It is a rare opportunity to get insight into a world that very few of us know anything about. Fred Greene, of Transylvania county, is a tremendous source of information as he was the warden of Brunswick Correctional Center and later Mecklenburg Correctional Institution in Virginia, retiring after 33 years of service. <BR><BR>
A modest man, he reluctantly talked about his career, doing so only to express his appreciation for those who do such important work in the shadows of society, while getting little recognition for their efforts.
"I was fortunate to have a successful career and I realize that my success was due largely to those who allowed me to lead them, and who performed in such a manner that enabled us to meet our mission of operating a safe, secure and humane prison," Greene stated.
Like many other successful men, Greene's entrance into the world of correctional institutions was influenced by a friend who knew of an opening in that field. As fate would have it, however, Greene's rise to the top was preceded by a series of steps that equipped him to meet challenges in a manner consistent with his beliefs and life philosophies..
Fred Greene was born in Norfolk, Virginia and graduated from high school there. Growing up in a navy town like Norfolk, it would have been natural for him to join the navy after high school; but Fred chose to be an army infantryman. He was in the service for three years and spent 2-1/2 of that time in Germany, which he thoroughly enjoyed.
"I had the good luck for my military service to be sandwiched in between the days of the Berlin crisis and the escalation to the Vietnam War. However, I feel that my service was very instrumental to my development, as I did a lot of growing up in the army,," Greene said.
Montreat-Anderson Junior College in NC was his choice as he attended what was then a two-year college on the GI Bill, running the student union during his third year. He finished the rest of his studies in what is now called Barton College, majoring in Sociology.
Greene started out working for J.C. Penney in retail and was promoted to the Raleigh, NC branch. However, he felt strongly that was not his proper niche in life and wanted to put his Sociology knowledge to work.
While in Raleigh, Greene had a friend whose father worked for a prison unit in the Commonwealth of Virginia; so he applied for a position there and was hired as a Rehabilitative Counselor.
"It was a misnomer; as we were really facilitators for the inmates The job primarily involved first offenders and we helped them adjust to prison life and to manage some of the problems that come with incarceration. We referred them to trade and academic schools, and often represented them when their classifications were established." Greene related..
It was also his first step into another world that he had never known about: criminals and prison life, Greene gained a lot of knowledge as a counselor, which contributed to his later positions in the system as it helped him understand the inmate's position.
After five years of counseling, the Virginia Department of Corrections wanted to start an Ombudsman Program as part of a federal program being put into the prison system. Greene was one of only five or six people that were hired into this new position of regional ombudsman to help institutions design and operate grievance procedures in their prisons.
"It was one of the more rewarding experiences of my career. and it was definitely a challenge. The system allowed inmates to air their grievances and have them resolved within a reasonable amount of time. Working on behalf of both the Regional Director and the departments chief ombudsman, Greene would attempt to mediate differences between inmates and the prison administration and/or investigate and make recommendations to the regional administrator as to how to resolve differences. Sometimes problems would go beyond that point and be decided by courts, so it let Greene cross many lines in the department. He not only learned guidelines and procedures, but he got to know problems inherent in higher administration. Greene felt that this work added greatly to his background and philosophy when he later became a warden.
Then came an opportunity for Greene to be a superintendent with Virginia's road camps. These road gangs of inmates worked with the Department of Transportation to provide various things that needed doing. It was a good opportunity for the superintendent to view inmates in an outside setting under a gun or not, depending on their classification. For the inmates it provided an opportunity to work and earn a little money and enjoy an outdoor setting. Greene was responsible for about 90 inmates and 27 staff and he enjoy the work a lot.
In 1984, six death row inmates at Mecklenburg Correctional Institution escaped. It still stands as the greatest number of death row inmates to escape in the U.S. Although those men were all eventually captured, a political determination was made to change the top team at Mecklenburg. A new administrative team was put in place. The team consisted of four men, An Assistant Warden of Operations, one for Treatment, a Major and a Warden.
So the call came to Greene: "You are going to Mecklenburg tomorrow as Assistant Warden of Treatment." According to Greene, "The Assistant Warden of Treatment was the easier assignment of the four because Mecklenburg had the largest corps of high profile prisoners in Virginia, as well as Death Row. Those inmates were not generally interested in treatment, Greene noted. However, Greene enjoyed and learned much in helping make necessary changes to the prison".
His method of management was communication by listening and responding, a method that his roles of counseling and Ombudsman developed. So, Greene got his baptism by fire in his new role and it wasn't too long before he became Assistant Warden of Operations.
This new position involved the largest number of staff in the facility and meant a lot more responsibility. The experience was invaluable to his growth as a corrections administrator.
