Dave and Debbie Langworthy, long-time residents of Thendara, have been selected as the 2012 King and Queen of Old Forge’s annual Winter Carnival, which is scheduled to be held this year on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, February 3rd through 5th.

Carnival weekend will feature various competitions and ski races, and torchlight skiing and fireworks following the Coronation of the King and Queen on Saturday evening.

Debbie said she and Dave were very surprised when they were notified they had been chosen for King and Queen of Winter Carnival.

But their long association with the Polar Bear Ski Club, the Town of Webb School ski program, and their involvement in the community was undoubtedly a factor in their selection.

“We are honored and humbled by it,” Debbie said.

The Langworthys are both former teachers at the Town of Webb School.

Debbie, an elementary teacher at the school for 27 years, retired in 2007, and Dave, who was the Technology teacher for 35 years, retired in 2009.

During those years, their four sons were members of the school’s ski team and also skied for the Polar Bear Ski Club.

Consequently, Dave and Debbie spent a lot of time volunteering in the timing shack at McCauley Mountain.

“We started in 1985, when our son Kirk was seven years old.

Every Saturday and Sunday we were headed somewhere on a ski hill. We were joined by other local parents and we met a lot of parents from other places, which made it fun.

“After our kids graduated and moved on, we still timed races until 2004 or 2005. So, that’s about 20 years,” Debbie said.

Because they were so busy with the kids’ involvement with the ski programs, they never got into downhill skiing themselves.

However, Dave said they presently enjoy cross-country skiing.

Their son, Kirk now lives in Old Forge with his wife Meagan and three-year-old son, Cole.

Their other three sons are Luke and his wife Katie (Rivett) who live in Raleigh, NC with their two boys Kaydin and Chase; Joel, who lives in Saratoga Springs; and Greg and his wife Kim who live in San Diego, CA.

Even though retired, the Langworthys stay busy and are involved in community activities.

Debbie is a member of the Sessions Committee and the Christian Education Committee at Niccolls Church and she is a member of the North Woods Women’s Club.

Dave is on the Building and Grounds Committee at Niccolls and is also a member of the Old Forge Fire Department as a volunteer with the Ambulance Service.

The couple also enjoys crosscountry trips in their mobile home. They recently returned from a six-week trip that included visits to the Black Hills and the Badlands of South Dakota, Yellowstone, Redwood and Yosemite National Parks, and the Grand Canyon.

While out west they also visited Greg and Kim in California. On the return journey they joined Luke and Katie and their boys in the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee.

“Next year, we may plan a cross-country trip through the middle of the country,” Dave said.

But in the meantime they are looking forward to presiding over the festivities at McCauley Mountain as King and Queen during the upcoming Winter Carnival Weekend.