Stories
The story of
the Stevenson family
Working summers for Dwight Rogers at Camp Bonnie Dune in 1955, 1956 and 1957 were enjoyable times for the most part, despite the fact that it was here that I attempted suicide. I met Dwight on one of our family vacations, and then went each summer to maintain the cottages and work with him on weekends when he came in from his work in New York.
I came to appreciate working with my hands, as the job entailed every imaginable trade: carpentry, plumbing, electrical, boat repair and roofing. I also took care of Dwight's 90-year-old mother who was living out her last years in the camp that she had founded and run with her son and daughter (I also came to know Dwight's sister Luke who lived in Newport at that time).
I learned the various trades in the same way that Dwight had learned them - by trial and error. After all, Dwight's profession at that time was that of an investment counsellor, and although he had grown up managing the camp, his main tasks at that time had been administrative and counselling. Hence, our solutions to problems were often unorthodox, and throughout my life I have referred to such solutions as a "Dwight."
Putting a new roof on one of the cottages with Dwight
My growing up experiences with Dwight and others at Camp Bonnie Dune gave me another thing in common with my father who had gone through the same experience with Dwight and Camp Bonnie Dune thiry years before. It also gave me something in common with my brother Jim who took over the job from me after I went away to college.
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Stages
1986-1992
Fall of the Soviet Empire
1992-1997
UNESCO Culture of Peace Programme