The second year 
Linda Doering had charge of Cabin C , but had to be talked into it. “The girls were older and I told them there was no way I could do that. The girls were so close to my age and all I could think of was how was I going to control them or challenge them?” said Linda. “It ended up being a great summer with them and I loved it!
She also was the Boating Director, arranging counselor and class assignments. “My favorite class to teach was rowing for the tiny kids. They had to pass a swim test in order to be able to canoe, and I loved teaching,” said Linda.
“As a cabin counselor Linda was tops,” wrote Dorthe in her director’s report. “The older girls liked her very much and did seem to enjoy camp. We had very little complaints from this older group and I felt Linda planned and kept them busy. She could be rated as an excellent counselor. She spent time with her groups and was always on the job. As boating director I felt she showed growth by the end of the summer and I do not question her capabilities. I do feel however that she is rather quiet and is not as apt to take on a supervisory type of position for she felt her staff were capable and did not need her. As time and situations arose she found that she could be more of an activity director than she had been the first part of the summer. She also took over the waterfront for three days when the director had to attend a family funeral and did a wonderful job. I feel she has great potential as a teacher in many ways and just needs more experience.”
She continued with an evaluation of the boating in general in her report. “Classes went well and once again were filled with meaningful lessons and I was more than pleased with the teaching I saw going on in this area. “Yakky” lacked confidence in herself especially the first part of the summer and could have been more of a leader as activity director but this came easier as summer progressed. We had some problem in the area of policy regarding the boating program and even though it had been explained “Yakky” found it hard to agree with me. I tried it her way and found it was a definite safety issue and had to step in and insist the old policy be followed. This was in regards to boats going out after supper and in regards to leaving vessels and going swimming in area other than those designated at our own waterfront.”
Linda remembered that at one time that summer she permitted the girls to swim nude, which was not the problem, but it was in the middle of the lake off the side of the boat. “Dorthe was unhappy with that decision,” she said. “At that time I saw nothing wrong with that and said that I thought getting to skinny dip was part of the camping experience. She agreed with the skinny dipping idea but thought the middle of the lake at night was a bad idea. Now, forty years later, I totally agree withher—it was a really bad idea. At the time I thought she was overreacting, and now I think she was right and I was wrong.”
“I guess I had that invincible youth feeling. Possibly, sometimes I would dip into the water in the middle of the lake from the sailboat when I was teaching if it was hot, but I was not the only counselor to do this, “ said Linda. She felt like she had been betrayed, since she was just following the example of the others, while she tried to fit in, but was the only one to be reprimanded.
She continued with the wisdom and perspective of a woman as she elaborated further–“Whatever it was, I am now sure she had the better point of view and I hope that I listened to her and did as she wished. Oh, just thinking of the possibilities for mishap now as a grown up makes me sick to my stomach. Her job as a director must have been very stressful—teaching a bunch of twenty year olds to take care of a bunch of ten to fifteen year olds. She must be a saint, “ she said Linda had glowing words for Dorthe. “As a director, she was great. She knew everything that was going on in camp, and she did a great job of pulling me out of my shell. I was so scared one day when she pulled me into her room, because I thought I had done something wrong,’ said Linda. “By the time I got out of there, I was relieved. She did a great job of explaining and teaching.”
“When I was at Camp Maqua I think it was the first time in life that I ever knew that someone looked up to me. I was just a few years older than the campers, but at home I supposedly had a bad attitude and I thought I was a bad kid. To have kids looking up to me in a mild and innocent way was really neat, “ said Linda. “I thought to myself, WOW! I can be OK!”
If you were on the staff, did you ever experience a conflict or misunderstanding?