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 […]

My (Friend) Went There! #3

Laurie Cullen attended in the late sixties at a time when camp registrations were overflowing. She was ten and had camped at another camp from age eight to ten. “I met a little girl by the name of Jennifer. It was such an unusual name back then. I was so homesick and her Mom found […]

Reverse Homesickness–#1

  “I loved camp from the first day. I never remember being the least bit homesick, nor did I ever see my sister, except in passing,” said Kay Alcorn, who was bunked in Cabin Two (in the forties) closest to the lodge, with a counselor and seven others in bunk beds. “I got a prized […]

Traditions On The Way–

 When Beth Phillip’s parents drove her to camp in their pick-up truck (1972-78), there was a certain point where she would get so excited, because she felt like she was almost there. As they neared US 23 there was a pink tent and that was the landmark she waited to see! “My Mom and Grandma […]

Why Should I Go?

Who could have guessed a movie would have such impact on the camping industry, but “The Parent Trap” (released in 1961) starring Hayley Mills as a set of twins, was a preview of a sleep away camp for sixties campers Mary Grego, and sisters Cathy and Debbie Hawkins, who felt the movie prepared them for […]

I Was Talked Into Camp—

The list of mothers who sent their daughters to camp would be endless and incomplete, but for most of the daughters who believed the magic of their mother’s stories of their Maqua camp experiences, they were not disappointed by their summers. Well, let’s just add, most of them were not disappointed. There were a few […]