Re: [Philmont]: Itinerary Selection Books

Selection Books are *usually* mailed the second week of March. Some
years they are late with them. You will hear on this list when people
start to get theirs. Note that Philmont staggers the mailings such that
everyone in the country is supposed to get their books at about the same
time. Some years they are fairly successful at this, other years less
so. If you are an independent Crew, and have not received your book by
one week after the first announcement of receipt on this list, call
Philmont.

Each book has an itinerary selection postcard. You need to select and
prioritize five itineraries, and mark them on the card, and mail it in
asap. Treks are awarded 1st Come/1st Serve, and most itineraries can
only have two Crews on them.

Note that Philmont will accept ONLY the postcard that comes with the
book - nothing else. Don't bother calling, FAXing, or emailing, etc.
You can Express Mail the card if you want (see additional comments below).

If (like many/most) you have made preliminary selections off of the 2003
Selection Books, you MUST make sure that Philmont has not changed the
treks in the 2004 Selection Book before you mark and send in your card.
  Most years, there are few changes - but some years, there are a bunch,
including entirely new itineraries and/or heavily modified itineraries;
some years, the same itineraries have different numbers! Since the
Ranch is still dealing with the aftermath of the 2002 fire season, it is
possible that this year's book will have some modifications versus 2003.
  Be sure to check before you write up your card.

There has been a many-year debate on this list-server on the value of
sending the card via Express mailing services. In reality, according to
Doug Palmer at Philmont, most people who turn their cards around in a
couple of days usually get their first or second selection, whether they
Express Mail them or just send them as a postcard. The few exceptions
seem to be those Crews who select the most popular treks and have the
misfortune of an arrival date that coincides with a mega-Crew Council
contingent, that has a Contingent Czar who has his act together and
turns in everyones' cards via Express Mail the day they arrive. A few
Council contingents can have as many as 24 Crews, so they can lock out a
lot of popular treks in a hurry for their arrival date. Fortunately,
there are not too many contingents like this. FWIW, I have received my
books on the first day of distribution, turned my card(s) around in as
little as 20 minutes via Express Mail, and have always gotten my first
choice(s). I have also received my Selection book over a week late,
furiously filled out my card(s) (swearing eternal vengeance on the
worthless @#$%*& who did this to us), and still gotten my first
choice(s). Geez, all that adrenaline and stratospheric blood pressure
for nothing. My feeling on this is that while most of the people on
this list have a sense of urgency, most of the people NOT on this list
have little idea of the importance of quick turnarounds, and approach
the selections with a much more leisurely attitude. But then again, as
has also been pointed out many times here, there are no bad treks at
Philmont, only bad attitudes about treks. Make sure your's is a good one.

- Dr. Bob

David Lyons wrote:
> We had our first shakedown today.
> Just an easy 8 mile around a local lake.
> But all the Scouts got to meet each other and begin to build a team
> It turns out our Provy crew has four summer camp staffers who all wanted to
> be together
> And I think the other advisor and I are the shortest two on the crew!!
>
> As we hiked and when we rested, we discussed programs at Philmont
> Then when we got back we pulled out copies of the 2002 book and did
> some preliminary trek selection -
> What do they want to see?
> Where do they want to go?
>
> And the question came up -
> When are the books going to be mailed out??
> And so I ask y'all - When are the books going to be mailed out??
> I seem to remember March but am not sure.
>
> Dave
> 1997-722P
> 2000 - 729M-6
> 2002-709D-6
> 2004-727J2
> PTC - 1991, 1994, 1999, 2001 (twice), 2003
> And a daughter on PTC Staff
>

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Received on Sun Mar 7 03:41:03 2004