Activity night, cabin night, skits, puppet shows, scavenger hunts, themed parties, races and plays embodied Camp Maqua’s reputation as a happy camp. Program and activity directors were selected for their ability to encompass that fun into programs the girls could enjoy every night of their session.
Toni Young was the only program director whose report in 1966 was in the files at the Bay City YWCA. It was a detailed report and she wrote that she had done most of her planning before camp began. It was a great synopsis of what types of activities were formulated for the campers.
“The heart of each program and its success depended to a great extent on the staff, so the planning was not completed until I knew the staff and was able to recognize their talents and their areas of interest and support,” wrote Toni.
It was a hot summer, according to her report, so she substituted free swims and more quiet activities instead of more active programs. Free swim or open house on Sunday night, with snacks every night after the evening activity. The staff was introduced and vespers were conducted with songs, dismissing four cabins after two songs, four more after the next few, etc. There was a friendship circle in Senior Village, followed by bed and “Taps”.
On Mondays and Tuesdays, it was the first all-camp activity. Wednesday was cabin or unit night. Thursday was unit or cabin night—whichever one they did not do the night before. Friday all camp activity, since half the counselors have their time off. Saturday was cabin day and all the other staff took off and the rest do skits.
On the second week, Sunday had a different schedule that was listed in the staff manual. Monday was planned for events. Tuesday and Wednesday were cabin nights and Thursday was unit night. Friday was the closing ceremony and Saturday campers went home, except stay-overs.
Toni felt there was little planning in advance for the camp activities, but she needed the cabin counselors to “carry out my plans successfully”, especially in special events when the girls needed ideas and guidance to perform well. Taps, snacks and 9:30 lights out for all “and the girls are silent.”
The unit games consisted of dodge-ball in the archery field, volleyball on the volleyball field, softball on the diamond near the riding ring. She wrote.–”many mosquitoes here so have the girls spray with bug repellent.” Relay races were set up by Toni or Frenchie on the archery field, or in the lodge, if it rained. Eight teams were organized, so that all the girls from one cabin were on different team, which meant there were usually twelve on a team. There were obstacle, combination, running, equipment and passing relays.
Talent shows were in the lodge and skits or talents, five to ten minutes in length, were presented to the other campers, with cabins chosen randomly. Paper bag skits were ten minute skits presented to the camp after dinner. Each cabin was given a bag to bring to the evening activity in the lodge, and the bags were collected and redistributed to the campers to organize their skit. The counselor hunt took place in the lodge and instructions and limitations were given to both groups before the counselors hid. They were given an hour to find them and they sang while the counselors hid.
On Gypsy night, each cabin dressed in “flashy colors and combinations” and presented themselves as a Gypsy band with their own song. When the flag was lowered after announcements, each cabin would blow up balloons, tie them and hand them out at the door after dinner and later they were tied to camper’s ankles. “Opposing cabins met in the middle of the cleared lodge and tried to break the other bands balloons,” she wrote. The ones with the most balloons at the end of the allotted time won and ties were broken.
The treasure hunt was a Friday night activity and Toni felt “had their been more clues, it would have been very successful.” She had ten clues for every two cabins, which she felt did not keep them busy long enough. (The prize was two or three pieces of penny candy.) Toni wrote that the counselors ignored her advice for some of the plans and spoiled the effect of Friday’s activity.
The winter carnival was planned by Rusty for a Sunday afternoon, with the swim area as the relay course for the teams. There was also a tug of war using rowboats and a sailing race.
The fair was also held on Sunday afternoon in the lodge with a booth for each cabin. Fortune telling, putt-putt golf, apple bobbing, candle squirting, and sponge throw were some of the games, with dollars bills made by the cabins and gold nuggets as fifty-cent pieces. (Each booth was fifty cents.)
The kangaroo court was held on Friday night while half the counselors had their night off. She had the girls seated in the same manner they were seated for vespers. The judge sat at a table with a hammer, a water pitcher and a glass. “A book entitled “The Gospel According To Camp Maqua” was used to swear in the jury of counselors, kitchen aids and the defendant. Each cabin would accuse a cabin or a person, the defendant would be sworn in, plead her case and then tried before a deliberating jury and then given the decision. If found guilty, the punishment is given, and if found innocent, the accusers were given the punishment”. (She said the punishments were funny—singing a song alone or pushing a pencil on the floor with your nose, etc.)
Do you remember Toni Young and did you participate in any of these activities?