Greene was later promoted to Warden at Brunswick Correctional Center and was responsible for about 800 inmates which grew to over 1000 prisoners and 400 staff members. Inmates at the main prison were males, but an institution was built nearby for females and Greene was in charge of both facilities. He remained at that institution for the next nine-plus years and returned to Mecklenburg as Warden where he later retired from in 2003.
"It was like a little city but it had special areas of surprise. There were good days and there were tough days when you would lose your smile. However, I was blessed as no one got seriously injured or died on my watch in the 15 years I was Warden".
"I feel good that we were able to manage some serious situations without any one getting hurt. I attribute that to the excellent training that Virginia gave their officers at the academy and the professionalism of the staff. I had some wonderful people who would take my vision and put it into operation.
"I had an idea of what I wanted and I was totally amazed at how well the staff took to it. Early in my heavier management roles, I learned the value of empowering employees by giving them responsibilities, helping them in their roles, guiding and supporting them as much as I could and allowing them to make decisions at their own level which allowed them to grow. In that way you not only have a much better operation because people are more invested, but they also take pride in their work and they want to succeed. I did everything I could to give them the credit for their achievements".
"My work load lessened greatly as staff began making more decisions. I had less paper crossing my desk and fewer phone calls as to how to handle some issue".
My success was fully attributable to my people who maintained high scores on State and National audits. I never saw anyone shirk their responsibilities during a crisis. When they were in a very dangerous situation, they handled things with great efficiency. . "Some funny things happened, especially early in my career. When I was a superintendent, a friend and I went out to apprehend some escaped prisoners from somebody else's prison. We had been trained in the use of firearms, so we had them on us. We got word that an escapee was in a particular area where there were old farm shacks. We went into old deserted shacks with guns drawn, like Starsky and Hutch, and scrambled over hay stacks in a pole barn in our search. We acted tough and ready to go, of course, but we were actually scared to death.
"When we established there was no one hiding there, we went back to the command post. I took off my firearm and when I looked at it I realized it did not have the first bullet in it because it wasn't loaded. If I had run up against that fellow there was nothing I could have done aside from maybe throw it at him."
"What had happened was that I always would unload my weapon at night when I came home because of my kids; and when I had been called to duty from my house, I just grabbed my weapon and ran. I never made that mistake again!
"Another event happened when I was the Warden, during serious moments when three inmates had taken five other inmates hostage in the recreation yard which they had secured in a way that prevented officers from being able to quickly get to them. They had fashioned serious weapons and it appeared that one of them was going to kill one of the hostages. I instructed two armed officers to take positions in a nearby building and gave them orders that upon my signal, they were to come out and if necessary and without waiting for further orders, shoot to stop the hostage takers and protect the hostages. I should have given more thought to my signal which was that I would take my coat off. When I got to the area, I immediately realized that I would not be able to take my coat off as several of our strike force officers were in the field of fire. It was at least 101 degrees in the shade. I'm sure the inmates thought I was crazy to stand there and talk to them in that heat with a coat on. I could hardly take it off without starting a bunch of fireworks. Tuff moment for me, but when it all works out, you feel all the better for it".
"There is one point that I really want to make and that is that it wasn't surprising to me when the firemen and officers responded during the 9/11 tragedy by running into situations that others would try to get away from. Those who protect our citizens, whether in the military, or cops on the beat, firemen at work, or officers in correctional institutions, take pride in doing what many other people would not be able to handle. All these people go into service with lesser expectations of receiving respect and appreciation for their service, either monetarily or from recognition from the general population. So, I want to commend all these brave folks for their service to our country and to its citizenry," Greene concluded.
They met at jubilant festivities on May 8, 1945 when World war II ended in Europe. Ed was a newly-trained pilot in the British Royal Air Force and Elizabeth an ambulance driver. One can only imagine the delirious joy when the war, which had caused such damage to the English countryside and its people, finally came to an end after all those traumatic years of peril.
Ed and many servicemen from other branches had gathered at a pub in Liverpool and excitement ran high as they exchanged hats to celebrate the victory. Elizabeth entered the pub with her sister-ambulance drivers to join in the jubilation. After some time at that pub, they all went down the road to a place where there was dancing. Elizabeth was counting out her money for admission, when Ed came over to ask her to dance and within a two week period they were engaged to be married. That marriage certainly worked out well, as that couple is happily ensconced in Transylvania County in 2009.
Ed Tilston expressed his indomitable spirit with his answer to a comment that the war in Europe fortunately ended before he got into the fight, and that was lucky for him: "At the time, I didn't think so,because I was anxious to get into it. So, I immediately joined the Naval Air Force for service in the Pacific. I was probably the only one who was redundant in two services during the same war. In both cases, the fighting was over by the time I was through with the training, " Ed ruefully declared.
