Why I Did Not Return To Camp #1

Many girls made a summer tradition of returning to Maqua, beginning at an early age, and aging out when they could no longer qualify. For others, it was not enough to be a camper, they aspired to be counselors, which extended their camp careers until college and beyond. Many just quit going and the reasons […]

The Boys Have Arrived!

Only one summer and two weeks at Maqua, but Mark Blumenthal had the distinction of being in the last group of campers to attend the camp before it closed permanently. It was the summer of 1978 and Dave McEvers had scheduled his cross-country team to utilize the camp and its  great surroundings for the team […]

Just Add Water!

 Docks, floats, rafts and boathouse took on many shapes and forms to create swimming and boating areas on Loon Lake over the course of fifty-four years at Camp Maqua. Floats were made with drums fitted to them (donated by Imperial Oil) in 1933, according to notes in a ledger book “Removed front half of the platform […]

Homesickness–#6

“My best friend at the time was going with me to Maqua. It was her first time away from home, a fact I could scarcely believe, since she was already fourteen. Her family was somewhat dysfunctional, as I look back on it. Her parents eventually divorced and her father was an alcoholic, so being the […]

It’s A Tradition!

Some of the girls were dropped off at camp and loved “being free and away from home”, said Carolyn Stanton, who spent glorious years during the late forties and fifties when her parents took their vacation in July. Debi Gottlieb’s parents had a cottage in Tawas, so they would drop her off and go to […]