. I lost touch with her and a friend Laurie Cone,” said Zoe, who later became the camp nurse in 1967.
“I was only eight or nine and I didn’t know a soul. I am surprised I would even go because I was the youngest and only girl, “said Valerie Monto (1964-68). “I don’t remember being homesick, but I do remember seeing girls sitting on the lodge steps waiting for their parents to pick them up. I was never expected to do a lot around the house when I was growing up. My Mom made my bed for me and I had no personal responsibilities. This was the first time I ever had to pick up after myself—at camp!”
Valerie also talked her two friends from grade school into going to camp and friends also accompanied her the consecutive year. She never had to talk them into going back—they just kept going.
Cheryl Short was twelve years old in 1964 and the second oldest in a family of seven in Bay City when she first attended Camp Maqua.
“How I was selected for a scholarship from the YWCA that year I will never know, but I was thrilled to go to camp and have all the attention on me,” said Cheryl. “I was at home helping with the family of six girls and one boy and I worked very hard as a child. I was expected to be a junior Mom and housekeeper. I never got to play independently. I was always walking a baby stroller or had a sibling in tow. I never got to do anything by myself!”
“I was never homesick, but I did worry about who would help my Mom and thought who will take care of Patti while I was gone. I can remember thinking of home and the fun I was having and feeling guilty. I didn’t know anybody at camp—not a soul—but I made friends right away. I was the type to fit in where I was at and I wasn’t shy. In fact ,I was very comfortable and even though I was a stranger, I was still comfortable. Some of the kids at camp that were my age were so immature and I can remember I felt more connected to the counselors sometime.”
“It was the Bay City thing to go to Camp Maqua at that age,” laughed Penny Sarkozy, as she relayed her stories of her camping years from 1951-1954. “I was never homesick. I think I was in the third grade and I was always a confident girl. I was never nervous, but when I went on my own, it did help me to become more independent. I wouldn’t say I was an extrovert, and I didn’t go with any of my friends, but my brother was at camp and my baby sister was at home. When I went off to camp, I went for two weeks and although I missed my family, I didn’t want to go home, so I stayed for two more weeks. Every summer I was there for a month and I loved it.”
Was it a Bay City thing? Did it often feel like all the girls were from Bay City?