“I loved the canoe trips down the AuSable and made two or three trips as a camper. It was a real big deal to me,” said Priscilla Johns (1968+). “We took our backpacks, (which were considered cool back then), and our sleeping bags and would throw it all in the back of THE truck,” she laughed, as she recalled the girls standing up or bouncing down the highway. “We would camp overnight and on the river, if we lost sight of one of the canoes we had some chant we called back and forth between us. We even had some canoe songs we sang, like “my paddles flashing bright.”

It was a big deal to Dawn Sohigian (1966-74) who learned to canoe at camp. “I was excited when I was finally old enough to go on the canoe trips, which I loved. I kept thinking—when is it my turn—and then felt like such a big girl when I went on one.”

Kathy Butsch rembered the landmarks on the river– Steven’s Bridge, Jolly Redskin Canoe Livery, and coming out at Lucerne. “It was a big deal that we were older than our sisters and could go on the canoe trips. We were super close as siblings, but there was always this big drama as we left to go on the trip. The canoe trip was the highlight of the summer, but the trauma was trying to pass the swim test.”

“I loved the canoe trips, both as a camper and a counselor,” said Jodi Tripp (1957+). “We spent three nights on the AuSable, and then one year we were on the river up near Grayling. It was a faster section of the river. We got rained out the first night and we were all sopping wet. We ended up staying where they stored the canoes to dry out and had to stay an extra night–sleeping out in the open in our wet sleeping bags. We were freezing, but sang a lot by the campfire.”

Jane McKinley (1956-59) learned to canoe at camp and loved to swamp and bounce on them, but loved the three-day trips on the AuSable, despite getting totally soaked. It appeared that she was always close enough on the river to walk for hamburgers and milkshakes, which was a nice change from campfire food.

“One canoe trip down the AuSable as a C.I.T. was so much fun,” said forties’ camper Marsha Immerman, who loved the singing back and forth, the view of the canoes in a single file and the “bobbing” that pitched them into the water. The food was not to her liking, and she was not alone.

Susan Prieskorn (1966-72) had food choices for camping stuck in her memories. She molded Bisqucik around a stick and roasted it, then stuffed jelly in the tube, and laughed about the fact that it never stayed on and was “doughy awful”. But, the banana boats, where they scooped out half the banana, filled it with marshmallows and chocolate chips and wrapped it in foil until it was melted and gooey left a better impression.

Jane Linder’s camping experience started in Mio and she paddled all the way to Sportman’s Park in the fifties. She called the dough filled with jam “dough boys” and remembered the hobo dinners and laughed recalling “we had Kool-Aid coming out our butt.”

Two girls who shared the memory of peaches and brown sugar on toast were Cara Prieskorn (1966-71) and Maureen Moore (1968-70). A piece of bread was inserted on a stick and toasted over the fire, ending with a canned peach sprinkled with brown sugar. Maureen said it was a trick to eat it before it fell in the campfire!

And there were memories of “pigs in the blanket”, “bug juice”, and plenty of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. What was your favorite camping food?