LONGVIEW, TX-This is to notify you of the passing of Karla Hogan on February 16, 2020. She was 45 years old. Karla was the daughter of Lori Dayton…husband of John Dayton, deceased. A memorial service will be held in the spring in the Corinth New York area.
DFH Volume 1 Issue 23
By Camilla [Dayton] Luckey, daughter of Rev. Charles and Josephine Dayton.
AUGUST 2019: It was my high school 50th— Beekmantown Central, the sprawling, district school a few miles south of West Chazy on Rte. 22. Yes, class of ‘69, summer of love, Age of Aquarius, Woodstock. My class! Maybe I’ll get to my part of that story later.
Joyce Timpson Schauer, lifelong friend from Corinth, had mentioned that Norma, her sister, spends lots of time in West Chazy these days. Norma stays on the campground, I believe with Lori, John’s widow, who has Uncle Paul’s cottage. It occurred to me that if I were to attend my Class of ‘69 reunion I might as well pay the campmeeting association instead of LaQuinta, if, that is, the new campmeeting association would allow. They would. Phil Hunter, of that long-faithful Glens Falls family, was my contact, suggested by Norma. Phil seems to be the official groundskeeper, although association members share never-ending tasks such as leaf-raking and roof repair; there are prices to be paid for that glorious old-tree canopy.
I stayed at the Perry “Motel,” built in the sixties-seventies cement-block frenzy that followed whatever year it was that my dad’s autumnal leaf burning ritual—a solo task that year—turned disastrous. One of his several simultaneously burning piles of leaves (he was always a person to multi-task) turned to embers the dorm and two or three cottages that directly faced the tabernacle. In those days, towering shade trees, heavy with leaves, graced the now bare, blistering lawn today used more for parking rather than for picnics. The century-old wooden dorm and cottages were tinder boxes. Dry leaves had collected underneath and lay there, waiting. I remember the afternoon but not the year. I know from other afternoons the crafty, peek-a-boo glint of those sparkly orange snakes as they try to curl their way onto the route and destination of their own choice That day they succeeded, and the campgrounds were forever changed.
The Perry “Motel” was built for tabernacle access, like the wooden dorm it replaced, but the Perry is sited at one side, not the front, of the main tabernacle (Charles Dayton Tabernacle) and is equally close to the Missionary Tabernacle, sometimes called the Ladies’ Tabernacle.
The Perry is located approximately where stood what I believe was the Hewitt cottage, the one with the friendly screened-in front porch, the one that should perhaps be intentionally typo’d ‘perch.’ The Hewitt cottage was heart and center of the campground, a watchman’s perfect tower or a gossip’s paradise. Every flow of pedestrian or vehicular traffic was visible and, it seemed, every passerby’s conversation or crunch of gravel was clearly audible. Jo Hewitt’s porch rocker was probably closer to the tabernacle pulpit than was the back row of tabernacle pews, and Jo was anything but a gossip. She was a person of fewer-than-few words and a perfect person to overhear material that needed to be lifted in prayer. She, widow of Rev. Reginald Hewitt, conference president who preceded my father, was a watchman who had suffered much. Reginald had died in 1961(?) in a flaming car crash only a few minutes from West Chazy camp, his destination. My own last memory of the quiet Mrs. Hewitt—remarkable to a child (and to me even as a young adult) for her veined apple-red cheeks and cute little apple-shaped body bestowed dignity by a permanently flawless French chignon and super thick rimless spectacles—was my mother greeting Mrs. Hewitt the summer after Mrs. Hewitt had just endured a winter of chemotherapy. Mrs. Hewitt nodded, not speaking aloud, her cheeks still rosy with red spider veins set now upon a palette of pea greens. Her chignon, maybe a bit thinner, was unchanged. My mother held her horror till we’d passed from earshot. My mother didn’t know, of course, that only a few summers later she herself would have her own pea green chemo pallor.
The Perry, as of 2019, is twenty bucks a night. It’s a little rough but the water’s hot, the sheets clean, very few spiders (nothing worse!), and there were two bottles of water as well as a souvenir frig magnet in my welcome packet. And air conditioning! Alas, to have AC, a window unit, meant the sole window was sealed, at least it could not be opened (!), and thus I could not enjoy the melodious sweet summer breezes which I believe are the campground’s hallmark natural beauty, a glory of the leafy trees.
