Whilden on a 2005 missionary trip to India.

By Mary Walton, Editor @Blogfinger

Ocean Grove dentist Dale C. Whilden was elected president of the board of trustees of Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association at the board’s meeting Saturday. He replaces Scott Rasmussen, who had reached the end of a maximum six-year period of service.

The opposing candidate was Peter Herr, owner of the Ocean Vista Hotel. Both Herr and Whilden are long-time board members well known in the community, and Saturday’s vote, by secret ballot, was expected to be close. The tally was not announced.

Originally, the contest had been between Herr and Ralph Del Campo, a pharmaceutical executive, who had filed for the office in July. Del Campo withdrew not long afterward, and the board received notice that Whilden would be nominated from the floor.

Reached by telephone after the vote, Whilden said he decided to run at the urging of many OGCMA members over the summer. “I think I’ve never been told what to do by so many people. I listened and prayed about it. I felt the Lord was leading me in that direction.”

Besides a new president, the board also elected its executive committee for the coming year. Rev. Dr. Richard Twidle, the pastor of St. Paul’s United Methodist Church, remains as vice president. The important posts of Finance Committee chair and Operations Committee chair went to Herr and to Jack R. Green respectively. Green had previously been chair of the finance committee but had reached the statutory six-year limit in that post.

The most notable item on Saturday’s agenda, aside from the election, was a discussion of whether to continue to allow Neptune High School seniors to graduate in the Great Auditorium under the agreement reached this past spring between the Neptune school board and the ACLU. Some trustees reportedly disapproved of the agreement’s stipulation that during the graduation ceremony the religious signs above the altar must be covered and the exterior cross left unlighted. (For background, go here.)

Whilden declined to reveal the board’s decision on this issue but said it would be relayed to the school board.

In addition to his dental practice, Whilden is known for his missionary work. He is the founder of Christian Dental Missions, which organizes teams to provide dental care to needy populations overseas. Whilden himself has volunteered in Ecuador, India, Haiti, Honduras, Bolivia, Venezuela and Sierra Leone. He is also president of the board of the New York City Rescue Mission, a Christian-based organization that provides services to the city’s homeless population.

As a child, Whilden spent every summer in Ocean Grove and participated in the many OGCMA activities for youngsters. He graduated from the Southern Illinois University School of Dental Medicine. But when it came time to establish his practice, “I just had to come back to Ocean Grove.”

He has been a member of the board of trustees for 29 years. He lives with his wife, Carol, and son, Jordan, at 7 Broadway. According to his website he enjoys playing tennis, traveling and playing the trumpet with the Praise Team at St. Paul’s.