Confidence, self-esteem, fearlessness, self-sufficient, and nurtured were other common words that campers and staff used to describe their experiences found at Maqua. Karen Selby, seventies camper and staffer said,” As a camper, I tried everything I could not do in Bay City. I rode a horse. I learned how to shoot a bow and arrow. […]
Karen Selby
Camp Developed Leaders–
Camp Maqua developed some amazing leaders, not only on the camp grounds but later in life. Women in leadership roles influenced young girls at camp, whether they were aware or not. The young girls looked up to the counselors, who were in college attaining degrees in fields that women of the past dare not dream […]
Mixed Reactions–
Born in Flint, Sheryl Biesman was eight years old when she camped for the first time in 1973 and it closed before she could ever have a leadership position in 1978. Karen Selby was one counselor she could remember from that “wholesome camp” that closed with little fanfare to the campers who were there the […]
Separated By The Transition
Amy Falvey began camping at Maqua in 1970, when she was nine years old, and finished her last year in 1978 when the camp closed. Her big sister Betsy was her impetus for attending, and every year the sessions increased with her increased enjoyment of her experiences. “The first year it was two weeks, […]
Handling Cliques–
“The YWCA had always been about service and sending girls to camp,” said seventies staffer Karen Selby, who admitted her coming of age at Maqua included the fact she was the only African America girl at camp with the name Karen and the only African American staffer the camp had had. “ I noticed there […]
Childhood Feelings—
Did Anne Pennington know there were girls who were envious of her tall, thin summer body? Or that the Kiltie sister’s hair was the epitome of summer hair? Or that “Beanie, Superdoo (Sue Purdue), Kiltie (Susan) and (Anne) Obey” intimidated some of the less secure girls? Probably not! Little girls in the process of growing […]