From Alcohol To Drugs—

“I remember one year there was a girl with the last name of Polk and we got her really drunk and she had a bad reaction to the alcohol,” said Mardi Jo Link (1973-78). “We had to walk her around so she wouldn’t pass out. We were so afraid and said, “Oh, God, I hope […]

Even The Walls Sing!

“We were always singing,” said Kimela Peck (1966-74), who said she could still see “Beanie” with her guitar by the fireplace and the girls in their “whites” swaying back and forth to “High On Chapel Hill”. “The lodge was filled with kids all summer long from Bay City, Saginaw, Flint and Detroit and everyone seemed […]

You Can Never Have Enough—-

Many campers could trace their present day love for all things arts and crafts to their days at Maqua, including Maggie Young, who felt so fortunate to have the exposure during the sixties and seventies. Carol Requadt (1945) could still remember the cedar smell of the craft hut where she loved working with her hands. […]

Seventies Staffing #2

Two very thoughtful and well-written letters were also included in the files at the Great Lakes Bay Region YWCA. One was from Judy Moore, written on letterhead from the Women’s Athletics Program at the University of Waterloo (Canada) and dated January 24, 1972. It was addressed to Marjory Eakley, who was director of the YWCA at […]

Seventies Staffing and Issues #1

The first two years of seventies’ directorship belonged to Barbara Haggart, also known as “Beanie”, whose directors reports were less detailed than her predecessor, but did not diminish her leadership qualities or her staff’s love for her as she ran the camp with educational experience and her previous years as an assistant under Dorthe Balaskas. […]

Directors #7

“I was the director for three years and I always regretted that I did not go back, but life circumstances, plus searching for a permanent teaching job kept me away,” said Beanie (Barbara Haggart) a little wistfully. “My years at Maqua were the happiest of my life. People who have not experienced the camaraderie missed […]