As we move into the final month of Boxwell’s centennial year, we thought it best to follow so simple advice from the great Beany Elam: KISMIF. And what does this acronym from the legendary Wood Badge Scoutmaster mean? Keep It Simple, Make It Fun.
To that end, we provide you with this artwork from Elam himself. Most summers that Elam was SM, he created a sort of “stationary” like that seen here. This particular work was for MT-5 in August 1959, the last Wood Badge training held at the Rock Island Boxwell.
And the two pillars holding up MT-5 and its KISMIF mantra? On the left, “Spare Time” and on the “Kuduing,” a reference to blowing on the Wood Badge Kudu horn. Elam clearly had a sense of humor.
“Stationary” for MT-5 created by Wood Badge Scoutmaster Beany Elam of Springfield, TN.
The Don Stanford Chapel is well known. Built in 1964, it was, for a long time, the only building on the backside of the reservation. Before Camp Craig, everything on the other side of Parnell Bay was Camp Light. A gravel road led to Duck Head and up on the hill, all by itself, stood the Chapel, in a place of reverence and solitude. But today, surrounded by Camp Craig, the Chapel is something of a mystery to most in terms of who the Chapel was named for and why that mattered.
Robert Donnell “Don” Stanford, III was an Eagle Scout. He was a member of Troop 1 in Brentwood and active youth. He attended the International Scout Jamboree in Sutton, England in 1957 and served youth governor for an hour as part of Citizenship Day in March 1958. Unfortunately, sometime around the end of the year, the 17 year old Stanford ill. He suffered for two weeks with an unspecified “incurable illness” and passed away on January 11, 1959 at St. Thomas Hospital.
The idea for the chapel was born from Stanford’s Scout troop and made possible by his father, Robert Donnell Stanford, Jr. Robert Stanford was a member of the Executive Board. Indeed, over the years of his involvement with the Council, Robert Stanford was a District Chairman, a member of the Region V Executive Committee, Council President from 1970-1971, and a recipient of both the Silver Beaver and the Silver Antelope. That was just his Scouting career. In his non-Scouting life, Stanford was a Vanderbilt graduate, partner in Donelson Lumber Company, president of the Bank of Donelson, president of WSIX and president of advertising agency. He was involved with the First Presbyterian Church, the Tennessee Botanical Gardens, and Cheekwood. Born in 1913, Stanford passed away in 1979 at the age of 66.
The Chapel today is a memorial to both Stanfords. Named for Don Stanford and complete with a display of his Scouting awards, there is also a display for Robert Stanford, acknowledging his contributions to the Council. Thus, the Chapel is a memorial not to one Scout, but to a family legacy.
Robert Stanford, Council President, 1970-1971. Official Council Portrait
All Boxwells have an Assembly area. Here is where flag ceremonies are held and important communications are given. At the modern Boxwell, the assemblies areas are directly in front of the dining hall. At earlier Boxwells, there might be a small walk. This was the case at the Rock Island Boxwell.
Shown here is the Rock Island Boxwell Assembly area, just down the hill from the dining hall tents. As staff member Wolf Goethert explained, “All the scouts from each camp site were lined up around the flagpole. The camp director, Richard Parker, took a report from each site. We had a real bugler that played the appropriate bugle call while the flag was lowered.”
If you look in the background to the left, hidden in the trees are a few tents. Today, if you visit Charles Parish reservation, this is a campsite. In the Rock Island period, this was the Activities Yard. Continuing to the right toward the mess tents through these trees, you would next find the Con Yard and then the Handicraft tent. The Assembly area was quite literally the heart of the Rock Island Boxwell.
The Rock Island Assembly Area, ca. 1958. The Activity Yard Program Area is in the background.
On this day–Tuesday, November 11, 1980–the Nashville Banner reported that the the Nashville Scottish Rite Foundation donated the funds for three flag poles for Boxwell Reservation the week before. The Foundation had previously donated the flag poles at the Jet Potter Center in 1977. Cost for the poles was approximately $6000. These are the flag poles at the top of the hill across from the Cripple Crab. When erected, a time capsule was inserted into the stone wall that accompanied the poles.
The three flag poles at the top of the hill. The poles were donated in 1980. This photo is from 1995.
On this day–Thursday, November 11, 2004–the great Pearl Schleicher passed away. A cook in the Wilson County Public School system, Schleicher had been a fixture at Boxwell for decades. She started in 1962 as the camp cook and ended her run after the 1994 season. Her sister Estelle accompanied her most of these years and her husband John joined the two toward the end of their run. They made virtually everything from scratch and were staples of camp life. Estelle had died in August 2004 and John had passed March 2002. Pearl’s death closed a chapter on Boxwell history. She was 95 years old.
Pearl and John Schleicher in the Stahlman Kitchen, likely the early 1970s. The one member of the “team” not pictured is “Ms. Bea,” Pearl’s sister.
On this day–Monday, November 11, 2013–former Council Executive E. L. “Hershel” Tolbert passed away. A World War II vet, Tolbert served in the Navy and saw combat in the Pacific theater, including Guam, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa. In 1953, Tolbert started in professional Scouting under the tutelage of Ward Akers before securing his own council in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. He returned to the Middle Tennessee Council in 1976, following the resignation of his mentor. He remained Council Executive until 1991, when he retired, ending a 38 year career with the Boy Scouts of America.
Ken Connelly, Hershel Tolbert, and Tom Willhite, sometime in the late 1970s or early 1980s.
