Celebrating the 45th anniversary this summer of the 1969 MDA camp. It was my first camp. That summer I received a call from Ruth Hansen at the MDA office. She was recruiting people to go door-to-door that fall fundraising for MDA in what was then a large annual activity for them. She got my name from Fenwick High School, as I was one of the incoming seniors in a student council leadership position. I agreed to help recruit fellow students for the drive and in the end it turned out well. As we were about to hang up, Ruth said something like "Oh, by the way, would you have any interest in volunteering at our summer camp next month (August)?" I listened and agreed to go to an informational/orientation meeting downtown at their office on south Michigan Avenue, getting my pal Mike Shaw to join me. We decided to take a chance and so signed up. I also recruited fellow Fenwick student Mark Zielinski, who wound up in a near-by cabin matched up, in a bit of MDA whimsy, with a camper of no relation named Robert Zielinski.
The Chicagoland camp was held then in southwest Michigan near Kalamazoo. Everyone gathered on a Sunday in the south Loop on Michigan Avenue and nearby streets, got all loaded up into big buses, and drove off in a big caravan.
The camp was divided in half by a small road that had occasional traffic. I was on the lake side with a younger camper, while Mike was placed on the dining hall side with an older fellow, so except at meals and some late evenings we didn't see too much of one another.
I had an old Kodak Instamatic camera, with a fixed focal length best for taking barely-in-focus snapshots. I didn't take many pictures, and half of those I did take are distance shots that make it hard to tell just who is in them. Below are a few that turned out well enough. I don't have any pictures of Mike or Mark.
Rick Balsamo
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| John Lianos, my camper |
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| Mike Goodman |
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| Johnny Abell |
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| John Lianos trying to get Marla Altschul to sit on his lap, with Beth Hansen looking on |
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| Mike, John, & Frank Glowacki |
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| Frank, Richie Pagano, & Bruce Krzyczak |
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| Outside our cabin, with in center our unit leader Rich Taylor in his black belt outfit. Mike Goodman called him "Fearless Leader". We all felt unusually safe. |
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| Rick Balsamo with Ginny Hoskin, who was Johnny Abell's attendant |
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Billy Sutherland & Nancy Ballweber
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There were many campers present in 1969 who continued at MDA camp for many years. Some of the volunteers who continued on as well include (in the order they appeared in the roster): Diane (Dino) Kudla, John Andruska, Jimmy Liptak, Bill Manley, Eileen Wilsey, Barb Warren, Linda Kudla, Gloria Kudron, Be Be Slater, Jo Ann Biamonte, Beth Hansen, Barb Blattner, Rich Mah, Denny Harris, and nurse Sue Beeson.
I returned the following year (the last year of the Michigan camp) and was the unit (cabin) leader of a cabin with 7 younger guys, one of whom was my camper John Lianos from the previous year. I only have five photos from that summer. I was in cabin 15; Jimmy Liptak was the unit leader of Cabin 16, and Denny Harris was the same for Cabin 17.
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| Billy Holub & John Sutherland |
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| Larry Siegel & Dana Brinkman |
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| Phil Macak, David Van Tillburg, & John Lianos |
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| The Cabin 15 Volunteers; I'm sitting front left |
Some volunteers at camp in 1970 who attended for many years to come include Judy Shalvis and Patty Davy.
