Category Archives: From the Archives

From the Archives, May 17, 2026

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Boxwell Greats: Pearl Schleicher
(repost from February 17, 2019)

While we have posted about Mrs. Schleicher before, we have never given her a proper vetting. It is time to change that oversight. Pearl Schleicher is absolutely worthy of the title, “Boxwell Great.”

In her regular life, Pearl was a dietitian with Metro Schools. Her school principal recommended her for work at Boxwell, where she began working in 1962. Schleicher continued as the Reservation’s head cook until 1994. Along the way she brought her husband, John, and her sister, Estelle Langford. Because “Schleicher” proved so difficult pronounce, the trio were usually referred to as “Mrs. Pearl,” “Mr. John,” and “Ms. Bea.”

Physically a small woman, Pearl Schleicher was a big personality. There were strong kitchen directors at Stahlman under her tutelage–Jerry Barnett, Tommy Roussin–but the kitchen was hers. And she ran a tight ship, not tolerating shenanigans. Still, shenanigans happened.

Perhaps what is most important to remember is that Pearl and her crew cooked virtually everything themselves. There were some exceptions, but most everything was made from scratch. Scrambled eggs in the morning for Camps Stahlman, Parnell, and Murrey? That’s upward of 2000 eggs, all cracked by hand. Sheet cake with frosting for Friday night dinner? All mixed, baked, and created from scratch. Those amazing buttery rolls? Hand made by Estelle.

And, for better or worse, the Schleichers kept a fairly stable menu. Every summer you could expect roughly the same meals. Sunday night was ham, green beans, and a roll. Eggs were most mornings except Thursday. Thursday morning, at least in later years, was Krispy Kreme doughnuts and canteloupe, just to give everyone a break. Other meals included bologna sandwiches, hamburgers, hot dogs, and ravioli (one of the few pre-packaged meals). And, in the years when being Catholic meant no meat on Friday, the Schleichers cooked fish. And when Ward Akers wanted chicken for the Scoutmaster’s Supper, Pearl and her group cooked that too.

Pearl and staff were up at 5:30am every morning (Saturdays too) preparing to feed the reservation. Unlike many of the cooks today, Pearl lived on site. The cooks’ cabins were in fact the cooks’ cabins. The Schleichers moved in and stayed all summer. During Bull Crew weeks, they acted more as short order cooks, preparing smaller, more specific meals. When camp was over, Pearl and John went back to their schools in the Metro system.

Pearl (and John and Estelle) retired from her real job almost 20 years before she retired from camp, which happened in 1994, Tom Willhite’s last summer. For Pearl, she had been on Boxwell’s staff for 32 years, the longest serving staff member EVER on Boxwell’s staff. She lived for another 10 years before passing away on November 11, 2004 at the age of 95.

Pearl Schleicher was a Boxwell institution. She lived through three Council Executives, four Reservation directors, at least twelve Stahlman Program Directors, and upwards of 20 Stahlman kitchen directors. For over 30 years, no one said “Boxwell” like Pearl Schleicher.

Schleicher

Pearl Schleicher, ca. 1975. Pearl’s run on camp staff ran from 1962 to 1994, making her the longest serving staff member, period.

From the Archives, May 13, 2026

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Boxwell Greats: Russ Parham

Russell L. “Russ” Parham joined the Stahlman staff in 1970.  The fifteen year old found himself as part of the kitchen staff where he made two lifelong friendships: camp cook Pearl Schleicher and his director, Jerry Barnett. Hired for Camp Murrey in 1971, Parham was pulled back to Stahlman as Kitchen Director, a position he held through 1973. By 1974, he was ready for a different challenge and served as a Stahlman Camp Commissioner for two years.  His Commissioner site was Shady Oak.  Parham was in college by time at Tech and used his engineering knowledge to help run the Pump House.

In 1976, Parham’s fortunes changed dramatically.  A payroll change led to a walk-out of upper leadership, leaving the new Reservation Director Tom Willhite without a Program Director at Stahlman.  The freshly 21-year-old Parham was given the position and Willhite never forgot the young man’s act of loyalty that summer.  In a period when the program director had traditionally been an older adult, the young Parham soldiered through often leading much older staff members.  He returned to the post in ’77 and ’78 and when Stahlman closed for the first and only time in 1979, Parham led the Stahlman Staff to become the Parnell staff.

Parham had been bitten by the Boxwell bug.  For several summers as Program Director, he had quit his outside world job to return to camp.  By 1980, he had a real job that he enjoyed, but still wanted to help. Parham moved into the Business Manager position, recently vacated by Michael Seay, and moved into a new life with camp.  Parham kept bizarre hours, often coming very late at night to check on the Trading Posts and restock while he continued his real-life, full time job. He planned t-shirt designs, ordered all the stock for the Trading Posts as well as Council Jamborees in addition to editing the Leaders’ Guide and incompletes.  With an eye for details, he stayed on through 1996.

