The sun smiled on us for our big celebration, with over eighty former campers, staff, residents, and their families, plus volunteers from the Plainfield Township Historical Commission. The guests enjoyed guided tours around the lodge, property walkabouts, and visits to three huts. The archives were on loan from the Bay City Historical Museum and were […]
Shelley Harris
Sing-y-swim-y Camp
Shelley Harris spent ten years at Camp Maqua, half as a camper and the other half on staff, including a stint as Program Director. As a fourth grader in Flint in 1965, she was excited about the idea of going to camp after her cousin had been the previous year. Just hearing that […]
Pranks Between Two Camps–
“We loved to torment the boys across the lake,” laughed Geraldine Folkert (1942-47). “Every year we would paddle over and take their canoes, so they would have to paddle our boats back over to get theirs. We never really had any social outings with them, but I think some of the counselors used to mix […]
Dating At Camp–
A rabbit, in front of the Maqua flag, peers through the woods through binoculars toward the Camp Mahn-go-tah-see flag on the cover of a 1951 edition of the “Loon”. The girls would agree—the boys camp across the lake held campers and staff alike at Camp Maqua fascinated and interested for centuries. Meg Dahlem, early twenties […]
Weathering The Weather–
Camping in sunny weather was ideal. It meant no freezing or shivering when you went into the lake for waterfront activiites; sunny skies for boating; great days for overnight camping and canoeing, beautiful sunsets and starry skies for campfires and good sleeping weather inside the cabins whose only air conditioning was the breeze that blew […]
Garb—-
Patsy Walsh (1938) remembered one of the sweet girls in the bunk above her had jeans. “I was so fascinated. I had never seen girls in jeans. She let me wear them and I was so excited! We always wore shorts or dresses. Honestly, it was one of the highlights of being there. I felt sharp. […]