By1963, the salary for the nurse had increased to $450 for the summer and Lillian Richards R.N. accepted the position. She was forty-five and lived in Harrisville, just north of Hale. It was not always easy to find medical staff to reside at camp for an entire summer, but there was a need that had to be filled, as well as a job–even if the nurse handled only small incidents.
“One not so good memory was when I tripped while walking down one of the hills that had gravel on it, so vehicles could take our trunks and suitcases to the cabins,” said Susan Bradford (1965). “I slid down the hill on my elbows and knees and got skinned up. They had to take me to the hospital in Tawas to get checked out, but I healed quickly.”
Dorthe Balaskas had been hired as director for the camp and wrote in her 1966 report that Dr. Norman Payea had been hired as the camp doctor and practiced in Tawas. “The nurse is the decision maker when a child is ill, as to whether to see the doctor, and makes the appointment and brings the health form,” she wrote.( If the nurse was not in, the camp director or program director took over the Infirmary.)
“The outstanding mystery to this day for JeanAnne Grego was her splinter incident in 1966. She is now a nurse and it still puzzles her how she got a wooden splinter under her thumb. She had pulled back a fiberglass arrow from her fiberglass bow in archery class, and the splinter went under her thumb. It had to be painfully removed by a doctor. How did a chunk of wood the size of a quarter inch pencil find its way under her nail when everything was fiberglass?
Nancy Sautter (1968-70) recalled someone came to camp with Hepatitis and everyone had to get the shots. “The shots were based on your weight, so we were all trying to lose the pounds,” she laughed.
Holly Foss was only eight in 1966 when she followed in the footsteps of her mom and Aunt Kay, who had also gone to Camp Maqua. She made Maqua her home very summer until 1972, when she became a kitchen aide—missing the summer of 1969.
“In the fifth grade, I went to camp for two hours. I had gone on a trip to Florida with my grandparents and did not feel well when I went to camp. I had submitted to a urine test before I went to camp, but you know it was in those days. It took days to get the results. I was only in the cabin a short time when I got the call from my mom that I had Hepatitis A and I went straight to the hospital for a week. Having Hepatitis wasn’t as bad as missing camp that summer,” said Holly. “Then I hear all the girls in my cabin and my sisters had to get the shots and that they were awful.”
Kimela Peck was one of those little girls. “One of the campers must have come to camp with Hepatitis and the doctor in Hale came to camp and administered the shots to a bunch of us. I know “Beanie” had to get one and I was in the same cabin as she was, so of course I got one.”
Betsy’s nurse’s report from 1966 detailed the Hepatitis scare at the camp that summer. It started as “general malaise and anorexia”, but developed into nausea, dizziness and temperatures of 101 degrees plus, which landed her in the Tawas E.R.
Sue Michelson was a camper the summer of 1966 and wrote about “Betsy—The Nurse” in a July edition of the “Loon”. Described as sweet and smiling and in charge of the Infirmary, she had been very busy during that session.
“Betsy always seems to know when we need cheering up. She seems to have an answer to all our ailments whether it’s medicine or a kind word,” wrote Sue. Additionally, she delivered the medicine at mealtimes, did favors for campers and counselors alike and was willing to listen to the girl’s problems. “Thank you “Betsy Boo”, she wrote of Betsy Pollard.
Seven staff members and four campers were “sufficiently exposed” and received their gamma globulin injections, as well as the girls who had been in her cabin. According to the report, the Foss family was also treated.
The camp immediately scrubbed the bathrooms, Infirmary and cabin with Lysol and the Health Dept. was called to check the water supply. “It was assumed that the source of infection was in Bay City, where the family resides”, her report stated. There were no other cases reported.
Betsy had arrived that summer to a well-stocked inventory of first aid kits, paper sheets and pillow cases, and the girls brought their cough syrups, stool softeners, iron tablets, allergy meds and antibiotics for ends of infections. She rearranged the Infirmary to her liking, gave presentations to the counselors on minor first aid and shopped for supplies.The list was endless for descriptions of the all that she dealt with that summer as far as medical issues, but I am quite sure she was not expecting Hepatitis on her watch!
Were you exposed to Hepatitis that summer? Did you worry about the scare if you were one of the campers that stayed at camp?