Joe,
Since you were unaware of the Thrifty, Brave and Clean article in Outside Rag Mag back in 1999 I'm quite sure you are also unaware of the rebuttal that rained down upon the shoulders of Outside Rag Mag editors. I'll share it with you.
The first was from Mark Griffin who at that time was head of Philmont Training Center and the second was from Dublin Clawson a seasonal staff member at Philmont.
The third was from me. It did not stop there. Letter after letter continued to pour into the offices of the Rag. They ignored them all.
Reading Dublins article, I immediately recognized him as one of the seasonal staff at the Kit Carson museum who had welcomed my family and especially my youngest daughter during the previous summer.
Long story short. Because of Dublinsand otehr staff actions with my young daughter as a visitor, she decided at age11 to becaome a Venture Crew Member and return to Philmmont in the summer of 2002 on a regular trek shich she and I did together. We stood atop Mt Phillips together as I had done as a Scout in 1959. It was a proud moment in my life.
The Philmont seasonal staff is composed of mainly college age kids that simply don't deserve the trash journalism that Thrifty, Brave and Cleam portrays.
If you need Outside Rag Mags assistance to make your trail food palatable so be it but I DO NOT. I revert to my Scout training and do just fine in the culinary department. There is nothing wrong with PhilFood just as it comes from the bag. It's that good.
Any writer and any editor that will do that to a bunch of innocent kids is the lowest of scum in my books. Mr. Goodheart carried his creative writign skills a little too far on that one.
Have I said enough?
Read on to find our for yourself.
John LeBlanc
*****************************************************************************
Rebuttal to Adam Goodheart's Philmont Article In Outside Rag Mag
From Mark Griffin Philmont Training Center
Subj: [Philmont] Outside Article
Date: 11/2/1999 5:49:52 PM Central Standard Time
From: wmarkgriffin@email.msn.com (wmarkgriffin)
Sender: Philmont@dynapolis.com
Reply-to: Philmont@dynapolis.com (Philmont)
To: Philmont@dynapolis.com (Philmont)
I cannot adequately express the outrage among the Philmont seasonal and
permanent staff. There are several summer staff members still at the ranch
who are very upset.
It seems to me that the writer had an agenda. Those that were with him that
night watching the meteor shower said the incident described did not happen.
I am very proud of the staff, for obvious reasons especially the PTC staff,
and while I am sure that things that I do not know about, or approve of,
happen - I know that those occurrences are rare. We have a lot of good
people out here.
Those of you that have been on the staff, or have worked with the staff,
know that most of the young people at Philmont are top quality.
And, those of you that know us know that we (ranch management) do not wear
"beribboned uniforms" that make us look like "paunchy Paraguayan
Generalissimos".
As has been said here, we have a zero-tolerance drug and alcohol policy. If
we find it, or have a staff member under the influence, on the property that
staff member will be terminated immediately. In the last three years we
have twice had drug sniffing dogs go through tent cities and have not found
anything. We did not do so due to suspected use, but to assist local
law-enforcement in training the dogs and their handlers.
Again, we are not naive to think that there is no drug use of drinking among
our 850 staff - average age just over 21. But, I would contend that the use
of these substances is well below the average for their age group.
I would recommend working on the Philmont staff to any young person. My son
was a member of the staff, at PTC, at Base Camp, and in 1999 in the
backcountry. I was much less worried about him at Philmont than at his
college.
From John LeBlanc
Date: Wed, 03 Nov 1999 02:27:20 -0500 (EST)
From: Johnlebl@aol.com
Subject: Re: [Philmont] Outside Article
Dear Friends,
I see on the signature line of the letter below that this young man worked at Kit Carson Museum in 1998. I have a little story to share with you about him and his co-workers.
I went to Philmont as a scout in 1959. It changed my life forever. Thank you Wait Philips for giving us that opportunity.
