As has become a tradition around here, we present you with Tom Willhite as Santa Claus. DE Buff Groth is asking for gifts!
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays everyone!

As has become a tradition around here, we present you with Tom Willhite as Santa Claus. DE Buff Groth is asking for gifts!
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays everyone!
Greetings everyone! If you’re interested in keeping up with the Council’s different social media platforms, follow this link:
And of course, there’s the various VirtualBoxwell social media platforms as well:
http://www.virtualboxwell.org
https://www.facebook.com/Virtual-Boxwell-535889736429512/
https://www.instagram.com/virtual.boxwell/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/virtualboxwell/collections/
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4CdANWuz_6dRQLHNqeKT9A
Here are a few Boxwell turkeys in the yard near the Caretaker’s Cabin/Assistant Ranger’s home. Have a great day!
A Good Deed Letter
As we have mentioned before, most of our “archives” is made up of Boxwell related material, but some of the material is related to the Council and Scouting in general. Depending on who the person the collection came from, there can be some real jewels. There can also be some smaller, simpler, more human pieces.
In 1944, a boy in Springfield, TN found an empty sack of money ($60!) and returned the sack to the bank. Likely a deposit bag, the bank’s name was printed on the side. The bank was then able to return the money and, in a nice twist, the Tennessean ran an article about it.
What the article did not say was that the boy was a Scout. It appears his Scoutmaster was none other than Beany Elam!
But the best part of the story–and our document this week–is that the Scout Executive himself, William J. Anderson, wrote the Scout a personal letter. Anderson praised the boy for doing the right thing and “exactly as I expected you would do.” For Anderson, “a Boy Scout could take no other course.”
Anderson ends with a simple post-script: “I hope to see you at camp Boxwell.” The whole scenario is Scouting at its best.
Here’s a quick fun fact for you today: Foster and Creighton were responsible for building the Parthenon in Nashville.
The original Parthenon was part of the 1897 Centennial Exposition in Nashville. It was mostly plaster on a wooden skeleton and never intended to last. The building though was so popular that Nashville decided to build a more permanent structure. The new building was begun in 1920 and the exterior was completed in 1925 (the interior took a few more years). The construction company that built the exterior was Foster & Creighton.
And yes, that’s the same Foster & Creighton associated with the Nashville Council. Edgar M. Foster was the first Council President from 1920-1926. Wilbur F. Creighton would follow some years later as Council President from 1951-1953. He was also one of the Council’s first Scoutmasters and his son would attend Boxwell at Linton. Indeed, Creighton would name his son for his business partner: Wilbur Foster Creighton, Jr.
Here is a photo of the Parthenon under construction with the Foster & Creighton sign out front. This photo is part of exhibit at the Parthenon in Nashville.