Going to camp gave many young girls the chance to attempt boating activities they would have not given a thought to at home. Boating was one of those exciting choices that gave the girls new skills and confidence in themselves, and it also gave way to adventures on the lake and rivers surrounding the area.

There was a level of swimming proficiency that had to be met before the young girls could climb into the rowboats and tests to pass before they could sail or canoe.

A caption under a photo of canoes on Loon Lake, featuring Ann Gunn as the instructor, appeared on August 11, 1957 in the Bay City Times and read: “ Canoeing is a popular sport engaged in by many women, both for short periods on inland lakes, as well as for overnight tirps down the AuSable River.”

Pat Rehmus (1962-65) had been swimming since she was four at the Bay City Country Club with her family. The first summer at camp, she and a friend had to take a swim test in order to get into the canoes. “We were keen to get those canoes out. For some reason, we were not good enough,” said Pat.

But, the girls improved and they knew they had one last opportunity to run and launch that canoe, so they ran to shore and took off in the canoe, amidst yelling from the counselors to get back to shore.

“We were paddling away with that taste of freedom after working so hard to pass the test. The next year we took lessons to paddle properly, but you know at eight, we just ignored authority,” she laughed.

A copy of the “Loon” from 1947 featured a small article on the canoe test with the sentiments of a young canoer. “Today I will relate to you one very important phase in my camping days-my canoe test. Bless you Muriel for all your patience. The first thing I did wrong was the steering. I, being left-handed, do everything the opposite way. So, naturally when Muriel (bless you again) told me to go one way, I went the other. When I finally got to her, she told me to jump out, so I did. Having too much confidence, I couldn’t get in again. Ten minutes later, success! Then the hard part came—filling the canoe with water. Well, I survived that after considerable delay and I paddled into shore.”

“The canoe drills were interesting. The canoe was to the right of the dock, and two were in one canoe and two were in another,” said Cara Prieskorn (1966-71). “We had to tip it over in shallow water and right it, carrying it over our heads– then drain it and slip it back into the lake. I was not particularly athletic, but I passed. The paddling strokes were practiced on the sand, but we had to be careful not to put the tips of the paddles in the sand.”

Mary Lu Clay can still recall that Marion Johnson was her canoe instructor in the late forties, when she passed the swim test as a nine or ten year old. Kerry Weber still has the scar on her arm from lifting the canoe bottom in 1952 with a metal piece and nails. “We had to be able to pass some tests, canoe across the lake and other tasks before we could go on canoe trips. You also had to be able to lift the canoe up onto the rack.”

There was a lot of responsibility involved for the counselors who taught the boating and Susan Prieskorn (1966-72) remembered swamping the canoe full of water and how she had to get it back upright in the water. Since her mother believed in water safety, Susan knew how to swim and enjoyed the rowing and canoeing, but never sailed. (Too scary.)

What were your canoe/boating tests like when you attended camp?