Percy Emerson Dempsey (1916-2006) was a longtime Scouter in Middle Tennessee. The Percy Dempsey Camporee Area at Boxwell is named after him in recognition of his decades of service. Dempsey’s time in Scouting began in 1952 when he took over as Scoutmaster of a Murfreesboro troop that had lost its leader. Over 40 boys reached Eagle under his tutelage. He also had a long history with Wood Badge, first attending MT-2 back at Rock Island, and later serving on the staffs of MT-21 and MT-24 through 34. He was Scoutmaster for MT-30 and Quartermaster for most of the others. He was a recipient of the Silver Beaver and served on the Executive Board of the Council for several years. In his non-Scouting life, Dempsey served in World War II, attaining the rank of Master Sergeant. After discharge, he worked for the Civil Service in charge of the payroll at Sewart Air Force Base in Smyrna for over twenty years. Dempsey passed away in 2006.

Ward E. Akers (1913-1981) was the man who defined the Middle Tennessee Council and Boxwell as we know them today. Akers came to the midstate as Council Executive in 1947, a post he held until 1975. Almost immediately, Akers took the “Nashville Area Council” and reorganized it as the Middle Tennessee Council, complete with districts and an expanded professional staff. Over the course of Akers’ tenure, Boxwell moved from Narrows of the Harpeth to Rock Island in 1949. Upon learning of a better location, Akers and the Council launched the largest capital development campaign in Scouting history at the time to build the Boxwell Reservation on Old Hickory Lake. Under Akers, Exploring came to the Council, the segregated African American unit was integrated, and the Council was at its high-water mark in terms of enrollment. Not satisfied, Akers pushed for a new capital development campaign in 1972 to complete his vision. This not only added to the Reservation, but built a new larger and permanent Scout Service center on Hillsboro Pike. Akers Lake and camp ground at Boxwell was named in his honor.

Wilbur F. Creighton, Sr. (1883-1968) organized the very first Scout troop in the Middle Tennessee Council in 1920 and went on to serve as the Council’s fourth president beginning in 1951. Under Creighton’s leadership the Council organized districts to coordinate efforts outside of Davidson County. Creighton worked to integrate the Council and increase the number of African American Scouts. He also worked with the Catholic Diocese of Nashville to increase the number of units chartered to the churches. Creighton was also responsible for leading an effort to increase the number of Eagle Scouts in the Council. Outside of Scouting, Creighton led the Foster and Creighton Construction Company that was responsible for building hundreds of office buildings, bridges, hotels and stadiums throughout the southeast. He was also a writer and historian and authored several books. Because of his tremendous leadership, and for his work in securing the current site of Boxwell Reservation, Creighton Lane, the road leading into camp, is named in his honor.