There were always extensive waterfront activities with qualified safety and life-saving instructors for swimming and boating. The Dept. of Social Serivces for the state inspected the camp yearly. In 1971 their report listed eleven water safety instructors and four lifesavers, which meant the camp was under excellent supervision. It noted a human chain was formed, in case of a lost swimmer, where runners are sent to the units.
Julie Bernard was one of the counselors in training that summer. “I was one of the CIT’s that yelled line up and dive, as we formed the line out in the water for the Red Cross Cerification drills. We had to swim under the dock and find whatever was hidden to recreate a body rescue. There was an emergency bell that rang and we would all run to the waterfront, stripping our clothes off as we ran, using our eyes and arms in the murky water of Loon Lake to find it.”
“I remember taking a junior lifesaving from a, shall we say, rather large counselor,” said Carolyn Waits (1955-57). “When I was taking the final test, where I had to dive down, turn her around in the water, then come up for a lifesaving hold, she managed to turn around while I was on my way up and grab me around the neck. I found out later that she had supposedly had greased her body, sho that our hold wouldn’t take! Oh, the stories we believed,” laughed Carolyn.
Debra Osher admitted that her personal stories were sometimes negative at the time, but her senior lifesaving story from 1960’s was laughable now. She was instructed to run down the hill when she heard the “victim” screaming for help, fully clothed. As she ran, she was to shed her clothes. She recalled how anxious she was, but she did as she was instructed.
“I kicked off my shoes and did this trudge and crawl, where your head is above water. I get down there and I am in about four feet of water and my “victim” is pretending to drown. I take a deep breath and dive under and I was to come back up with her turned around and I am supposed to grab her legs,” said Debra. “Well, I take this deep breath and go through the whole thing, but I had my mouth half out of the water and had taken in water. They had to pull me out of the water and lay me on the dock, which was not very good. They let me take it later, but I was so embarrassed to be pulled out of the water at age thirteen!”
“One time a fellow camper and I (I think it was Jodi) pushed Ann Carney off the dock. She had a star on her forehead for the day,” said Doris Engibous (1973-75).”I even think Karen Magidsohn has a photo of us on that day. Ann laughed it off, but she could have been really upset with us. Of course, there were serious drills for the counselors when the bell would ring nonstop and we would mobilize at the waterfront, with Ann as our director, to participate in a body search for a drowned camper. We would run to the waterfront and strip down to our suits.”
Camping in the sixties, Buffy Kixmoeller knew how to swim before she came to camp and was such a good swimmer that she advanced right to the lifesaver class. Mary Jane Keschman (1944-54) was taught by her uncle, who was a coach at Central Michigan University at the time, but it was at the lake she perfected her skills and went on to earn her lifesaving badge.
Some girls could even remember their instructor’s names! Barb Hale (1950) had Gay Gould as her swimming instructor at camp, and earned her lifesaving certificate the summer she was there.
Mickie Kessler’s love of swimming was developed at camp in the forties and when she took up junior lifesaving, it provided her career path all through college as a lifeguard. Cynthia Gregory earned her lifesaving certification at camp in the sixties and worked as a lifeguard in high school. “I thought it was the coolest thing to get my card. One year I told my parents I wasn’t going on a canoe trip because I wanted to earn my lifesaving badge. I sent them a card to tell them,” said Cindy.
During the summer of 1974, Carol Morley, who was the water safety instructor, offered to teach a basic lifesaving course to any counselors who were interested. The seven who passed the course were: Kim Moore, Kim Wood, Amy Johns, Cindy Knapp, Charla Batsell, Sandy Argas and Jackie Hard. (They rescued Carol Hulett, Sue Patenge and Nancy Hallock.)
“We were in the water constantly,” said Jane McKinley (1956-59). “I learned the breaststroke at camp. The water was so cold in the morning when we had our lessons and sometimes there were waves, which was even more challenging. But, I felt very competent after those lessons, despite the fact it was not a totally pleasant experience. I also solidified my swimming skills and earned my lifesaving certificate at camp.”
How many of you qualified for lifesaving while at camp?