Congratulations to Tom Neal. As a Scout, Tom attended the Narrows of the Harpeth Boxwell in 1945! He was there the first week in August, where he heard about the U.S. dropping an atomic bomb on Hiroshima.
https://www.volstate.edu/news/tom-and-betty-neal-honored-chancellors-award
Supervising Camp Craig
For those who aren’t aware, Camp Craig Dining Hall is undergoing some major renovations currently. We’ll showcase those as soon as the work is over. While this work is being supervised by Ron Turpin and Jason Flannery, the original construction of Craig Dining hall was overseen by someone else: Ed Human.
When Human became Reservation Director in 1970, he’d already been a professional in Middle Tennessee for a number of years, starting life as a District Executive for the Cherokee District in the early 1960s. Human had not been Reservation Director long before talk about a capital campaign began as Ward Akers worked to complete his dream at Boxwell. The 1972 Capital Campaign was a huge success, leading to the creation of Camp Craig. In 1973, construction began.
There is some debate over this photo of Human (right). The back of the photo is dated as 1970, but Lisa and Cindy Human–two of Ed’s three daughters–claim the photo was Ed at Camp Craig overseeing the construction. For our purposes, just know that the man on the right is Ed Human in a hard hat and this is the man who supervised the original construction of Camp Craig dining hall in 1973.
An unknown with Ed Human, possibly at Camp Craig, early 1970s
Happy Thanksgiving
November 22, 2018
Turkey in the woods at Camp Parnell. Happy Thanksgiving!
Turkey in the woods of Camp Parnell
First Day on Camp Staff
Some camp staff experiences are surprisingly universal. Regardless of which camp you worked at or which year you worked, that first day of the first summer seems to be a remarkably similar experience for most. Read the brief story below from John Cyril Stewart; does this sound familiar?
| 1st Day on Camp Staff – June 1965
I first attended Boxwell Reservation Boy Scout Camp when I was 11. That week, and the next year were exciting times. I got to be with my best friend Brad and, although I didn’t realize it then, I was in awe of the older boys who rapidly became my mentors. During a scout troop meeting our District Executive, Earl Tatum, told me that I should apply for camp staff. I told him that I had looked into that and the minimum age was 14 and that I would only be 13. He said I should apply anyway. At several times in my life people have given me words of encouragement that radically changed my life. This was one of those times. Our conversation was probably only two or three minutes but it has had a lifelong impact on me. The Scout Office was on 23rd Avenue North, in an old house that later became a downtown home for Loretta Lynn. I still remember timidly and fearfully walking up the broken front step and sitting for my interview. I don’t remember many of the questions but I do remember them asking why I wanted to serve on staff. Among the other reasons I gave, I told them that I wasn’t sure that I could pass the swimming and lifesaving merit badges required for Eagle without extended time at Boxwell. They hired me and I was to report to Camp Stahlman, where I had never been before. “Staff Row” was a double line of tents along a rocky road below the dining hall. I’ll never forget the Sunday afternoon when my mother and father dropped me off, setting my footlocker on the rocky road, and drove away. I remember the most extreme, immediate level of homesickness, standing there, watching them drive away, tears streaming down my face. I didn’t know anyone there and didn’t know what to do. By dinner I had found a tent, new friends and a home at Boxwell. Over the next seven summers I would have adventures and experiences that would stay with me for the rest of my life. My Mother and Daddy never talked about that time but I have to think they were probably as moved by my leaving for the summer as I was. Life was never the same. |
Story submitted to Boxwell Staff Anecdotes Project, March 2018
From the Archives, November 11, 2018
Remembering Tom Willhite
Tom Willhite was Reservation Director from 1976 to 1994. When he retired as Director of Supprot Services in 1994, there was, not surprisingly, a retirement party for him. A host of individuals attended and honored Tom’s service. After all, he had been part of the Middle Tennessee Council since 1964.
All retirement parties try to find unique ways of honoring the retiree. This party was no different. Attendees were encouraged to complete a “My Fondest Memory of Tom Willhite” sheet with whatever memory or story of Tom they liked best. While he might not have seemed like it, Tom was sentimental enough to keep these pages.
In September 2016, three years after his passing, Russ Parham and Kerry Parker visited Tom’s wife Marie and documented many of the artifacts left behind, including these sheets. Shown here is a page by former staff member and then District Executive Shane Gladden. Shane’s brief description encapsulates perfectly the image so many staff members have of Tom Willhite.
Shane Gladden’s “Fondest Memory” of Tom Willhite from Tom’s retirement party in 1994