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 through the screened windows. But, mix in cold air or rain and many activities were canceled, or worse than that—ruined!
“I also went on several of the overnight canoe trips and was even in charge of one of them. We never had tents, and just enjoyed the sun. If it rained, too bad, so sad,” said Susan Kiltie (1960-68) . “We probably had bad weather fifty percent of the time and if the weather was not conducive to sleeping outside, we would sleep under the canoes in our sleeping bags. We were young enough to think it was all one big adventure.”
As early as 1956, there were mentions of inclement weather in the minutes and ledgers from the camp committee. There was a note that parents were not happy that some of their daughters lived in the tents and not the cabins, especially during the wet and cold summer. The tents were also used for camp craft and other programs. There had been a tornado warning on July 1st and with no real plan in place for safety. It was suggested that they “get to the east side of the knoll by the rifle range”, but a Mrs. Brown underscored the amount of panic that involved and that that plan should only be a last resort.
There was no basement to any of the buildings on the camp property, but several campers interviewed recalled utilizing the camp “Brownie”, with its cinder block exterior/interior as a shelter during some of the severe weather. Certainly, with only two bath-houses on the property in the later years, the occupancy rate would not hold the entire session of campers and counselors.
In the seventies, Patty Shepard wrote in the “Loon”; “On the 4th of July things were pretty good until the rain storm hit us. Everyone in camp thought the storm was going to blow over. We departed on our trip to Tawas by bus, car and truck. As we were watching the fireworks, Mother Nature decided to display some of her own talent. We must admit Mother Nature had much better fireworks!”
“One of my favorite memories is the Northern Lights at the end of the summer,” said Shelley Harris (1965-75). “I was the Program Director and had been there already for nine weeks. A few of us went on a canoe trip and came back to a party in Dutton. The sky was shimmering, We went out and stood there looking at this dome of green and blue layers of color from the dock. I could have stayed out there all night.”
Those who bunked in Hut nine probably were the luckiest girls when it came to the night skies, as they could face the lake with its Northern Lights and see the full moon and starry heavens from their beds, but the years when the boathouse still had the wonderful log deck or covered dock had to be the grandest for nighttime sky watching.
How did weather affect your planning as a director our counselor? Who was lucky enough to see the Northern Lights over the lake?
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