An Interview with Jon and Carol Stidworthy

Jon and Carol Stidworthy work year round behind the scenes for Kingswood. Jon has been the treasurer since 2002, and Carol supports him by keeping the books on the computer, which Jon will not touch. They are also our purchasing agents, buying everything we need for camp from toilet paper, soap and cleaning supplies to getting in the first order of ice cream. 

Kingswood is not their only volunteer gig. Both are also actively involved in their local churches in Warwick. Carol serves up soup every Wednesday in the church parking lot and helps with community events. Jon retired, after 29 years of being the treasurer of Warwick Methodist Church when they decided to go electronic. Jon and Carol are great examples of how to retire with community and to impact others through service. 

Jon has been involved at Kingswood since the late sixties.  Carol joined him in 1981, and they married in 1987. Jon coordinated Men’s Work Weekend for many years and still works at cutting the wood for the summer campers and winter retreats with a group of men. Carol works with Judy Swanson on the store, and makes the important decision each year on the color of our Kingswood T-Shirts. Carol can also be found in the kitchen during Senior Week, while Jon is completing a task list including getting the fire extinguishers in the right places, purchasing fuel for the lawn mowers and many more behind the scenes jobs. Both are key to preparing the camp for opening day. Jon and Carol support Cheryl, their daughter and our director, in any way they can, including managing alongside Cheryl last summer. Kingswood is a family affair for them, with babies, toddlers, kids, grandkids all in tow over the years.

Jon and his family began camping in a pop-up at Kingswood during Setup Weekend when Cheryl was just turning two.  At that time volunteers parked their pop-ups in a circle opposite the farmhouse where we now park to go to the barn.  As a young dad on his first trip to Kingswood, Jon vividly remembers the campfire. As the young family sat enjoying the warmth of the communal campfire, unforgettably one of the fire ring rocks heated up to the point that the pressure from the water inside caused it to explode, startling them all.

Jon became part of the group of men from Warwick Methodist Church that built the shelters and tent sites in exchange for hunting privileges.  In 1972 Jon became a hunter.  He had never hunted before, but he learned from others. Eventually he brought the only female into the hunting group, his daughter Cheryl. The year Jon retired he spent 100 days volunteering at Kingswood. Often using his own equipment to mow fields, dig ditches, cut firewood and much more. 

Over the years Jon has learned much from others on projects. Traditionally much of what is done at Kingswood costs just the materials.  There are people in the community that have skills to take on the project, and they share the knowledge with a group of people that work alongside the master.  Jon has been part of that group of workers from the addition onto the farmhouse with Bob Porter to the development of the sites to the pavilion at Tent and Trailer to ongoing annual maintenance projects.

The cabinet in the barn containing everything that is needed to turn a site over, readying it for the next reservation, is called Carol’s closet. Carol makes sure that everything is replenished for each camping season. When camp ends and the fall senior week is done, Carol takes small garbage bags and she folds them as she goes to and from camp. She can do 150 or more on a trip.

Jon and Carol fondly remember their experiences as managers, especially during Woodsmoke. There was always plenty to be done, and not quite enough time to get it done. They saw kids grow up through the program. Before Jon and Carol phased themselves out of the manager job they trained Tim Shenk and Alicia Swords and Chris and Liz Yount to be managers.

Carol recollects a wet week of managing without Jon. She, her granddaughter and Ginny bought hay from Judy, the lifeguard, at her farm to put down in the sites to decrease mud.  The lake water was lapping over the top of the old dam. Ginny Stevenson realized that the old chimney that let water down to the stream was blocked, so she ventured out to unplug it. The rush of water once it was unplugged caused the boat to sink down in the front and rise up in the back at a mighty steep angle. Somehow Ginny stayed in the boat and was fine, but it was an unforgettable moment to see the boat tipped up against the chimney. 

At the end of Carol’s story, Jon chuckled and gave a huge smile, “You never know what a week at Kingswood is going to bring,”

And we all know that it will take many volunteers to replace the work of these two volunteers extraordinaire!