Families members passed away and families moved, so those events affected the decisions of girls to return to camp. Others had to earn money instead of camping, and then some were fortunate enough to take advantage of other opportunities with travel. Jane McKinley attended camp 1956, 1957, and 1959, but her parents moved to Portland, […]
Kimela Peck
Mixing With Mahn-go-tah-see
Some years there was fraternization with the boys’ camp and other years there was no social activities between the two camps. Marge Hasty (1946) had memories of meeting the boys by sailboat in the middle of the lake to pass “sneaky mail”, and said many of the counselors had boyfriends across the lake and this […]
Sentimental Saves—
Many of the special memories from camp were preserved in copies of the “Loon” from the beginning years at camp. Not only were there many copies in the Bay City YWCA archives, but campers saved them and many donated them for reference for the history. Along with the little newsletters, photos from camp (both professional […]
Fads and Fashions–
Driven by her friend’s parents, Molly Appleford (1946) had her suitcase packed with shorts from Best and Company in Grosse Point. “They had buttons down the side and I loved them. So did Marsha Immerman, who thought they were so “in”, so I bought her a pair,” said Molly. Tucked in with those coveted shorts were […]
Rites Of Passage—
It was all girls and a safe place to talk, a place to give in to the innocent rites of passage, and share experiences only girls could relate to–that was camp. Shaving your legs, bleaching or cutting your hair, smoking your first cigarette, talking about sex, wearing a bra or not wearing a bra […]
Cliques–
“You could tell there were cliques or groups, but it was never in a mean way. It was usually the Saginaw girls, the Bay City Girls, the Detroit girls—and they were usually in the same hut, so they just hung out together,” said Deb Wilkinson (1964-66).” I do remember the girls from the wealthier families […]