Ed and Elisabeth married in December, 1945, Elizabeth staying behind in England as she was pregnant with heir daughter, Jennifer, when Ed accepted a position in Brazil in 1946 as an inspector of incoming cargo on international freighters. When the baby was old enough to travel, Elizabeth left England on the last coal-burning ship for Fortaleza, North Brazil. Forteleza was the capital of the state of Ceara and a coastal city at the edge of the northern desert, a place of eternal sunshine.
"I had the owner's cabin aboard ship and when the time came to go ashore at Forteleza, the captain wanted to say goodbye to me. When I returned to get my baby daughter, I found that she had already been tossed down into cradling arms on a tugboat, since there was no dock to receive the ship;s passengers. When they told you to jump down to the tug, you just did it!" Elizabeth recalled.
Forteleza was an interesting place to live for two years with many new and exciting aspects for the young Tilston Family. As an added bonus, Western Telegraph had a beautiful place on the beach that was simply gorgeous with miles and miles of welcoming sand; and they used to invite Elizabeth and the baby to spend weekends there.
After two years and a spell of home leave in England, the family went to Sao Luis de Maranhao, where they saw their first shrunken head with red hair. They recalled that a red-haired young man had asked them to look after his mail when he was going into the jungle as a missionary and they were repulsed at the sight. Also, although their house was not really primitive, as it was nicely furnished and they had servants, there were big iron rings under the house where slaves used to be tied.
Their next post was Manaus, 1000 miles up the Amazon River, where Caruso sang in the beautiful opera house built at the turn of the century from proceeds of the rubber boom. The rubber trees grow haphazardly in the jungle, are tapped like Maple trees for syrup for a white substance that turns into a ball shaped like a football. Some rubber tree seeds were smuggled to Singapore, where the trees were planted in rows for easier harvesting.
After Manaus, they were stationed at Iquitos, Peru, which was 2200 miles up the Amazon. There were strong Army, Air Force and Navy contingents there and the Tilstons became close friends with Admiral Juan Francisco Torres Matos, the commander of the naval base and later co-president of Peru. There was very little English spoken in Iquitos, so the Tilstons learned to speak fluent Spanish, something that served them well.
Ed held various positions there: including Agent of Lloyd's of London, Correspondent of the Board of Underwriters of New York, Agent of the Booth Steamship Line, Agent of Panair do Brazil (Brazilian Airline); Fawcett Aviation Company (Peruvian Airline) and British Consul invested by the British Embassy in Lima, Peru.
The Amazon River carries freighters and even gunboats, the entire 2200 miles up that river. In fact, the Amazon carries more water than the Mississippi, the Missouri, the Nile, and the Rhine rivers combined and has 20% of the word's fresh water. The pressure of the current coming out of the Amazon into the ocean is so great that there is still fresh water 150 miles out in the Atlantic at the mouth of the river.
The Amazon has seven tributaries that are over 1,000 miles long each and is navigable all the way. About once a year, when the snow melts in the Andes Mountains in Peru, there is a rising of about 60 ft. of water that comes rushing down the river and helps carve out he deep channels. So, large ships are able to navigate the river all year around. However, they are careful not to stray outside of the channel and get stuck when the water level is low.
Everything to build houses in Iquitos was brought up by ship, including the doorknobs. The Tilston house was huge with a veranda running all around it, surrounded by heavy wire to keep out animals or anything else that might get in. Elizabeth said that the house had an indoor swimming pool and a billiard room; and Ed chimed in: "and The Ghost!"
"Oh, yes I saw the ghost, but only one time. We had just arrived at the house and were in a huge bedroom. It was a funny thing. I woke up at 2:00 a.m., wide awake, and put the light on and saw nothing. The next night, I did the same thing, as I awoke at 2;00. The third night I woke again and there was a man in a sitting position in a beautiful white linen suit. He wasn't looking at me, so I looked at him," Elizabeth revealed.
When asked if she was frightened at the sight of the man, Elizabeth answered: "No not al all. He was so peaceful. the next day I went up the street and told what I had seen. A man went in his office and said: "Yes, I think I've got a picture of that man." I looked at the picture and it was the man I had seen in my room. It turned out that the man had lived in the house previously and had died in it. It must have been at 2:00 a.m. when he died, so he came back to visit. The next night we moved out of that room and I never saw him again," Elizabeth said.