Parham’s involvement grew.  He was part of the Brownsea staffs 1980-1982.  In 1985, he joined the staff of MT-28 and remained a member of Wood Badge staff through MT-40. Parham’s close connection with the Council and Willhite brought him into the orbit of a group of former District Executives and camp staff members, who met every Memorial Day to celebrate their time at Boxwell.  Along the way this group decided to have a staff reunion and Parham became integral to supplying the staff rosters and building the computer lists (it was the 1980s after all, not everyone had a personal computer!) to made the 1983 Reunion possible.  Parham became deeply embedded in this group of friends, and has been involved in some capacity with every Reunion since.  Parham was integral in scanning early camp photos and getting VirtualBoxwell off the ground.  To this day, he remains involved in the program as an Assistant Scoutmaster of Troop 55 in Nashville.

Russ Parham

Troop 156 Scoutmaster Russell Parham on a campout with his troop in July 1975.

From the Archives, May 12, 2026

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Boxwell Greats: Jerry Barnett
(Repost from September 17, 2015)

One of the great towering legends of Old Hickory Boxwell is Jerry Barnett. For several generations of Parnell-Craig staff, Barnett WAS Boxwell. Along with Tom Willhite and Ernie Ragsdale, Barnett was a driving force in the “Silver Age” of Boxwell, better known as the 1980s and early 1990s.

Barnett began his run on Boxwell staff at Stahlman in 1964 in the Activity Yard as a Program Aide, the 1960s equivalent of the modern CIT (counselor in Training). About halfway through his second year in 1965, he became the Kitchen Director at Stahlman, a position to which he returned to in 1966. Barnett then left Boxwell for a few years to serve in the US incursions in Vietnam. After completing his tours in Vietnam, Barnett returned to Stahlman in 1970, again serving as Kitchen Director under the Schleichers. This run continued until 1971 when Barnett became part of the short-lived Commissioner System. Barnett left Boxwell for several years, serving on the Tennessee Highway Patrol, but returned in 1980 as Activity Yard Director at Parnell under Perry Bruce as Program Director.

It was in 1981 though that the Barnett legend was born. From 1981 to 1992, Barnett began a long, stable run as Program Director at Parnell-Craig. He took a year off in 1986 for alcohol rehab, but overall had a long sustained run at Boxwell as Program Director.

Barnett’s years were ones of stable, quality program. He emphasized uniform, appearance, and the good of the group. His primary focus was always program. Indeed, he often spoke of “what was good for the program,” convincing young staff members to do work they never would have considered, but were guilted into for the good of the group. In later years, he would say he had a socialist-like “Five Year Plan” for each of his two five year runs as Program Director. But at the end of the day, Barnett always saw himself as a teacher. He wanted to impart knowledge, skills, or experience to whomever would listen.

Stories about Barnett are legion and legendary. Barnett could be erratic, often exploding into a rage. His staff called these “Barnett Panics,” or BP’s. But at the same time, he could be a father figure. Parnell-Craig staff often referred to themselves as “Jerry’s Kids,” a reference to Jerry Lewis’s Muscular Dystrophy telethon, but also a more personal reference to the influence of Barnett on their lives. Talk to a staff member who worked for Barnett in the 1980s and he will likely tell you Barnett was either the father they never had or was like a second father to them. He cared for his staff and they cared for him.

Indeed, perhaps one of his most powerful and memorable legacies came at the end of camp. Every year, Barnett gave a speech to his staff. He told them the “circle was broken. This staff, this group, will never be together again.” In short, Barnett instilled a feeling a family amongst those who worked for him.

Barnett left Boxwell Camp Staff after the summer of 1992. His departure was abrupt and unexpected and for many years, those who had worked for him wondered what happened. Barnett is alive and well and occasionally comes back to Boxwell, bending the ear of any of who will listen of years gone by and still trying to teach a new generation.

Jerry Barnett

In typical Barnett fashion, here Jerry Barnett lectures to a group of Scouts at the Parnell Dining Hall.

From the Archives, May 11, 2026

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Boxwell Greats: Ernie Ragsdale
(repost from January 15, 2023)

Ernest Lee “Ernie” Ragsdale joined the Boxwell Staff in 1976. There are conflicting stories about how he arrived–either on a motorcycle or in a jeep with his wife and son–but the stories agree that Ragsdale simply showed up, having recently been discharged from the Army. Ragsdale had served in Vietnam and in fact was the only survivor of an Viet Cong ambush on his unit. Now, he was looking for work.

