Camp Wathana is located in Holly, Michigan. We would drive there from Detroit. Back then there was no expressway going out that way so it seemed much farther away than it actually is.
Anyway, I have great memories of the times we were at that camp!
Last week they had a open house so Rich and I decided to drive over there so I could see all the places I remember being.
I remember one weekend we went for a conference with several other groups from Detroit. We stayed in this lodge and I remember rows of cots that we slept on.
I remember being a little scared of the big windows because they looked out into the woods and it was very dark!
And the big fireplace that was so huge! Still is actually but to a 9 year old girl it was gigantic!
And the balcony we weren't allowed to go on!
A few of the signs on the walls. I don't remember them but I'm sure they were hanging there when I was there. If you look closely at the bottom of the sign above you can see a faint outline of the word Girls, because we were the Camp Fire Girls. Over the years they have become gender inclusive so they took the word Girls off. I think they should have left it, personally.
There is a huge screened in porch on the back that overlooks the lake. I actually didn't remember that until I saw it again!
And of course the lake!
Don't remember this dock either but I may not have been there back then.
This totem pole says Wo He Lo, which if I recall means Work, Health and Love.
A few times we went with a smaller group of girls. Then we would stay in these little cabins.
There were bunks on both sides and slept 8 people per cabin.
Ug! I wouldn't want to stay in any of those now! I don't know how my mom did it!
I am glad we went there and I enjoyed seeing all those places. They are having another on in the Fall and I want to go back with Karen because she was also a Camp Fire Girl.
Until the next time.....
Reminds me of the church camp I went to, up near Lexington, on Lake Huron.
ReplyDeleteThey also have turned the large meeting lodge in a conference center and those little cabins that slept 8, have their own bathroom, bedroom and lovely living room. Kind of like mini-suites.
I rather liked it better when it was more rustic!!!
Looks like a fun place. I never went to camp as a kid but I always really, really wanted to. I can remember I used to make lists of what I would take if I was going. Lol!
ReplyDeleteHow neat! I'm glad you went back and enjoyed the memories of being a young girl camping. I'm sorry to just be seeing this, buddy.
ReplyDeleteI remember Patti going to Brownie camp one summer; she never went back. LOL
Hoping to see little Maxwell soon! I bet he's growing like a weed.
xoxo
Thank you for posting your pictures of Camp Wathana. Wathana was one of the first Camp Fire Girls' camps, established, in 1922 when Grace Brown was director of the Detroit Camp Fire Girls. I have not been able to find any current information about Camp Wathana.
ReplyDeleteI remember weekends with my troop at Camp Wathana in the 60s. We only went during the school year, so we didn't swim. I remember the nondenominational service on Sunday morning (the Catholic girls went to Mass - in Holly, I guess). We typically stayed in a multi room cabin that had a kitchen. I wanted to go to summer camp, but my troop wasn't going and my parents were more comfortable sending me to "church camp".
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