I was not able to return until October 1993 (that is too long, but!) when I was on my way to Colorado on business and running ahead of schedule.
I dropped by for a visit. At that time the information center at the HQ was exactly the same as it had been in 1959. That brought tears of joy to my eyes. A visit to the Seton Museum and buying some Philmont T-shirts for my daughters completed a very nostalgic visit. The information booth has been enlarged and "improved" now but that is OK also, I am just glad I got to see it again in 1993 as it was in 1959.
The summer of 1996 on vacation we headed for the high country of Colorado to do some back packing with skills I learned and an appreciation for the mountains I gained at Philmont some 38 years earlier.
There is nothing better than the smell in a mountain Aspen grove right after a rain unless it is Pinion pine smoke from a high country campfire. Those two smells stay with you forever! Thank you again Philmont for teaching me that.
Anyway, on our return I tried to take my family to Philmont for a visit. As we came through Cimarron Canyon there were trees all over the place. I had to pull two out of the road with my tow chain to get through.
We had to put off our visit to Philmont for another year. As some of you already guessed it, we were there during the Cimarron tornado. That night we drove on to Clayton, NM in one of the fiercest lightning storms I have ever been in.
Well, our appetite was whetted. In late July 1998 we paid Philmont a visit again on our way back from Colorado. We went to the Kit Carson Museum and went through the program. My youngest daughter, at that time 11 years old, was especially interested as she dearly loves animals of all sorts and did they have animals of all sorts there!
She was especially intrigued at how the floor of the inside was made from ox blood on dirt. See, I told you we were there. It was a really interesting program conducted by some very high quality young people. My wife even commented that she would be happy for any of these kids to be her own. We really enjoyed it.
As we started to leave, it began to rain, so we waited it out as we were in no hurry.
About the same time, my 11 year old spotted a little kitten curled up in a depression out in the yard in the rain and a dog barking at it. I assured her that that little kitten could defend itself well from that dog, but that was not good enough for her.
She ran over to another building and found the girl who had lead our tour and told her the problem. She in turn went and got a couple of guys and another girl to come see about the kitten. Those 4 Philmont Kit Carson Museum staffers went in the rain to "rescue" the kitten for my daughter. Then they sat down under a shed and dried off the kitten and told my daughter how thoughtful it was of her to come get them to help her take care of the kitten. The photo of those staffers and my daughter tending the kitten in the rain is hanging on our den wall. It is strong evidense as to how wrong the Outside magazine article was. As stated before, he really missed what Philmont and it's staff are all about.
Now folks, this is the kind of people I saw working at Philmont. I don't know if Dublin Clawson was one of them or not. I do know that the two guys were working on peeling poles for a fence in the rain that day. I do know that they took time to show my girls how people lived in an earlier day and time. I do know they took time in the rain to "rescue" a kitten and I do know that they were NOT doing anything the Outside magazine writer wrote about in that rag!
This is what I observed going on at Philmont. My daughter is now 13 and as a result of our visit she cannot wait until she can go to Philmont to work for the summer. Her daddy also cannot wait for her to be able to do that so that she can experience what he did so long ago.
That is what one man saw at Philmont and how he feels about Philmont and it's staff.
Sincerely,
John LeBlanc
From Dublin Clawson
In a message dated 11/2/1999 7:45:57 PM Central Standard Time, phildublin@hotmail.com writes:
<< Subj: Re: [Philmont] Outside Article
Date: 11/2/1999 7:45:57 PM Central Standard Time
From: phildublin@hotmail.com(Dublin Clawson)
Sender: Philmont@dynapolis.com
Reply-to: Philmont@dynapolis.com (Philmont)
To: Philmont@dynapolis.com
CC: rayado_3@hotmail.com
I must add my comments after everthing that has been said. I have had the wonderful opportunity of staying on the PTC staff for this Fall. It has been interesting to see this article and reactions to it from here on the Ranch as well as from others.