Adrian Edwin Tilston was born, July 25, 1955 in Iquitos and now lives in Sarasota, Florida where he is a computer programmer. From Iquitos the Tilstons went to the Peruvian capital of Lima, where they lived for three years from 1957 to 1959. They then moved to Port of Spain, Trinidad for one year, then back to England for a year. Then they made another move to the port of New Orleans from 1962 to 1963; and thence to New York City. Ed and Elizabeth became American citizens in 1969.
Jennifer and Adrian went to school in England, Jennifer to Roedean and Adrian to Rugby. They also attended Tulane University in New Orleans, where Jennifer was Queen of World Trade Week and given the key to the city. From New Orleans, Jennifer went to the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and then onto the Broadway Stage. Meanwhile, after Tulane, Adrian attended Pace College in New York.
Ed formed his own company in New York, Tilston Roberts Corporation, where he was a General Agent for Overseas Ship Lines. He represented many steamship companies, mostly government-owned lines such as Peruvian, Brazilian, Portuguese, Zairian, Indonesian, Pakistani, P. & O. of London, etc. When their ships called at U.S. ports they came consigned to his company and they then arranged for their cargoes (in and out), ordered tugs, pilots, berths, collection of freight, etc.
Elizabeth and Ed traveled around the world extensively, since it was necessary to visit the different government ship-owners. However, when the container trade replaced the general cargo trade of the government lines and business fell off, he closed the company.
"We lived in New York for a dozen years after retirement and then we were lucky enough to learn about Connestee Falls from one of our friends. We simply love Brevard and the friendliness of the people. We were so impressed on one of our first shopping trips when a Brevard shopkeeper took the time to direct us to another store that sold an item which he did not carry," Ed exclaimed.
The Tilstons live on top of a mountain where they have a breathtaking view of the countryside. They are surrounded by wildlife and Elizabeth recalls that they had a funny experience with red mulch. They had put three bags of the mulch outside and noticed one bag was missing after they returned from shopping. She couldn't understand why any one would take just one bag. She called the Security Department and they told her it was probably a bear that carried it off. The next day after they returned from another shopping trip, the found that another bag of mulch was missing. Then a hand-made broom that she was especially fond of disappeared from her front porch. She laughed and agreed that the bear probably needed the broom to spread out the mulch
Then, one day, she was sitting in her house and saw a big bear looking at her through the window. "He was eyeballing me and I was looking at him very calmly as I didn't want to move. I had called Ed to come take a picture of the bear, but the bear then got fed up with the whole thing and moved away, So Ed could only get a picture of his departing tail," Elizabeth recalled.
Since their retirement in Transylvania, Elisabeth has taken up pastel and watercolor painting, has knitted hundreds of prayers shawls for people in institutions, plus enjoyed many rounds of her favorite game of golf. Meanwhile Ed writes historical novels and has five of them published: Cape Bojator; The Gateway to Hell; Martin Alonso Pinzon, the mariner who preempted Columbus; The Route to Prester John; The Rape of Tawantinsuyo; and the Methuselah Legacy.
Ed is a very talented writer and has a tremendous facility with the use of the written word. His descriptions of scenes make the reader feel that he is present at the action and make the stories he writes come vividly to life.
Jennifer, the Tilston's beloved daughter, recently passed away and they would like to express their appreciation to the doctors, nurses, and staff of Transylvania Regional Hospital who showed Jennifer so much loving care and compassion during her terminal illness. The Tilstons were exceedingly impressed with the personnel at the hospital and how much the concerned care meant to their daughter and to them. Lorraine Miller Brevard
"A doorknob became a symbol to me," Brevard College's Associate Professor Barbara Boerner exclaimed as she expressed her philosophy of teaching. That came about when one of her students advised her sister to enroll in one of Boerner's business classes, assuring her it would not be boring since Boerner could even make a doorknob seem interesting!
That philosophy must have worked, as Megan Street, Brevard College Class of 2009, corroborated that assessment. "I loved her classes, as she is a great teacher. Her classes are discussion-based where you can express yourself as an individual. She definitely helped me out and I recommend her to all my friends, since you take something important away from each one of her classes," Megan said.
Barbara Boerner was born in New Jersey but moved to the Winston-Salem area of North Carolina when she was in the third grade. Even at that tender age, Boerner had already set her sights upon becoming a teacher and has spent most of her working life in that field. either as a teacher or as an administrator.
She started teaching at a girls private school in the North Hampton area of Massachusetts, and then at the Madeira School, an independent private school for girls in McLean, VA. near Washington, DC. She also served as Dean of Admissions at Gaucher College, outside of Baltimore. MD.
Boerner completed her undergraduate work at UNC-Greensboro, majoring in History and Science. After she received a national science grant to study the physical sciences, she continued her education and received her masters degree at Loyola University. She is now completing her work on her doctorate in international business.
