Oral Performances at Camp

(Chapter 6, Box 27 Action)

Here are three songs representative of what at least one generation of campers sang at Camp Pokagon for Girls.

SPIRIT OF POKAGON
By Lou Meynard

Wake up every morning with a smile upon your face
Like the sun as it dawns across the lake.

Dreams of Pokagon that your memories can’t erase
The fragile times that time could never break.

Spring has its blossom, and autumn drops her leaves
But summer at Pokagon never ends.

‘Cause now it’s yours forever, sing out what your heart believes:
The spirit of Pokagon is your friends.
The spirit of Pokagon is your friends.

Due to lack of humor, this particular song seems to be one of the more serious songs sung by campers. From the use of metaphor in this song (and the sheer amounf of songs I've compiled--about 200) we can tell how much of a bonding force 4-8 weeks of camp life was for these girls.

TAKE ME OUT TO POKAGON

Take me out to Pokagon, take me out to the camp.
Buy me a sweatshirt and sleeping bag;
I don’t care if my counselor’s a hag!
For it’s slap, slap, slap the mosquitoes,
Stay away from the snakes!
For it’s 1,2, 3 clean the john
And the other rakes!

This song, sung to Take Me Out to the Ballgame, illustrates some of the more humorous elements of camp life. Campers eveidently needed sweatshirts, which tells us that weather was probably unpredictable at camp. Apparently, there also seems to be a tradition of ugly "hag" counselors, as well as persistant pests, such as mosquitoes and snakes. This song also reveals some of the values at camp; cleaning was definitely something everyone, like it or not, had to participate in.

WE ARE POKAGON GIRLS

We are Pokagon girls, we wear our hair in curls.
We wear our father’s shirts, we are the biggest flirts!
We wear our dungarees way up above our knees.
Hey boys, here come Pokagon girls! Hey!

To me, this song reveals the desire many girls had to maintain their feminine side while spending their summers in a traditionally masculine way. Though these girls wore men's clothing, they still did their hair and maintained a charm to attract what I assume to be the boys from Camp Pokagon for Boys. This song also alludes to the fact that there may have been a connection between the boys' camp and girls' camp, though they were located in different areas on Lake James.