When Elaine Levinsohn (1927-30) camped at Maqua, there were no homes around, just a pretty lake with many trees. “All the girls knew there was a boys’ camp there,” she laughed, as she recalled a vague memory of boating over to the camp, like many before and after her years at camp.
As the boating director, Anne Pennington (1964-72) recalled some of the fun on the water on Hawaiian Day when the girls would decorate the canoes and rowboats. The boys across the lake would also decorate their large boat, which she said resembled a Viking ship. The boys tried to throw things from their boat onto the girls’ boat. One summer she was dating Larry Roberts, who was caretaker Homer Robert’s son from the boys’ camp and she enjoyed the mixers with the boy counselors in the pre-sessions the week before camp opened.
“I remember a beauty pageant in bathing suits with a Hawaiian theme’” said Tami Nagel, who camped in the sixties. “Although I can’t remember her name, she had blonde hair and she won something, and I remember the boys from Camp Mahn-go-tah-see coming over.”
Sarah Smith, whose camping years spanned the late sixties to the mid-seventies, had a vivid memory at the end of her camping experience when the boys came over from camp and she was chosen to be the Indian Maiden. “I had dark hair and dark skin, so that’s probably why I was chosen, but I was thrilled since I was a chubby kid.”
A copy of the “Loon” dated July 27, 1968 featured a small article entitled “Hawaiian Day” and continued with: “Sunday afternoon, Maqua transformed itself from a girls’ camp to a Hawaiian Paradise. Each cabin decorated a rowboat or canoe to carry their queen. There was a boat show for the best boat and Cabin A won. Next, the queens were all quizzed on their intelligence, following this was a hula contest. After much deliberation, the judges chose Cabin 1’s queen as the winner. Instead of eating in the lodge, we all had a luau on the beach. Mahn-go (tah-see) stopped by for the occasion in style with flowers for the girls who were not too shy.”
“We never saw a man on the premises, except the guy who took care of the horses, although there was this cool Viking boat from the boy’s camp with maybe eight boys rowing, and we would sing songs back and forth to them,” said Cara Prieskorn (1966-71). “We did have a lockdown one night because they thought there was a trespasser in the camp, so all the counselors were stationed at the front of every cabin and would have to walk with us if we went to the bathroom.”
Of course, many of the girls waited for the boys of Mahn-go-tah-see to call out, so they could return the call. Missy Plambeck (1968-78) was one of those girls and she recalled the Viking boat and the dances with the boys in the lodge. “It was so funny because everyone was so shy with the boys there. I think the counselors had more fun. One boy, Fred LaHood did write to me, though.”
Beth Phillips (1972-78) and Anne Schupak (1966+) had memories of yelling chants across the lake, fantasizing the boys could hear them and then the excitement when they chanted back.Susan Bradford (1965+) said the girls would loudly sing the “Hey Mongo” song that was popular, hoping the boys who heard would paddle over in their canoes.
Some years there were fireworks at the boys’ camp and the girls could watch from the campfire on Maqua shores, and one year Kathleen Clements recalled a canoe ride initiated by the counselors across the lake. “I don’t think they were supposed to do that, so we paddled across, had a bonfire and paddled back.”
Do you remember the Viking boat or the mixers with the boys?