Boerner's parents came to the United States from Europe to escape oppression there.; Even though they could speak ten languages between them, they insisted that English be spoken at home. Her parents put a high value on learning and that an education was of utmost importance, since it was something that could never be taken away from you. Barbara took this advice to heart, and spent most of her life either in learning, teaching, or in school administration leadership.
Her father did insist that she spend one year working for a large corporation in order to familiarize herself with that phase of business. So, she did spend that year as an employee of Western Electric, which was her father's company, and got her feet wet in the corporate world.
After her work as Dean of Admissions, Boerner felt that was enough school administration and started to look for a place to retire. Since her sister had property in the Transylvania area and her brother was located in Asheville, she turned to this mountain area as a place to settle down.
Boerner spent ten happy years living in a log cabin on Round Mountain, southwest of Brevard. She then decided to build a home at Glen Cannon, closer to Brevard College, and enjoyed the beauty of the forests and carefree days playing many rounds of golf.
Barbara Boerner laughs and says that it was actually her dog that got her involved with Brevard College. "My dog was a big lab mix and she needed manners. At that time, Brevard College was offering a dog obedience class through its Continuing Education Program. So, we signed up and my dog loved going to school but she didn't do very well. So, she had to take several terms and during that time I got involved with the college
"That was during the period when Brevard College was transitioning from a two-year to a four-year school, and the college asked if I would like to do a study on the gender balance of students. I wrote up my report and the college then asked me if I would be interested in coming to work to help implement the suggestions for action, since they were going through sustentative accreditation problems at the time and I had a lot of experience in that field. Of course, I said: 'Yes.'
"Then Brevard College asked me to teach a course; and then another; and finally I joined the faculty. I love to teach and they have a wonderful college and faculty here. So, I joined and it has been great." Boerner said enthusiastically.
What Boerner truly enjoys about her work is the scale of the experience at Brevard College. They keep their classes small, the faculty gets to know the students, and the students know their teachers; so they have a good rapport.
Boerner says there has been quite a difference in Brevard College and its students since it became a four year program. They have many more majors now and have a strong core of liberal arts. They also have expanded into fields like lCriminal Justice and Psychology. Of course, college programs are dynamic and always reflect the challenges of both curriculum and pedagogy.
Boerner's program is The Ethical Business Organizational and Leadership Program. The course is three-fold: The ethical core of a business; conducting and sustainability of a business and its environment, and globalization.
"Students must realize they are working in a global economy now and be prepared to function and succeed in that environment," according to Boerner She also has a course which she calls: "Jungles for Sale:" which deals with international eco-systems, business ethics, effective communication, public speaking, and writing.
Of special interest to Boerner is the ethics feature of business development; something that is being added to almost all new business textbooks. She feels that this phase of business is especially topical now after the recent excesses of some corporations and the golden parachutes awarded to the CEO's of companies with failing business records.
Boerner maintains that some CEO's completely missed the ball, because they were absolutely isolated from the general masses and their lives. She feels that corporation leaders have to be sensitive to the environment around them and that many did not fully realize that conditions had changed while they were busy running their corporations into the ground.
Brevard College has a wide range of students, both foreign and American, from all types of cultures, Many of the students are the first collegians in the family.
"As a teacher, I feel that I have to start each year with students having a clean slate. I never look up the records of their prior class performances. These students are considered legal adults at age 18. Iif a parent were to call me and ask me how little Susie is doing, I would need Susie's permission to discuss her work with her parents. We faculty members feel that we are working with the students as mentors, not as their judges," Boerner explained.
"As part of the tuition, Brevard College has an Academic Enrichment Program which is really an incredible asset and is an illustration of the sensitivity. Under this program, students can get tutoring or special help if they need it, free of charge.
"That's what I love about this place. We strive to teach the whole person through relaxed conversation. Personally, I feel that I also am constantly learning. Recently one of my students finally triumphantly handed in an assignment with the comment: 'Teachers like you, just keep after us,'" Boerner recalled with pride.
A sense of humor is tantamount to teaching, in Boerner's opinion, as it puts everything into perspective and lets the teacher loosen up on the need to control.
She did enjoy working in administration, but feels that it was a different type of venue. With administration you move away from implementation to planning; and Boerner feels very fortunate that she got back into the implementation.
"The faculty that is attracted to this place really likes to teach; and all of us carry on some degree of research and writing, but teaching is our primary love. Since we have a very active faculty, these instructors bring the value of their experiences back to the classroom.
"Going into teaching was a quality of life decision and I am thoroughly enjoying my life as an educator," Boerner summed up her life's work.
