back then
Bay Cliff Health Camp:
Started with a picnic and a dream
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By Larry Chabot once heard a story about a couple who took their son to Bay Cliff Health Camp, hoping the camp could help him. Since the boy was unable to walk, he paddled himself through the gate lying on a flat board with wheels. At the end of the camp season, the parents returned to pick him up. He was nowhere in sight. But they spotted a young man walking their way; maybe he knew something. The boy stopped in front of them, and to their delighted surprise, he smiled and said “Hi Mom, hi Dad.” Stories like that happen all the time, a staffer told me. What kind of place is this Bay Cliff? It came to be through the efforts of two Michigan Children Fund workers, whose paths crossed as they helped needy children and their families in the U.P. They had seen first hand the ravages of the Great Depression on poor and underfed children, and dreamed of a special place just for them. One dreamer was nurse Elba Morse and the other was Dr. Goldie Corneliuson. After attending a meeting in Detroit, they traveled north together, discussing their vision along the way, and imagined the perfect location. One summer day in 1933, they packed a picnic lunch, headed 25 miles north of Marquette to Big Bay, and spread their blanket on a bluff overlooking Lake Superior. This was the place they wanted, and it was for sale. Originally called Baycliffs, it was an abandoned dairy farm of 170 acres with a three-story house and several other structures. The asking price was $8,500 ($170,000 today), which was raised through donations for the new Bay Cliff Health Camp. Camp offered lessons on nutrition and health, three meals a day (a first for many kids), fresh air and exercise, the wonderful world of camping, daily fun things to do and the joy of being with kids like themselves. Dr. Goldie planned the program and schedules while Elba collected
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Marquette Monthly
Illustration by supplies, recruited and organized a work force, and chose the first campers from nominations from each of the U.P.’s 15 counties. The deciding factor in the selections was usually the most in need of help. The initial group in 1934 consisted of 107 underfed kids. At season’s end, there were tearful goodbyes and promises to meet again as they left Bay Cliff in better shape than when they arrived—thanks to lots of good food and a healthy reg-
March 2022
Mike McKinney imen with an increasing variety of therapies. Sadly, some returned to homes with erratic eating patterns, dirt floors, no heat or worse. One small lad, dropped off at his home, found to his dismay that his family had moved away and he knew not where. Meet Elba Morse urse Elba Morse had a lifelong career in health care, creating many new programs and facilities. As
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she traveled about, seeking funds or other support, her slogan was “It’s for the children, you know.” She had graduated from nursing school in 1909 to become one of Michigan’s first public health nurses. During World War I, she helped the war effort by recruiting nurses for the military. After the war, she survived several shattering experiences, like a cyclone, a flood and a school bombing. While working in the Thumb area as a rural public health nurse, she told author Dixie Franklin she drove an estimated 300,000 miles and went through 19 cars. By 1930, Elba was in the newly created Children’s Fund in Michigan. A year later, it was off to the Northern Michigan Children’s Fund, which she served as superintendent for 22 years. There she encountered Goldie Corneliuson. Just before their dream became a reality, when there were hundreds of details to be finalized, Elba was seriously injured in an automobile accident and was hospitalized for two anxious months. The honors began to pile up for the tireless Elba, like an honorary master of science from the University of Michigan—the only nurse known to have been so honored by the school. Then came a doctor of science degree from Northern Michigan University. She was honored to serve as a Michigan delegate to the 1950 White House conference on Children and was named the state’s Nurse of the Year in 1952. Elba was also the first nurse named to the Michigan Women’s Hall of Fame. In 1965, she retired as the on-site Bay Cliff director and moved to Iron River, where she passed away in 1975 at the Iron County Medical Care at the age of 93. Meet Dr. Goldie hile Dr. Goldie was not an onsite employee of Bay Cliff, she served on the board of directors. Like Elba, she worked for the Michigan
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