Camp Was A Gift–

Diane Dudley(1957-63) was one of the writers for “The Loon” and saved many of her copies.  Her time at Maqua was very influential, and her love for the woods influenced her to continue living in the woods to this day. She sent a passage from a book by G.K. Chesterton from one of his short […]

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 […]

Camp Clothes–

Like many of the Moms who sent their daughters off to camp, the little labels were sewn into Jeri Smith’s camp wardrobe in the sixties. The list for camp would arrive in the mail to check off the activites and articles of clothing plus items needed for the two-week sessions. Of course, there was always […]

Care Packages–

“There were rules about getting food.,” said Margot Homburger (1946-52). “The camp did not want you to have food in your cabin and I remember one of my friends jumped into my bed because there was a mouse in there. If you got a package, you had to open it at the lodge. My friend […]

Taking The Path To The Brownie–

There was no such thing as an indoor toilet in the huts, but the little girls wished there had been, since that dark path to the Brownie was a scary trek. Phoebe Atha (1947-48) thought it was a frightening walk to get there, as did Karen Short (1945-48) .Even the buildings themselves housed creatures that […]

Eek! Snakes! Lizards!

The girls either learned to have an appreciation for snakes or they left camp still hating them. Maureen Moore (1968-70) learned to appreciate snakes during her trips to the nature hut, but, some girls played with them at camp and later developed a fear, like Karen Magidsohn (1965) or Barb Krohn (1970-72), who just avoided […]