This Saturday!
The Kick-Off for the Boxwell Staff Alumni Association is this Saturday, September 30 at Camp Parnell from 1-4 PM. We’re looking forward to seeing you there!
Program begins at 1:30 PM, including tour of the STEM Center and Skilled Trades Center. Register for the Association and check out founding member swag!
The Switchboard
In the days before cell phones and the days before the handheld radios, the Crab communicated with the different camps via CB radio. Before the CB radio there was a telephone phone system and the Cripple Crab had its own switchboard.
There was a hardwire phone system at the reservation in the 1960s and early 1970s. Imagine an old school crank phone enclosed in a metal box. You would pick up the phone, roll the crank, and call up to the Crab. The Crab would pick would pick up and connect you to wherever it was you were calling. There were phone locations at each of the camps (Parnell, Stahlman, Murrey)–both the office (a tent!) and the kitchen, the Boat Harbor, the waterfronts, the compound, the Ranger’s House, and… wait for it.. Duck Head! Remember, there was no Health Lodge at this point.
And, as appalling as it may sound, sometimes the phone system was used by the Crabbies to ring the various location that Ward Akers was in camp and on his way! After all, according to legend, Akers would fire you on the spot if you weren’t doing your job!
The photo shown here is THE switchboard used at Boxwell. The photo is pretty non-descript, but it is the switchboard. Today, it is currently located in the Sumner County Museum in Gallatin, TN.
Note: This is a repost from September 6, 2015.
The VirtualBoxwell team is sad to announce the passing of Jon Scudder. Scudder was part of the Boat Harbor staff in 1995. An Eagle Scout, Scudder is remembered as warm individual with a positive attitude. He passed on September 20 at the age of 44.
https://www.woodfinchapel.com/obituary/jonathan-scudder
Final RSVP Reminder
Boxwell Staff Alumni! If you plan to attend the Kick-off event next Saturday, you MUST RSVP by this Friday, September 22. Let us know you are coming so we can plan appropriately!
Event RSVP due by September 22: https://forms.gle/vRRYCTdAHRUuvmJL8
Fixing the Holes
Like the other buildings constructed from the 1959 Capital Campaign, the Crab was built with local rock. And, just like the other buildings, it was built for a world before central heating and air conditioning. Of course, the fact that the Crab was only ever supposed to be a central office for SUMMER camp didn’t create much need to seal it up.
As the decades have passed, the reservation has become more of a year round facility. This means people stay in the Crab at all different points of the year, both in the summer and in the winter. While a fan or even a window unit could be added for summer, for the winter, more was needed. So, in 2020, one of the Round Tuit projects was to seal the Crab.
Seen here are two photos of the same wall inside the Crab, though from different angles. One photo is from June 2017 and show the original rock edifice, complete with gaps for the cold to get in. The second photo is from July 2020 after the work has been to seal up the rock walls. Now the Crab is better prepared for year round use!
