Pat Boone and Boxwell Reservation

We thought we’d end our posts for Boxwell’s Centennial year with a weird little footnote. Pat Boone, the native Nashvillian, was a popular singer and actor in the mid-1950s to early 1960s. His career has stretched much longer than that, but these years were arguably his most popular. Boone is generally known as one of the “crooners” of the mid-1950s.

On December 4, 1959, Boone (and his wife Shirley) returned to Nashville to hero’s welcome. Boone was named an honorary colonel by Governor Buford Ellington (later of Ellington Parkway fame), appeared on local television outlets, and attended a luncheon. Boone was actually in town to promote his latest film, Journey to the Center of the Earth, which got a special premiere at the Paramount Theatre on Church Street.

Why have the world premiere in Nashville? Well, it turns out Boone had been a member of Troop 99 in Nashville. 35 Scout troops and packs attended the premiere to support their hero. More importantly though, the proceeds from the evening would go to the Camp Boxwell Reservation Development Fund. If you recall, the 1959 Capital Campaign ended in June 1959 and construction had already begun in July. Nevertheless, Boone made sure he contributed to the mission of the Middle Tennessee Council.

As Boone explained, “Somehow, I feel a little kin to every Boy Scout, and I’m most happy to be here to help out the Scouting program. Personally, I feel that outside of the church there is no more important organization in American than the Scouts. Scouting is directly opposed to delinquency. It seems to me that the best weapons against delinquency is scouting.”

Happy Boxwell Centennial everyone. Enjoy the holidays. We’ll see you in 2022.