With his experience in the Army, Ragsdale was a natural fit for Field Sports Director, a program area that at the time included all the shooting sports. The job was great for Ragsdale as well for his new position at Stahlman lined him up with a man who almost immediately became his new best friend, Jim Barr. The two shared a competitive spirit and similar sense of humor.

Ragsdale returned to Boxwell in 1977, this time as a Program Director (back when Program Directors, not Camp Directors, ran the camps). Setting up shop at the new Camp Craig, Ragsdale built a reputation for amazing campfires and unique awards, either created by himself or Barr. There was a loyalty and powerful espirit d’corps among Ragsdale’s staffs as well.

When Stahlman closed in 1979, the Stahlman Staff led by Russ Parham, moved to Parnell, while Ragsdale remained firmly ensconced at Craig. But in 1980, given the choice of Parnell or Stahlman, Ragsdale and Barr chose Stahlman, flipping the Camp Craig staff to Stahlman Staff. The reasons for the move were in part about geography–Barr liked the waterfront better–and in part personality. Both men were interested in building a better and stronger relationship with the Schliechers, the Reservations’ cooks.

Ragsdale embraced the larger Middle Tennessee Scouting program as well. He served on the Warioto (Sumner County) Camping Committee for at least eight years and worked with the Council Scout-O-Rama for at least a decade. He led the Council contingent to Philmont in 1980 and he and Barr were part of the National Jamboree Staffs for three years (1981, 1985, 1989). If you saw a Jamboree Campfire, you saw Ragsdale and Barr at work. He served on at least 4 Wood Badge staffs, was awarded the Long Rifle Award in 1980, and was awarded the Silver Beaver in 1987. And this isn’t even a complete list!

In his life outside Scouting, Ragsdale was a teacher, a high school Chemistry teacher, which helped explain his amazing campfires! He served as a chairman of the Sumner County Tennessee Educators Association (TEA) and was named an outstanding teacher in the Sumner County System. Ragsdale taught chemistry at both White House High School and Beech High School. He built his home in the Shackle Island area of Hendersonville.

Ragsdale continued at Stahlman throughout the 1980s, missing only 1986. 1989 ended up being his last summer. He had plans to return in 1990, but he and Barr took a troop trip with Barr’s son. Upon returning, Barr’s mother was diagnosed with breast cancer and the two men stayed close and supported each other. And then, in the early morning hours of Halloween 1990, Ragsdale suffered a heart attack in his sleep and passed away.

Staff who worked with Ragsdale praised his ability to let people make their own mistakes and use that as tool to teach with. They praised his parenting, often seeing his approach first hand when his young son David was out at camp. Ragsdale was also remembered for his amazing carving skills; he whittled constantly and getting a Ragsdale handmade item was a true jewel. And of course, every Stahlman staff member in these years had a story about a joke or a prank pulled by the great Ernie Ragsdale.

Ernie Ragsdale, Wood Badge

Ernie Ragsdale at Wood Badge. Collection of Steve Eubank.

From the Archives, May 10, 2026

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Boxwell Greats: Tom Willhite

Malvin Thomas “Tom” Willhite joined the professional staff of the Middle Tennessee Council in March of 1964.  The thirty-four year old District Executive established himself quickly as having a talent for thriftiness.  He served as Parnell’s Camp Director in 1967 and then was promoted to Field Director. He continued in this position through the 1972 Capital Development Campaign, and through the scandal surrounding Ward Akers.  When Ed Human left Scouting at the start of 1976, an internal search for a new Director of Camping—later the Director of Support Services—began.  Willhite, now 46, was promoted the last week of May 1976, literally just before camp began.  He had not hired the staff; he had not even met them. And thus when the Great Staff Strike happened Sunday morning of the first week, Willhite had not had time to build loyalty or relationships.  Nevertheless, he would go on to be the longest serving Reservation director, staying in the position the summer of 1994.

1976 was a hard summer with money tight and membership dropping.  Camp dropped to six weeks from nine, electricity was removed from staff sites, the Boat Harbor program was closed, and family style feeding ended—all in the name of saving money.  But doing much with little was in the man’s wheelhouse.

Despite the tight budget issues, Willhite ran many quiet capital campaigns, which led to new roofs on all camp buildings, a concrete slab at the Cripple Crab, the original construction over the amphitheatre and the payment of first-year staff members for the first time. He also introduced the famous red staff hat to the Boxwell staff, a tradition that remained through 1996. He was strict with money though, earning him the rather unfortunate (and insulting) sobriquet “Wil-Tight.”

He retired in 1994, but spent much of the following year as an independent contractor overseeing the construction from 1994 capital development campaign.  This included not only to a new waterfront and road at Camp Craig, but program shelters around the reservation AND CubWorld.  While only a cabin at CubWorld still bears his name, his legacy has been immeasurable.

Tom Willhite 1984

Tom Willhite in 1984. Collection of Tom Willhite