One of Debra Osher’s firsts occurred at Maqua in the early sixties, but not in the usual timely manner of most girls. “Everyone had their period except me. I was fourteen and my Dad was a doctor and we were supposed to send in this medical form and it would have information on it. I knew everyone had their period, because I used to sneak into the Infirmary and peek at the records. So, I asked my Dad to please mark down that I had it, and he did, even though he knew I didn’t. Well, didn’t I get my period there and I had no equipment! I think I called my Mom a few days later to tell her. Normally, my Dad would have never done that, but he knew how much it bothered me

“I got my first period at camp and I was terrified! It took me awhile to figure out,” said Dana Foote (1974-77). “My Mom did not send anything with me to camp, so I was pretty scared and told my counselor. It was the summer after sixth grade. She took me to the nurse and I just recall being mortified, hoping none of the other girls found out.”

Kay Alcorn remembered one great laugh at her expense in the forties. “I was the only one in the cabin who was not menstruating yet. They teased me unmercifully. I was feeling inadequate and even worried that maybe I’d never start. One evening when I returned to the cabin in my light blue pajamas after brushing my teeth and washing my face, one of the girls said “Oh Kay, what’s that spot on the back of your pajamas?” Knowing that they were probably just teasing me I declined to look. But they kept it up. When I did look, I said, “Oh, I probably just sat on a bug!” They really laughed at that and never let me forget it, for indeed that momentous right of passage was a reality at last.”

There was a hut behind the lodge which was a tent on a raised platform, which faced the lake and appeared to house the counselors who smoked. Mary Jo knew that as a camper she could not go into the lodge until a certain time and said when she was about ten, she and a few other girls sat on the front step of the lodge. “One of the girls started talking about menstruation and I did not know what that was,” said Mary Jo Rawlings, who had camped in the mid fifties. “Somebody explained that you started bleeding between your legs. Well, I had this image of my inner thighs oozing blood and isn’t that strange that I remember that?”

Missy Plambeck (1968-78) and Anne Ward (1958-61) both got their first periods at camp. Anne was prepared and no one helped her through, but Marcia Sherman (40’s-50’s) was only twelve and the counselor took great care of her, getting all the supplies she needed and walked her through the process. “I wasn’t afraid at all, just amazed at what had happened,” said Marcia.

“I remember going for one of my physicals for camp,” said Nancy Weber (1962), “and although it was very late to start, I got my period on that day!” Susie Utter also got her first period at camp and walked to Dutton to retrieve a pad in the mid fifties. But, Sally Harris (late 40’s-50’s) was less than thrilled to get hers on an overnight camping trip. For Susan Bradford,(1965), it was intimidating because she was not prepared, but her friend Debbie was and got her through it.

Helen McLogan (1972-74) had this menstruation memory. “One of the counselors in “Menominee” had her period, and I had not heard anyone talking about it much, but hers was bad. She was “leaking” and I can still remember thinking how open she was about her reproductive system. She was also eager to answer any questions about anything and would always ask “DO YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS?”

Michele Butsch and Amy Falvey, who both camped in the late sixties and early seventies, remembered girls coaching other girls on how to use tampons in the stalls of the Brownie, which would allow them to swim.

“I remember a red-headed counselor who was trying to learn to get a tampon in at the Brownie because she had never worn one. There were two other counselors outside the door yelling encouragement to her,” laughed Elaine Engibous (1961-63). “Relax, they were screaming to her—aim for the small of your back! I remember thinking that will never be one of us, but it did happen. I got my first period at camp. I didn’t know what was happening because I had never had cramps before. They sent me to the nurse, who gave me Alka-Seltzer, which I promptly threw up. I was fifteen and way late for my period! My sister Doris, who was younger but is 5’10” always gave me “hand-me-ups” because I was a little bitty failure to thrive.”

Karen Magidsohn (1965) recalled that she was in cabin A and was about eleven or twelve when she got her first period. “I got up and realized what happened and I was not embarrassed, but thought of it as an inconvenience. So, my counselor got up, got me a pad and the next day I bought tampons at the camp store and never looked back. Of course, my Mom found out when she did my laundry. I did not pack everything back neatly in my suitcase, but had a garbage bag filled with my clothes and she saw the box of tampons and asked, “Why are these here?”

Were you prepared or unprepared for your rite of passage?