We’re up to the 1970s with our Remembering the Staff thread, specifically 1979.  This is really a landmark year, but more on that in just a second. This was Tom Willhite’s fourth year as Reservation Director and Norman Patterson was Head Ranger.  Russell Parham was Program Director at Camp Parnell and over at Camp Craig, the Program director was… wait for it… Ernie Ragsdale.  This is late 1970s, so the Boat Harbor/Ski Dock is closed.  Murrey is beginning to wither on the vine.  Rappelling has been introduced, but there is no COPE yet.

Did you catch what was special about 1979?  No Stahlman was listed above. For the only time in it’s long history, Camp Stahlman was closed.  The kitchen remained open to cook the food, but the camp itself was closed to allow time for re-growth and rest, much like the two year Parnell-Craig rotation had been providing for those camps.  Ragsdale stayed with his staff at Craig, but Parham took the Stahlman staff to Camp Parnell.

Here are the staff photos for Parnell and Craig Staffs in 1979, the only year that these two were open together with no Stahlman.  Parnell photo courtesy of Russ Parham, Craig photo courtesy of Paul David Allen.

Parnell Staff, 1979

Craig Staff, 1979