I have worked here for three summers and in addition have worked at the Florida Sea Base (I love BSA high adventure, what can I say!) In all of my experience, I have known of a few negative incidences among staff. Every single one was taken care of immediately.
This article tries to paint a picture that just doesn't exist. Whether this author had a hidden agenda or alterior motives, I don't know (or really care.) While his insults and sarcasm were extremly offensive, they will soon be forgotten- I know they are not true. I just hope that anyone else reading this article will use good judgement and common sense and realize the falacies contained within.
. One idea is to have activities for your staff. Sea Base calls them Staff Sparklers. Philmont has an entire Activities staff who organizes fun events for everyone. I know that all three high adventure bases have worked to improve their staff lounge and activity areas and continue to do so. Hopefully, this can help keep problems from ever starting.
I would recommend working here to anyone- and I do all the time. Many of my friends have come here to work. They got here and were finally able to see what I love about this place.
They call New Mexico the Land of Enchantment- I finally understood that when I came here. The author had blinders on, he left his heart at home. I feel really sorry for him; not because he wrote a terrible article, but because he missed something, something really special. He missed the beauty and enchantment that is this gift called Philmont.
Dublin Clawson
PTC Assistant Group Leader '97
Kit Carson Museum '98
Assistant Program Director '99
Program Director Fall '99
P.S. Hey Mark, my application is on your desk. >>
From Adam Fromme
Subj: [Philmont] Philmont Staff Members (was Outdoor Magazine Article)
Date: 11/2/1999 2:35:12 PM Central Standard Time
From: APF313@aol.com
Sender: Philmont@dynapolis.com
Reply-to: Philmont@dynapolis.com (Philmont)
To: Philmont@dynapolis.com
Hello all,
I've been very reluctant to respond, but I finally feel compelled to.
First, let me say this, please do not consider this "incident" something that
goes on frequently. As many of my fellow staffers have commented to me in
our private conversations, we all find it interesting that we didn't hear
about things like this until we're back at school, and we're reading it in a
magazine. I've talked to MANY staffers from this summer, and with the
ammount I've talked to, I find it interesting that not one heard about this.
Secondly, if anyone has scouts in his or her troop, sons or daughters,
relatives or whatnot, considering applying for Philmont staff, encourage them
to do so! Being a member of Philmont's staff has been a life changing
experience for almost every member of it. Passing on the skills that we were
taught to the next generation of Philmont "camper" (which is a horribly
inaccurate term ... and participant doesn't beginning to describe the growth
that goes on in a youth who has been to Philmont) is an amazing feeling that
inspires each member of the staff that I know. There are so many great
people on staff that each, in some small way, contribute to make a summer on
staff an experience that cannot be duplicated. Almost every staffer that I
met, from Ranger 1 to Chief Ranger, from Program Counselor to Camp Director
to Backcountry Manager, from Trail Crew Foreman to Director of Conservation,
from Betty at Registration to Director of Program Mark Anderson (an amazing
person in his own, with perpetual positive attitude that makes everyone
around him exude the same) to our General Manager, Bill Spice (who can cook
some great eggs!); each one brings something different to the job, but the
way the staff "gels" together gives you the feeling that you are part of
something special ... that's why I'm going back next year. Not only are you
working in the most gorgeous place on Earth, not only are you leading scouts
in experiences that you've had, but you also work with some of the best
people. Plus, there are so many diverse opportunities to do for a summer at
Philmont. Rangering, Backcountry, Conservation, PTC, CHQ...
But, on a MUCH happier note, just think, 8 months till Rangers show up! And
Cons show up even earlier! I hear it now- "I wanna go back..."
Adam
--------
Adam Fromm
APF313@aol.com
'99 Ranger
'00 OATC Foreman? Ranger? Urraca Staff? Who knows?
Adam's PhilHOmEpage:
http://members.tripod.com/~Fromma2/index.html
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Received on Sun Oct 14 01:20:24 2007
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