Maj. Steven McGee
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2000-05: Col. Janet S. Kline
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2006-present: Col. Sonny Adkins
Fred Lane (1977-78)
It’s hard to tell when looking at long-time Culver employees if it was Culver that made them great or if Culver is a magnet for great people. Fred Lane has achieved one of the most distinguished awards in the state of Indiana, the Sagamore of the Wabash – given to those who have demonstrated a lifelong dedication to Indiana. And the recipient of much of that dedication has been Culver Summer Schools & Camps and the Academies. Following five years of active duty in the U.S. Air Force, Lane joined Culver’s Science Department faculty in 1958, retiring as chairman of the department in 1984. He served two years (1977-78) as director of Woodcraft Camp and then was director of the overall summer camps program from 1978 to ’94. His sixteen years makes him the longest-serving director of CSSC. Looking back to his Woodcraft years, “we had to work hard to fill the camps,” he said. “I suppose it was partly a result of the post-Vietnam years. The attitude of the public with the military and anything to do with the military was not helpful.” To recruit campers, alumni and parents invited prospective students and campers and their parents to their homes where they would view a Culver movie and hear the Culver story presented by a staff member. At the time, there were multiple specialty camps and Woodcraft lasted seven weeks, dropping to its current six in 1977. “So many viewed Culver as a place for bad children. To dispel that attitude took a lot of work. I fought it all the time.” As far as programming is concerned, Lane says little has changed (though the Beason canoe trip was once thirty miles long!) “I really worked hard to preserve what was unique to Culver,” he said. International enrollment has always been a special factor, Lane said. Many foreign parents send their children to the United States to learn English. In the Midwest, accessibility to diversity has been a draw, though pulling from the nearby population often has been more difficult than drawing from Mexico and South America.
In addition to top-notch programming, Lane says the intangibles are what Woodcraft executes so well – teaching nine- to fourteenyear-olds citizenship, self-discipline, and character-building is no easy task for parents, let alone a staff of strangers. “Fun is an important word. Fun with a purpose. Not only to have a good time but to learn leadership skills and the valuable lessons of life,” he said. Though it was difficult to preserve the camps’ military structure during Lane’s tenure, he said the military is what makes Woodcraft endure –not the military features involving politics and war, but the aspects that lead to structure and leadership. “They provide kids with the opportunity to lead. To be out front at a very young age. At ten or eleven years old they are responsible for other children,” he said. But quality of staff is what makes Woodcraft outstanding, Lane said. “About half have college degrees and these are people who have come back summer after summer. Quality people. That makes all the difference in the world,” he said. “Alumni don’t remember specific programs and activities; what they do remember is a staff person who helped them and made a difference in their lives.” Lane remembers well the challenges of running the camp. “There are a lot of little crises. … Managing the day-by-day, it’s pretty much a crisis management type of thing. Lots of pressure,” he said. “That’s always one of the directors’ biggest concerns. Safety. You treat them like they are your own kids and you want to keep them safe under all circumstances. And we run a lot of high-risk programs.” When the camp began accepting girls, Lane said it was an easy transition partly due to the camp’s layout – it lent itself well to gender separation. In addition to the military organization with its uniform and ranks, among the traditions Lane finds critical to Woodcraft’s success are the close ties to nature and the environment, the Council Fire, the keen competition, and multiple awards programs. “Kids love patches. It’s a great reward and motivator.”