Parnell Kitchen, 1996

Kitchen staff rarely gets the love they deserve. While one of the hardest work and most essential jobs on staff, the kitchen staff is often made of first year staff members. As we all know, a poor first year experience in the kitchen can taint a person for years.

Yet despite how critical these jobs are, Kitchen staff are often forgotten. There are few staff photos of just the kitchen staff. And again, because so many are first year staff, sometimes whole groups just disappear. The accepted wisdom is, if the staff member is any good, he will move out to a program area. Conversely, to be program staff and sent back as a director was a duty no one wanted.

In our archives, we only have a handful of Kitchen staff photos. Here is one: the 1996 Parnell Kitchen Staff. While they didn’t know it, they were one of the last Parnell Kitchen staffs. L-R Front row: Jimmy Nichols, Ross White, James Littlefield; Back Row: Jason Pedersen (Director), David Lavender, Jamil Matthews, and Robert Worden.

Parnell Waterfront’s Swinging Bridge, 1992

Unlike the other waterfronts, Parnell’s boating area was separate from the swimming area. The boat house was on a small peninsula and a small inlet–basically a little lagoon–split the area. For most years, Scouts circled the lagoon to the boat area by means of a small trail.

However, in 1992, the Parnell waterfront staff came up with a new solution: a swinging bridge. Four cables stretched the lagoon and a series of six foot wooden sections were laid on top of the lower cables. Ropes literally tied the top cables to the bottom cables and the whole thing rested in two crossed poles on either end. For good measure, the waterfront staff anchored an inflatable gator or two in the lagoon.

So, this week two photos. One is of a scout crossing the lagoon on the swinging bridge. The other is the 1992 Parnell Waterfront staff, proudly taking their staff photo on the bridge. From left to right are Doug Gruber (we think), Ron Hughes, Todd Metcalf, Kerry Parker (Director), Joey Boyd, Eric Cole, and Jack Wall.