The Niedzielski sisters wrote about the 1947 “Water Carnival”, which took place on VisItor’s Sunday in front of campers and their friends and relatives by the boathouse. The carnival was directed by Ann Theilan and judged by Beth, Peg, Ann Thomas, Dona Johnson, K.J. Carroll and Mrs. Stuart. Each of the nine huts made a float representing a different holiday. The winner was Hut 1, with their Fourth of July representation and the girls held big firecrackers.
There was an exhibition entitled “Susie Learns to Swim” demonstrated by the red caps to show their swimming ability. The green caps had balloon races with two teams, “The object was to blow up the balloon, swim from the green to the red raft and give the balloon to the next girl. She, in turn, had to blow up the balloon and swim back to the green raft with it,” it stated.
They also had pajama races, with the girls again divided into two teams, and the girls (dressed in pajamas) had to swim to the opposite raft, take them off and give them to the next girl, which left them “torn to shreds”, but was entertaining.
The blue caps had a canoe race, where they paddled their canoes out and around the third raft and back to shore with their paddles followed by the canoes being paddled out to the third raft and brooms were used instead of paddles to race back to shore. There were also rowboat races, examples of life saving and a beautiful water ballet, led by Gerry Folkert and Julie Ford, which included different strokes and surface diving.
“O’Tools Activities” by Nan O’Tool in 1950 included a summary of a Water Pagaent, which included boating events such as paddle boats with metal platters and brooms, canoe bobbing and water fights with canoes that were swamped. There were also swimming events with a beginner’s running race, newspaper race on backs and a greased watermelon race.
A boat decorating contest with the theme “The Sound Of Music” won Debbie Pennington’s cabin the top prize in the early sixties’. Her memory included using megaphones with something white on them as mountains.
Pages 70-72 in the book “Camp Maqua” depicts many of the water regattas in photographs. The earliest mention of the water carnivals, festivals or regattas were in the archival scrapbooks, beginning in 1929, featured in copies of local Bay City newspapers. Many of the swimming exhibitions and parades of floats were performed in front of family and friends on Visitor’s Day.
ARCHIVAL SCRAPBOOK- JULY 1929
“Maqua Girls Find Different Pleasures For Every-day There”
“Hikes, Circus Party, and Water Carnival are Some of Entertainments Produced”
The girls rowed boats decorated by eight groups of campers. The most original was “The Rescue of a Drowning Murder”. There was a tie for the prettiest boat- (float) an old-fashioned tea party and “a boat load of immigrants passing the Statue of Liberty”
ARCHIVAL SCRAPBOOK- SUMMMER 1930
A yachting party welcomed the campers at the lodge, which had been transformed into a ship, complete with sailors, life preservers, and plank. Bottles of punch were distributed from a bar.
ARCHIVAL SCRAPBOOK- 1930
“Girls Leave for Summer At Camp”
“48 Taken in Buses Yesterday to Maqua”
“Camp Program Includes Variety of Active Events”
She described a never ending came of charades, a puppet show, a co-ed party with fern clover corsages, and a campfire. Sunday with visitors was a day of eight programs to make room for the regatta. Each hut entered their boat, decorated with a theme.
“Because of the black grease paint and other forms of makeup on the faces of some of the characters a fifteen minute dip in the lake finished the program.”
What do you recall of swimming exhibitions, games or regattas?