Interview Transcription Project: Russ Parham

**My campaign ends today and every little bit helps. This is it: the FINAL Post!**

This incredible individual is Russ Parham. Russ joined the Boxwell staff in 1970 as a Stahlman kitchen staff, became the youngest program director ever with the Great Staff Walk Out in 1976, was on Program Director during the “Staff Switch” in 1979/1980, and was involved in every detail of camp planning in the 1980s and the first half of the 1990s in his role as Business manager. To say that Russ was important to Boxwell is like saying grass is green. It is so obvious as to make definition seem silly.

Russ came to my home for our interview on July 29, 2017. We spoke for over four hours. This interview needs to be transcribed.

Russ’s time cannot be easily summarized. Even the four hour interview fails to do justice to the story of a man so intricately involved in the history of Boxwell. No other single individual has been so helpful to this project or understands Boxwell’s history so well. My only regret with interviewing Russ is that we couldn’t set up a series of smaller, topic-specific interviews. We could talk for days and still not capture all of Russ’s experience.

Please, help me reach my goal. Contribute to the Boxwell Interview Transcription Project: https://www.gofundme.com/boxwell-history-transcription-project to get this interview transcribed so I can produce a history of Camp Boxwell for its centennial in 2021.

Parham

Russ Parham at a campout with friends, 2007

Interview Transcription Project: Wes Frye

**My campaign ends today and every little bit helps. This is it!**

This fine gentleman is Wes Frye. Wes not only worked Parnell staff in the 1960s, but he was part of the now (somewhat) famous Parnell Hootennannies!

Wes allowed me to come to his home on December 10, 2018 for our interview. We discussed early Parnell, the Activity Yard, the Waterfront, Jimmy Joe Jackson and early camp leadership.

My interview with Wes was over one and a half hours and needs to be transcribed.

Please, help me reach my goal. Contribute to the Boxwell Interview Transcription Project: https://www.gofundme.com/boxwell-history-transcription-project to get this interview transcribed so I can produce a history of Camp Boxwell for its centennial in 2021.

Wes Frye

Wes Frye at his home for our interview, December 10, 2018.

Interview Transcription Project: Michael Allen

**My campaign ends tomorrow and every little bit helps. Please spread the word. I’m almost there!**

This cool dude in none other than Michael Allen. Michael Allen may well be the longest serving staff member at Boxwell, having started his run in the early 1980s and continuing with just a few interruptions up to the modern day. Indeed, Michael’s run has been so long that his son has grown up at Boxwell and become a staff member himself!

Michael was my second interview at camp on July 12, 2018 (Rachel Paris was the first). The range of topics was staggering. We discussed Tom Willhite, Ernie Ragsdale, a host of Stahlman personalities. The waterfront. The Boat Harbor. Other Reservation Directors. Phil Pfeffer. Camp policy. National Policy. Michael has an enormous history to pull from.

My interview with Michael was over one and a half hours and needs to be transcribed. Indeed, the interview begins with a quick rendition of Michael singing “Little Brown Mouse”!

Michael’s time at Boxwell has roots deep in the Willhite era, but comes all the way up the modern day. He has excellent insight on a world that has changed over the last forty years.

Please, help me reach my goal. Contribute to the Boxwell Interview Transcription Project: https://www.gofundme.com/boxwell-history-transcription-project to get this interview transcribed so I can produce a history of Camp Boxwell for its centennial in 2021.

Michael Allen

Michael Allen at the Travis-Adkins Boat Harbor Maintenance Building at Boxwell, July 12, 2018

Interview Transcription Project: Ed Mason

**My campaign ends May 31st and every little bit helps. Please spread the word. I’m almost there!**

Let me introduce Ed Mason. Like several members of the modern Boxwell staff, Ed began in the late 1960s, left to pursue a real life, and then returned in 2015. Indeed, Ed even camped as a Scout at Camp Parnell before joining the staff.

I interviewed Ed at the Health Lodge at Boxwell on July 18, 2018. We discussed early Boxwell, the commissioner system, his responsibilities “back in the day” and then what he has been doing at Boat Harbor since his return.

My interview with Ed was over two and a half hours. It needs to be transcribed.

Ed falls into that category of baby boomers with Jerry Barnett, Kerry Parker, Perry Bruce, and so many more. Strongly impact by his camp experience in his youth, Ed returned to Boxwell in his retirement to “give back” to the world that shaped him.

Please, help me reach my goal. Contribute to the Boxwell Interview Transcription Project: https://www.gofundme.com/boxwell-history-transcription-project to get this interview transcribed so I can produce a history of Camp Boxwell for its centennial in 2021.

Mason

Ed Mason at the Health Lodge, July 18 2018

Interview Transcription Project: David McWilliams

**My campaign ends May 31st and every little bit helps. Please spread the word. I’m almost there!**

Please meet David McWilliams. David worked on Stahlman’s kitchen in the early 1960s, right about the same time the Pearl Schleicher began her long run. He later worked Boxwell Maintenance, essentially as part of the Ranger staff. Thus, David was well acquainted with Boxwell’s farm operations.

I interviewed David on February 10, 2018. We discussed his time at Boxwell, the farming operation, and the multiple personalities who dominated the early years at Old Hickory Lake. We also discussed the fact that David may well be the very first person to use Boxwell as the location of his wedding as well as some of David’s own research into the local area that became the modern Boxwell.

My interview with David was a little over an hour and a half. It needs to be transcribed.

Please, help me reach my goal. Contribute to the Boxwell Interview Transcription Project: https://www.gofundme.com/boxwell-history-transcription-project to get this interview transcribed so I can produce a history of Camp Boxwell for its centennial in 2021.

David McWilliams

David McWilliams at his home on February 10, 2018.