“There were some wacky nurses during my time,” remarked one of the counselors (1968-72). “They were either overly attentive and responsible or had short Infirmary hours that let everyone know not to bother them, and there were wacky accidents that occurred while at camp that landed girls in the Infirmary or hospital.”
Kim Wynne-Parry (1963-68) recalled her sister Vicki, who was only six and her accident.“She fell from the top bunk bed when some girl bounced her off onto her head. They came to get me and rushed her to the emergency room in Tawas. I was traumatized and cried and cried and cried. When she got back to camp, they had her in the Infirmary and I would visit her there. I just remember Dorthe Balaskas comforting her and me and feeling very protected.”
Vicki recalled how she ended up in the hospital on the first night of camp. “A somewhat mean-spirited and spoiled girl named Janet—I can still remember her and I think her Dad owned a car dealership in Lansing—bounced me off my bed by kicking me on the top mattress. I just remember “Beanie” (Barbara Haggart) taking me under her wing. She may have even given me one those beanies that put the tongue depressors on it to make a beanie-copter. Everyone worried about me, except me.” (After the incident with the fall from the bunk, Janet became her nemesis and she tried to beat her in every activity she took, but felt like it was her competitive spirit, since she was a good loser.)
Sandy Indianer camped in the late sixties and also fell out of the top bunk. “I broke the index finger on my right hand, but that didn’t stop me from being a camper. I do still have the ugly knuckle,” said Sandy, who also had to go home for a long weekend with strep and tonsillitis and watched the moon landing from her sick bed until she was sick of seeing the re-runs.
Amy Johns (1967-68) fell out of her bunk bed more than one time and spent time in the Infirmary with intestinal flu with the threat hanging over her head of being sent home if she did not get well. “I refused to go home. I think three or four more girls got the same thing, but mine was the longest. We all slept in the Infirmary that week.’
What was it about those bunk beds that brought the crazy out in girls? If it wasn’t prank time, it was accident time! How many had bunk bed accidents at camp?