The girls who braved the elements and had the courage to camp in Primitive remembered their adventures with fondness. Lori Fobear(1975-76) recalled the one great trip into the woods when they spent the night on cots under a big tent.“I know it rained like crazy and the next morning we tried to cook eggs in paper bags in some way, which did not work out,” she laughed.
Sally Allen (1968-73) camped in Primitive under director Sue Patenge, who had a way with kids and made everyone feel comfortable. “We slept on the ground and pitched a tent. I remember we had chicken to cook in a cast iron skillet and it rained and we couldn’t cook it through, so we were hungry, but it adds to the memories. I think one of the Pennington girls pinched apart the chicken and it was still bleeding, so we ate chocolate and marshmallows on graham crackers for dinner or maybe banana boats.”
“Primyland” was the title to the “Loon” July 1975 article about the primitive campsite. (M.Foss, A.Falvey, M. Moore, J. Bernard, B. Hickner, S. Vater, S. Shepard, P. Shepard, S. West and A. Johns were on this adventure.)
They had a taste of “stalking the good life” and eating –especially peanut butter and jelly—were big favorites. They had good intentions of getting an early night before their big backpacking trip, but instead stayed up till 1:00 trying to remember Beth Hickner’s favorite song. The trip to Alcona Dam Pond brought new and interesting people into their life, as well as new skills at backpacking. “Expressions like “Mind if I have a bowl” and “M-OK” remind us of the days at Primyland,” ended the article.
“The best were those canoe trips and camping in Primitive,” said Amy Falvey (1969-78), who realized all her skills were put to use on those trips.“I have huge memories of being so cool, because we were the older girls and we focused on one goal each session. Our whole aim was to hike in the Huron National Forest. We practiced our hiking and survival skills all week and then carried our own backpacks. I remember we got stuck in the rain on our trip hiking near the Alcona Dam pond. We slept in the rain and ate dehydrated food in the campground. A little old couple camping in their motor home felt sorry for us and cooked us bacon, eggs and ham for breakfast. The guy burned off a leach with his cigarette on one of the girls. Everything was all wet. Fabric wasn’t good back then, like it is now. “
“Carol Nieman and I had so much fun together,” said Rhonda Thayer, who had been the business manager from 1974-77. “We set up Primitive camp near the property where Vern Reed’s house is now. There was a gate and we followed this bumpy road back into the woods in that old green truck. The road was so bumpy that we hit our heads on the roof of the truck and we laughed so hard. We kept in touch with the girls with walkie-talkies and one night I was standing by the camp store with this walkie-talkie in my hand and the antenna sticking up in the air. I could not figure out why it kept dipping down when I had a hold of it. The I realized that bats were going after the tip of the antenna, thinking it was a bug in the light.”
“I became the director of Primitive skills,” said Sue West (1975+), “and taught the girls who signed up for my class. For three or four days, I taught them how to make and put out a fire, set up our tents, pack backpacks, read maps and compasses, and how to cook over a campfire. They had to be at least fourteen to camp in “Prim” and sleep out in those platform tents.”
“ I remember making a Dutch Oven with cardboard and tin foil for our pizza and making a pineapple upside down cake in the cast iron Dutch Oven with a lid. We also had a metal-hinged thing where we buttered bread on both sides and it sealed whatever you wanted to put between the bread. We could put whatever filling we wanted inside, like apple pie filling or ham and cheese. We called them hobo pies. Sometimes our dinners were meals in foil packets with a hamburger helper mixture.”
“The second year (1976) I took thirty girls on a canoe trip on the AuSable for five days. The girls had to have a week of intensive canoe lessons before the trip. Everything was packed. Gail Savage, another counselor, came with me. We put in the water on a beautiful sunny day, but it poured down river a few miles. We slept in puddles that night. We went back on the river the next day, still soaking wet, but had to stop and call camp to come get us. Our sleeping bags were like baggies holding the water in.”
Not everyone loved the great experience out in the woods. One girl interviewed mentioned she was in Primitive with nine other girls and was more homesick than ever due to rude girls and not being included. “I also remember another girl being very sick. She was in the outhouse and someone told me to run to get the doctor. I ran very fast to get the doctor and rode in the back of her truck. The camper turned out to be fine and they did tell me that they were impressed with how fast I got the doctor there. I think that was the only nice thing they said to me all week.”
The 1977 “Loon” mentioned Primitive and the skills learned making campfires, outdoor cooking and “roughing it in Primyland”, but their first night was sleepless due to an invasion of bugs; breakfast was a disaster as they cooked bacon and eggs in a paper bag; and their two projects were ruined by rain (a hammock and a picnic table).
They all agreed that it was impossible to ruin a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, which they ate for lunch. For dinner, it was the dried beef stroganoff where water was added, and the girls agreed it looked like dog food. After swearing they wouldn’t eat it, they ended up having three helpings! A can of Raid helped them have a good night of sleep.
The skills came in handy for Lin Harris (1967), who took fourteen girls on a primitive trip to Manitou Island years after camp. Two of the girls (Jennifer McLogan and Laurie Cullen) were on that trip and had camped with Lin.
Were your experiences good or bad in Primyland and were you ever able to use your skills in your later life?
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