Our History
We live on the unceded land of the Awaswas speakers of the Uypi tribe of the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band.
Nestled in the Redwoods of northern Santa Cruz, CA, Happy Valley has a rich history of hospitality dating back to at least 1913. The area was originally known as “Blackburn Gulch” and “Squabble Hallow,” and it evolved into “Happy Valley,” and the Ranch Resort Hotel became a popular destination.
Changes in ownership included the Swasey family in 1928 and the de L’Etanche family in 1933, and Happy Valley continued to thrive as a cherished retreat. In 1951, Community of Christ acquired the property, establishing it as a center for worship and learning. Over the years, we’ve expanded our offerings, purchased additional land in 1969 and again in 2015, and evolved into Happy Valley Conference Center Inc. (1993). In 2026, we celebrate a 75 year legacy of welcoming communities, caring for our land, and building safe and sacred space for retreats.
Donald Nichols
Site & Facilities Director
Donald brings over 40 years of carpentry, contracting, and maintenance skill to Happy Valley. His experience includes plumbing, electrical, automotive and engine maintenance and repair, landscaping, roofing, deck building, heavy equipment operation, pool maintenance, and apprentice training. Donald embraces a vision for Happy Valley that supports the sacredness of creation - pursuing ecological sustainability, healthy ecosystems, and long-term land health and restoration.
He loves the variety of guest groups that visit Happy Valley to appreciate the healing qualities of nature and the importance of being outdoors. In true Renaissance-man style, Donald enjoys numerous martial arts (especially in the Fiore dei Liberi tradition), acting improvisation, mountain lion wrestling (housecat style), and tinkering with electronics, and enjoys sharing his knowledge of all things mechanical. Donald comes from Kansas City, grew up in Pensacola, FL, and is interested in nature photography and surf fishing. During time away from work, he loves to camp, hike, and kayak with Tess all through Northern California.
Tess Nichols
Operations & Guest Service Director
Tess brings over 30 years of event planning and management experience to Happy Valley, having organized small women’s retreats, medium-sized camping festivals, and very large cultural events. Her corporate experience included coordinating professional training sessions, large conferences, commercial open-to-the-public events, site and facilities management, and volunteer coordination.
As Operations Director here, she has been responsible for all aspects of daily guest services, calendaring, and client relationships; staffing, training, and scheduling; bookkeeping, food service management, Summer Internship coordination, social media, fundraising and Board of Directors support; and navigating toward a sustainable future for Happy Valley. Tess helps to create the container of safe and sacred space for our diversity of guest groups to experience the restorative power of redwoods and green space. She is responsible to adapt process to people so that we lead with kindness and that equity, inclusion, and belonging are key considerations.
Tess is originally from Chicago, enjoys puttering in the garden and meandering through forests. When she’s not at Happy Valley, she and Donald are hiking, kayaking, and camping their way through the redwoods and along the coastline of Northern California.
Jonnathan Aquino
Food Service Manager
Jonnathan brings his culinary skills and professional training to Happy Valley and serves as Food Service Manager. He began here in 2024 as a Lead cook, and graduated from Cabrillo College with his degree in Culinary Arts and Hospitality Management in 2025. Jonnathan’s love for food comes from having a big family where food is an excuse to get together and gather to share life and experiences; comfort food from everywhere is where he gets most of his inspiration. His experience includes catering events for up to 250 people, baking, cooking, prep work, and training new hires.
He envisions Happy Valley as a place where people will not only remember the experience they had while there, but also think of the food that sustained and nourished them, and he enjoys introducing new exciting menu items like enchiladas, Basque cheesecake, pozole, cinnamon coffee cake, and pad Thai. Jonnathan is originally from Los Angeles, and has been impacted and inspired by the diversity of food there. In his spare time, he likes to go thrift shopping, hang out with friends, find good eats inside and around Santa Cruz, and lay at the beach to enjoy the ocean breeze.
Tim Dodds
Executive Director
Tim has been an outdoor educator and administrator for over thirty years and currently serves as the Executive Director of Happy Valley Conference. Tim began his career in the camp industry as a youth minister in Denver, Colorado in the early 1980’s. During that time he led both resident and high adventure camps in the Colorado Rockies. Upon obtaining his Teaching Certificate in Earth Sciences, Tim taught in Kansas City, Missouri in a special at risk program, while creating a unique curriculum in partnership with the Kansas City Zoo, leading the way for other inventive hands on science programs.
When he shifted back into camp and youth ministry, Tim became the coordinator of a camping program for youth ages 6 – 26 years of age. Beyond resident camps of up to 250 campers, Tim created a variety of mission and adventure camps. In 1998, Tim moved into the role of Denominational Camp Specialist for the Community of Christ, with training and development of camp programs throughout North America, Russia and Tahiti. Tim has been a member of American Camp Association since 1994 and served as the National Chair of the Religiously Affiliated Camp Committee.
As a member of ACA, he has completed the Basic Camp Director Course, the Camp Director Institute and served as a Standards Accreditation Visitor. During this time, he co-wrote the acclaimed “Games for Change” resource on small group transformational games. Additionally, Tim led a group of writers in the creation of three camp curriculums used throughout North America.