By Nila Harris
BUTLER — “As much as he did for the community, he did twice as much for us,” said Stephanie Singleton Prince said when talking about her beloved father, Robert “Boo” Singleton. Singleton, who passed away April 7 while doing one of the things he loved best — cleaning up the river.
In fact, Boo once told his good friend Barth Johnson when talking about death, “I hope when I die, I have my boots on and I’m in my canoe on the water.”
In true Boo Singleton fashion, that’s exactly the way he left this earth.
When his body was found, with life jacket on and near his truck and boat, state police at first thought he may have been a victim of the weekend flooding. A coroner’s examination proved it was a medical condition, not drowning, that kept Boo from his mission that afternoon.
Boo was known in the community for his environmental missions — river clean-ups, cemetery bushhogging and mowing, work with the Butler Lion’s and Sportsman clubs, and road and nature trail cleanup.
Before developing a passion for cleaning up the environment, Boo worked for CSX railroad. Johnson explained that he was a
troubleshooting mechanic, and several acquaintances told how he “could fix just about anything.”
This technical acumen developed during his teenage years, when he spent numerous hours at his father Bob Singleton’s service station in Butler. While working on the railroad and caring for his two children as a single dad, Boo was always busy. Upon retirement from the railroad, he seemed to be looking for a purpose. He found that purpose with the help of Johnson.
The two men met when Boo hunted with his friend Roger McElfresh near Johnson’s residence. Johnson, another prominent environmental steward, would often visit with the two hunters. Johnson and Boo had children around the same age and connected through their children’s sporting activities as well.
Once, Boo saw Johnson on the Licking River pulling out tires and became interested in what Johnson was doing. He told Johnson, “I could do that if I had a canoe.”
“Wouldn’t you know it, lo and behold, when Boo got home, there was a canoe and two paddles in his driveway,” Johnson said with a laugh.
It wasn’t long before Johnson convinced Boo to join the Butler Lion’s Club and so began 6 ½ years of dedicated service to community clean-up. Johnson talked about the early days of Boo in his canoe.
“For the first six months, he wouldn’t listen.” Johnson talked about how he would try to tell Singleton that he shouldn’t put any more garbage in his canoe, because he was “top-heavy”, yet Boo would continue to pile up more.
Next thing Johnson knew, he’d see Boo’s hat floating down the river after flipping his canoe.
Another time, when Singleton and Johnson were in some “really fast whitewater,” Johnson continued upstream while Singleton just had to get one more piece of garbage.
“Here comes his hat, cooler, and Sawzall. I heard him cussing, then along comes his paddles. Uh-oh. I picked up his stuff and piled it up (on the bank). Boo said, ‘Catch me on my way through.’”
Singleton told him later, “Captain (Boo’s nickname for Barth), I think I’ll listen to you from now on.”
Johnson explained how Boo brought some good ideas to the table, like the use of a Sawzall to remove tires from their rims. Johnson had been using a razor knife, which worked, but the Sawzall made things quicker and more efficient.
But when Boo showed up with an air compressor and hose to blow out mud from the tires, that plan didn’t work out so well. “The first time he used it, you couldn’t see Boo (because of the mud that blew all over him).”
A Flour Creek Road resident said that he often saw Boo walking the road, picking up garbage. Boo also made wooden signs and hung them at various places he cleaned to encourage others to take pride in their community too.
Singleton joined the Pendleton County Historical Society and discovered another interest in cleaning up overgrown and sometimes forgotten cemeteries. Along with the help of Johnson and others, the men would bushhog and mow these places.
“Sometimes it would take a week for you to know it was a graveyard,” Johnson said.
Martha Lynn from Cross Creek Catering told her friend Jim Thaxton that she needed help to replace Boo in maintaining her family cemetery by the county barn fence. Thaxton, of Thaxton’s Canoe Trails, who has spent numerous hours on the Licking River, also has a passion for the environment. He wondered, “How did one man do so much?”
Thaxton explained how Boo had an impact on the younger generation too. Recently, Thaxton’s granddaughter Jazz attended a field trip at Northern Kentucky University.
“When the program she was participating in came to an end, the moderator asked participants to share one great thing about their county. Students were saying things like the annual fair, their church, their library, etc. When the student with Jazz’s turn came, he piped up without hesitation, ‘We’ve got Boo.’
“Of course, everyone was perplexed, some just laughed until the boy explained about the trail work, the road cleanups, and the work he did on our streams and rivers.”
Tami Vater, Pendleton County Economic and Tourism Development director, is involved in a collaborative effort with several community entities to create a memorial event in Boo Singleton’s honor, which will be announced next week.
At their last club meeting, the Butler Lion’s Club held a time when individuals could share memories of Boo. Twenty-five members showed up, with several members getting up and telling Boo stories.
Johnson said that he has plans to rename the longest trail at Cedar Line Nature Preserve, Butler, “The Boo A Trail.” Boo had mowed and maintained the Cedar Line Trail, as well as the nature trails at Southern Elementary and Sharp Middle School.
Before he passed, Boo had amassed six canoes which he lovingly referred to as “The Litter Getter Armada.”
Prince stated how her father taught his two children the importance of hard work and perseverance through hard times.
“We always knew he loved us and was proud of us.”
Prince has shown that hard work and resilience through her job as a teacher and staff development mentor for Pendleton County Schools. Her brother, Robert, who lives in Georgetown and works at Toyota, has returned to Pendleton County several times to help with the River Sweeps.
“He’s a real hard worker — just like his dad,” Johnson said.
Herman Schack, fellow Lion, summed up things well about Boo when he said, “Boo was one of our Git R Done guys, the first to volunteer. If he was available, he was there. It will take three to replace him.”
If Boo were around, it is certain that he would encourage others to follow his lead and keep our roadways, cemeteries, nature trails and rivers clean.