[Philmont] Increased Participation was RE: Albuquerque to Philmont

Dan-what you describe isn't inherent to Philmont. I think most BSA camps
work their staffs like dogs. The camp staff at our local council camp also
work very long hours. I know, I am the proud Dad of two of them. They are
up at 5:30 AM and rarely get to bed before 11 PM. Six days per week, for 9
weeks over the summer. They get one evening off (after 6 PM) during the
week (but few leave the property because they are an hour from home), and
then they have 24 hours off from 10 AM Saturday to 10 AM Sunday. All for
under $150 per week, usually. Counselor's start at $65 per week. They
don't do it for the dough, they do it because they LOVE what they do.... I
think many of the Philstaff fall into this same viewpoint.....

What has helped at our council camp was that we had a deep-pockets
benefactor donate the money to start a scholarship fund. Youth in
leadership positions at camp can get $5,000 per year (renewable) to pay for
college starting the summer after they graduate from high school. There
are multiple scholarships and the other requirements (besides working at
camp) are not outrageous (service hours, GPA, etc.) Of course, to be the
BEST applicant for the scholarships, you need years of camp staffing under
your belt so many kids start as Counselors-in-Training at 14 years old!
CITs make $5 per week their first year and $10 per week their second year.
The scholarship helps offset the low pay that drives some staff members
away to better paying jobs. What the scholarship also does is prevent
qualified staff members from our Council from even considering a summer
being Philstaff. While Philmont may be heaven, they have trouble passing
up the good opportunity to make $5,000 in scholarship funds.

I think finding staff for Philmont wasn't always so tough. I applied to be
PhilStaff in 1978 and was placed on a waiting list. When the job offer
finally came (early in June, as I recall), I had already found something
else.... Knowing what I know now, I should have quit my desk job, packed
my bags and headed to New Mexico. But at the time, I was a poor college
student and the money from my summer job with the Government was too good
to let go.....

 YIS. Mike ('76, '02, '04 and '07).

|---------+---------------------------->
| | Daniel Preston |
| | <prestonar@bellso|
| | uth.net> |
| | Sent by: |
| | Philmont@troop47.|
| | com |
| | |
| | |
| | 09/27/2006 09:31 |
| | AM |
| | Please respond to|
| | philmont |
| | |
|---------+---------------------------->
>------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
  | |
  | To: "Philmont List Member" <Philmont@troop47.com> |
  | cc: |
  | Subject: [Philmont] Increased Participation was RE: Albuquerque to Philmont |
>------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

If Philmont wants to increase participation, they better figure out how
to hire more rangers. This past summer, rangers worked for six
straight weeks without a day off, due to a shortage or rangers. There
is no overtime pay or comp time for all of the extra hours and it is
not unusual for your ranger to work a 16 hour day on his first day with
your crew. Several rangers quit midway through the summer due to the
working conditions. I don't know how they get around Department of
Labor laws, but if they try to increase participation without improving
ranger working condtions, Philmont is going to have a major labor
problem on their hands.

Dan Preston
Louisville, KY
On Sep 26, 2006, at 6:33 PM, Donald S. Roberts wrote:

> From: JVH2099@aol.com
>  > We heard that Philmont wants to increase participation by about
> 15%
> > next summer.  That may be the reason for no early arrivals.  Things
> will
> > be getting a bit crowded in tent city.
>
> Jim ought to have a pretty reliable rumor source...
>
> They have a waiting list that never seems to get to the end of the
> list and
> they want to INCREASE participation?  I don't get it.  Are they getting
> unfilled slots but for some reason not giving those to the waitlisted
> crews?
>
> Or does this mean they are increasing the capacity?
>
> We have discussed the pros and cons of increasing the capacity here on
> this list, and a lot of us felt the impact on the ranch is bad enough
> without
> opening the ranch to more crews.
>
> During my trek in 2005 (itinerary 2) I sure felt like I was in a well
> used
> wilderness that looked much more encroached than our typical Sierra
> Nevada backpacks.  How much more wear and tear can the ranch take?
>
> Regards
> Don Roberts
> Fullerton, CA
> with definite mixed feelings...
>
>
>
>
>
>
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Received on Wed Sep 27 13:35:40 2006