Those fabulous trees are losing the battle to practicality “Fire and ice” prudent board members have forever intoned, understandably. That’s a lot of leaves to rake. Fires are a proven danger. Just read the above paragraphs! And who will pay for the roof when age or ice brings down a limb from one of these high and mighty beauties? and the roof moss!! I note that several cottages have been given shiny metal roofs, including my dad’s cottage that Shirley Pauling now owns. Cottages that have been let go, and there are several, belong on movie sets, romantically covered and drooping from pretty, green decay. Nevertheless, if you, dear reader, are looking at these lines “in future years” and the pragmatists have won and the entire campground is scalped to a silent but easily mown-and-raked grass green, not moss green, with no standing timber. Be aware that there was another time, a time when Mother Nature (and the Atwood family, local farmers) gifted West Chazy with a sanctuary much bigger than the cement-block tabernacle interior and naked front yard. There was a place where the psalmist would have felt at home, where Nature’s praises of her Creator were in glorious concert. There are just enough trees and just enough space between them to make beautiful worship music, as well as problems.
I was given, besides my Perry key, which I never used, and two water bottles and a frig magnet and registration form, a standardized and very general “holiness” statement requiring my signature. It was so general it presented no problems. Anyway, who doesn’t want holiness? It’s just the type of lifestyle that puts ten-year-old girls into garters that I find problematic!
Anyway, the entire experience felt very strange and very precious on counts too numerous to give in detail. One I will mention: the continuity of some of the population.
(to be continued next month—November 2019, Vol 1 Issue 24)
DFH Volume 1 Issue 15
January 12, 1955 – October 20, 2018
John’s Memorial Service and graveside burial were captured on video. To view them click Here. To view a musical-photo tribute, Click Here
John’s Eulogy
Good Afternoon, I’m John’s brother Jim, from Byron Center Michigan. I moved away from Corinth when John was thirteen, so my contacts with John were infrequent. We never spent much time together, but as I reflect on John’s life, I realize that I know a lot more about him than I thought I did.
Less than three weeks before John passed away , Judy and I were in Corinth, and had the privilege of spending a full day with him and his wife Lori. It was a happy occasion for all of us, a day I’ll always cherish. That day, it really struck home what an intricate, complex and giving man John was. As the day progressed, it became apparent what made John tick
John’s frequent mention of his love of God in the year before his death, thrilled us, his brothers and sisters.
During his last year, when he faced his own mortality head on, John recognized how soon he could be in the presence of his Heavenly Father, and it was obvious that he had made his peace and was looking forward to his eternal homecoming.
John and Lori had a passion for teaching and working with kids. On that inspirational day we spent with them, conversation frequently returned to children’s ministry, and the crafts that were such an important part of it. Crafts don’t just happen. Many loving hours were spent making each piece of each unit. John’s last craft was an eight-piece wooden frog. He admired those frogs as if they were his masterpieces. Come to think of it, they were. All 90 of them. He invented and produced different equally creative crafts for those children year after year.
I’ve shared only one example of John’s generosity. His was not only a generosity of time; it was also a generosity of money. Once, in this very church you were part way into a fund-raising campaign for a building maintenance project. You were still a stretch from meeting the goal. John told the fund raisers, “Don’t worry about covering the gap to the goal. I’ll make up the difference.” He told me the amount and it was impressive. That speaks to three noble traits he possessed;
1. His Generosity.
2. His faith that God would help him achieve his commitment.
3. His love for his community of faith… this local church.
On that special day we spent together, his number one priority, by far, even if he didn’t get anything else accomplished, was to give us a tour of his church and to introduce us to his pastor. The rest of the day was secondary.
One day, within the last four years, I received a lengthy email from John. That was most unusual. He had never written more than one or two sentences. Judy and I read it together and just looked at each other. We asked, “John wrote that?” I don’t remember the contents, but I remember that it was the most eloquent email that I had read in a long, long time. I remember saying to Judy, “Wow, I wish I could write that well.” I’ve come to realize over the years just how intelligent John was. He lacked self-confidence, and that masked a lot of what he was capable of.
John was a mechanical genius. He took wrist watches apart and put them back together just for fun. He made a wooden clock which kept accurate time. Rubics cubes and other 3-dimensional puzzles were no challenge at all. The man was brilliant.
John was fanatical about his New York Mets. He wore Mets clothing wherever he went. Years ago, he had a chance encounter with Howard Johnson, who was 3rd baseman for the Mets in the 1980’s. The way John carried on you’d have thought he met the pope. He was far more impressed with his oncologist’s passion for the Mets than for his ability to save John’s life. You knew he was a true fan because he even watched the west coast games till 1:30 in the morning.
John loved puttering of any kind. His creations were classics of clever and unusual design. He had one of the best equipped workshops anywhere in Corinth.
Well, That’s just a small peek into what my brother was all about.
Hey John… keep the lights on up there. I’ll be visiting you again soon, and I’ll be staying quite a long-time the next time we get together. We will bow in awe before the face of God forever.
John, it’s an honor to be your brother.
DFH Volume 1 Issue 14
This weekend, May 25-26, the Paul Dayton family is meeting in Corinth for a memorial service and graveside committal for John Carter Dayton Sr., loving husband of Lori.
To the extended family of John: May God be with you and bless you today as you celebrate John’s life.
Dayton Family History 