Learning to get along with people at camp was an integral part of the whole camping experience. Thrown together in a cabin with seven others, or working beside counselors of different walks of life and ages made for interesting and sometimes challenging dynamics. Camp was like a microcosm of the world and a great place […]
Carolyn Waits
Dating At Camp–
A rabbit, in front of the Maqua flag, peers through the woods through binoculars toward the Camp Mahn-go-tah-see flag on the cover of a 1951 edition of the “Loon”. The girls would agree—the boys camp across the lake held campers and staff alike at Camp Maqua fascinated and interested for centuries. Meg Dahlem, early twenties […]
Skinny Dipping!
“Having a boys’ camp across the lake did not stop the tradition of bathing in the lake in the forties’ and fifties’. Mary Jo Stegall camped in1933-41 and did just that. (I imagine the campers had been participating in this ritual when the camp was built in the twenties’ and kept it up until showers […]
Sail, Sail Away–
The camp was desperate to find someone to take over the canoeing and sailing in the mid-fifties, so sisters Nancy, Judy and Pat O’Tool took over the job. “The three of us took the sailboat called “Snipe” out on the lake and instead of laying on its side, it would totally capsize. Over and over […]
Lifesaving Drills and Certification
There were always extensive waterfront activities with qualified safety and life-saving instructors for swimming and boating. The Dept. of Social Serivces for the state inspected the camp yearly. In 1971 their report listed eleven water safety instructors and four lifesavers, which meant the camp was under excellent supervision. It noted a human chain was formed, […]