About
Who is the Epworth Park Foundation?
Board of directors
- Doug Frizzi, President
- Shawn Core, Treasurer
- June Diehl, Secretary
- Steve Avdakov
- Chad Moore
- Judy Oberdick
- JoAnne Mcfarland
Document library
Epworth Park Foundation Board Structure
Board Composition
The Epworth Park Foundation Board (EPF) is composed of a minimum of three members and a maximum of fifteen members. This range allows the board to maintain effective governance while ensuring adequate representation and diversity among its participants.
Cottage Owner Representation
A key intention of the current board is to include at least three cottage owners among its members. This approach ensures that the perspectives and interests of cottage owners are actively represented in board decisions.
Diversity and skill sets
In addition to cottage owners, non-cottage owners are considered for board membership. The primary reason for including non-cottage owners is to enhance the board’s diversity of thought and to bring specialized skills to the organization. Such skills may include grant writing, accounting, or legal expertise, all of which contribute to the effective operation and strategic development of the foundation.
Our History
Epworth Park is over 150 years old. Started as a Methodist Camp Ground, it was visited by 10,000 to 15,000 campers who traveled to Bethesda by horse-drawn wagons and trains. With the crowds, there came a need to improve housing. 90 Victorian Cottages, three lodges, a two-story hotel, an outdoor auditorium, and a lake were built between 1870 and 1900 to make staying at the park more comfortable as a weekend retreat from city life.
Camp Meetings were replaced by the National Chautauqua Movement in the early 1900’s, springing out of the Methodist retreat in Chautauqua, New York. With this movement came even more grand affairs with guest speakers, musicians, and entertainers.
Owned by the Methodist Conference, in 2018, they divided the 28 acres of property into three separate parcels. One included all the land the cottages resided on, the auditorium, and the building that served as the rectory. This was sold to the cottage owners who formed The Epworth Cottage Owners Association (EPCOA). The second included the lake and the parkland opposite the cottages and was donated to the Village of Bethesda to be used as a community recreational park. The third included The Epworth Center and all land surrounding it. The church retained ownership but the center is currently closed.
The Epworth Park Foundation was established as a 501(c)3 in 2023 to focus on issues that the cottage owners could not address, such as raising funds for capital improvements and collecting and preserving historical artifacts and information (the beginnings of that archive are on this site). It has also helped support efforts such as recognition as a national historic district.