At a New Boxwell Again (1959-1977)
With these lands secured for the new home of Boxwell, E. B. Stahlman, Jr., was able to declare, “We have the boys, we have the land; the responsibility is ours.” It was with these words that the Boxwell Capital Development Campaign began in January 1959. The lodge had grown to the point that even in the planning of the reservation an Order of the Arrow building was designed; although, much different from the current Howard B. Olson Lodge building. A picture of the proposed OA building can be seen in the booklet developed by the council –“High Adventure for Middle Tennessee Boys: Boxwell Reservation Development Fund”–that outlined the vision for the new camp.
During the first camping season at Boxwell in 1960, our lodge initiated 100 new members. Richard Parker, council camping director at the time explained, “The test of the scout and his initiations into the order is called the ordeal. It consists of sleeping one night in the woods alone and meditation on his service in life. Then he has to arise at daybreak and, without breakfast, begin eight hours of hard constructive work around camp, and must not talk to anyone at any time. Indian rituals before and after the twenty-four hour ordeal help impress the Scout with his purpose in life; all ordeals are carefully supervised and each of the three Honors in the lodge is obtained by an additional night-out Ordeal.”
During the very first year (1960), summer camp took three weeks to set up as opposed to the few days that are necessary today. The camp staff had to clear out an extraordinary amount of brush, and began the policy of installing the same style of tent platforms that are still being used. In 1960 the lodge began by holding one of two annual council wide fellowships, one in the spring to patch up and prepare Boxwell reservation for the camping season and the second in the autumn to clean up and close the camp for winter. The lodge was rewarded for their efforts with the use of Boxwell as a base of operations. Nineteen Sixty also saw the rapid increase in registration of both Wa-Hi-Nasa and Boxwell. The lodge began to hold two Ordeals to accommodate the rising numbers. The very first ceremony at Boxwell Reservation was held in Parnell near the northeast corner of the Athletic Field.
The lodge continued to grow and so did the opportunities for the members of our lodge. In 1966, a here to unnamed member of our lodge was selected by the National Council of the Boy Scouts of America to be a part of the “BSA Report to the Nation.” This is where the National council, as a chartered organization by congress, presents their annual report to the President of the United States. This young man toured Washington DC and was able to have a face to face meeting with President Lyndon B. Johnson. In 2015, our lodge can boast that two other young people had this experience and an adult was selected to advise the Report to the Nation experience as a host family with his wife.
With growth came the lodge looking for ways that it could better serve scouting. Wa-Hi-Nasa has always looked to find ways to help the council. This goes back to the beginning of the lodge when members would help the council as ushers at Vanderbilt Football games with Coach Anderson. In the late 60’s this was the lodge conducting a camping pageant for the Scout Circus. For many years this pageant was the highlight of the Scout Circus. Unfortunately for this growth there were also challenges. Several times in the late 60 and early 70 there were questions of if our lodge re-chartered with National or if the charter was simply “lost in the mail.” One of the side effects of this is that there are a few of our lodges Vigil Honor members that the national rooster has specific gaps with its records.
Although Wa-Hi-Nasa was becoming more and more like today’s lodge, there were still many differences. While the lodge used Ordeal Masters, Elangomats would not be used until the 1970’s. Instead, work crew leaders were placed in charge of groups of three to eight candidates. The lodge, rather than the chapters, was responsible for all ceremonies, so a few members ended up performing in all four ceremonies in one weekend. The Howard Olson OA Lodge would not be built until years later, and instead, Wa-Hi-Nasa met at the Stahlman Dining Hall. During this period, lodge events were limited to two Ordeals, the Winter Banquet, and a “Food for Families” type event at Christmas time.
Because of the central location and quality facilities of the new Boxwell Scout Reservation, the lodge has often hosted Area/Section events. The lodge hosted the area/ conference in 1958, and again in 1961. In 1967, the Area V-D conclave was held at Boxwell, as well as the last V-D conclave in 1972. In 1974, the conclave was held at Boxwell, but officially hosted by Sequoyah Lodge. Wa-Hi-Nasa served as cohost to the first TN-KY joint Section-2 conclave held at Ft. Campbell in 1977. In 1975, our lodge also had the first of several lodge members be appointed as Section Adviser. Mr. William (Bill) Ketron Sr. began a nine year term of service as the Section Adviser, helping our section and lodge manage what was a turbulent time as there were several realignments of our section during this time.
The lodge always has looked for a way to help our camp and to help our members. One position that the lodge started in 1974 was the Boxwell Summer Camp OA representative. This position was a first of its kind. A paid summer camp staff position that is subsidized almost completely by the lodge. This position was much like today’s position to teach Indian Lore Merit Badge and support troops at camp with unit elections and whatever other OA needs the troop might have. This first OA Camp Rep was David Bennett.
During the early and middle 70’s there Wa-Hi-Nasa grew significantly in size. There is section roosters that say our membership numbers were well over 2000 people. One explanation for this is that with national only charging a very small amount per member, there were several years that members were carried over whether or not they paid their lodge dues. Further evidence of this is the number of Ordeal members in our lodge being over 1600. Wa-Ha-Nasa was growing though and an outcome of this was that larger chapters were allowed to run their own Ordeals. The biggest challenge with chapter Ordeals was the retaining of records and the quality of Ordeal experience.