Directors (1939 – present)

Linden Dixon

Director 2019 – present

Gerald Rhoads

Director 2016 – 2018

Isaac S. “Ike” Kelley

Director 2014 – 2015

Michael E. “Mike” Harris

Director 2000 – 2013

George T. Blume

Director 1995 – 1999

Hall of Fame — 1986

Edwin J. Dentz

Director 1994

Hall of Fame — 2000

George T. Blume

Director 1987 – 1993

Hall of Fame — 1986

Rex F. Tillotson

Director 1976 – 1986

Hall of Fame — 1988

Director of North Carolina Boys State
for 9 years (1987-1996).

For several years Rex served as a
counselor at Boys Nation.

W. Glen Rardin

Director 1955 – 1975

aka “Mr. Boys State” and “Pappy”

Virginia General Assembly,
House Joint Resolution No. 357

VA excerpt from Rardin’s Review

Entire Review [PDF]

James F. Barnes, III

Director 1953 – 1954

Judge Charles W. Crush

Director 1939 – 1952

Founder of Old Dominion Boys State

Judge Crush was Director of Old Dominion
Boys State for 9 years because the program
was not held during WWII.

Judge Crush maintained an interest in local history and civic matters throughout his career. He wrote numerous articles on Montgomery County history for the county newspaper and served as chairman of the Montgomery County Jamestown Festival Committee in 1957. As a director of the Montgomery County branch of the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities, Crush was instrumental in the preservation of Smithfield Plantation. His interest in local history culminated in the publication of his book, The Montgomery County Story, 1776-1957; and is represented in the posthumous work Montgomery County, Virginia: the First Hundred Years (1982). Through the American Legion, Crush is also credited with the founding of Virginia Boys’ State.

Crush’s wife, Eliza Clay Allen Crush, was born in Bland County, Virginia, in 1898. She attended Virginia Tech, and later passed the Virginia bar exam. Like Judge Crush, Mrs. Crush also maintained an active interest in local affairs. She served as the Christiansburg correspondent for the Roanoke Times for 25 years and is credited with founding Girls’ State at Radford College (now Radford University). She served as acting Christiansburg postmaster during World War II and as assistant Christiansburg postmaster for six years prior to her death in 1966.

Quoted from Special Collections, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Collection Number MS1984-180

VIRGINIA GENERAL ASSEMBLY HONORS

W. GLEN RARDIN

FORMER DIRECTOR OF AMERICAN LEGION BOYS STATE

HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 357

Commending W. Glen Rardin, Executive Vice President of the Board of Directors,
American Legion Boys State of Virginia.

WHEREAS, the American Legion Boys State of Virginia, a program established to afford outstanding high school students the opportunity to gain practical experience and knowledge of the organization and functions of state and local government, has been of invaluable assistance to many young men; and

WHEREAS, it is estimated that approximately 700 to 800 high school seniors each year are chosen to participate in this program which encourages active civic involvement and responsible leadership while providing an informed foundation of the electoral process and the structure of governmental entities; and

WHEREAS, many have benefited as the result of the able guidance, counsel, and leadership of W. Glen Rardin, the Executive Vice President of the Board of Directors, American Legion Boys State of Virginia; and

WHEREAS, W. Glen Rardin, known to many as “Mr. Boys State of Virginia” and “Pappy,” has been involved with this program since 1946 and served as Director of the program for twenty-one years; and

WHEREAS, W. Glen Rardin was born on April 26, 1905, in Ravenwood, West Virginia, where he graduated from Ravenwood High School in 1923; and

WHEREAS, from 1923 through 1924 he was employed in a steel mill in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and in 1925 he entered Lynchburg College, graduating in 1929 with a bachelor’s degree; and

WHEREAS, W. Glen Rardin, while attending Lynchburg College, earned twelve athletic letters in the four sports of baseball, basketball, football, and track; and

WHEREAS, from 1929 through 1933 W. Glen Rardin taught and coached at Randolf-Macon Academy in Bedford, and from 1933 through 1941 he was employed by Lynchburg College as the Director of Athletics, where he also coached; and

WHEREAS, he entered the United States Navy in 1942 and served through World War II as a Chief Petty Officer in the South Pacific; and

WHEREAS, after his discharge in 1945 he served as Assistant Director, War Veterans Claims, until his retirement in 1975; and

WHEREAS, throughout his involvement with the American Legion Boys State of Virginia, W. Glen Rardin has devoted his time and efforts toward the ideal of fashioning responsible citizenship, contributing his talents, knowledge, and experience to help benefit all who participate; and

WHEREAS, W. Glen Rardin is the author of the Rardin Review, a documentary of all the Boys State programs in the nation which has been of immeasurable value to participants in the program as well as to all others responsible for its administration; and

WHEREAS, W. Glen Rardin has graciously and without hesitation contributed his time and enthusiastic energies in individual and team efforts to advance one of the greatest and most important programs in this nation and to benefit the future mankind through his efforts on behalf of young men and women; now therefore, be it

RESOLVED, by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That W. Glen Rardin, a dedicated Honorary Life Legionnaire, be and is hereby commended by the General Assembly of Virginia for his many accomplishments and service to the youth of Virginia; and be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates prepare a copy of this resolution as an expression of gratitude and praise for the many years of service given by W. Glen Rardin and for his efforts in making the American Legion Boys State of Virginia the successful program that it is today and one of the most highly regarded such programs in the nation.