Greetings!

This is the Official "Wake-Up Call" for Crew 629-B, the Summer of 2000 Philmont trek being organized by Troop 111. This letter contains an extensive amount of information; parents and Scouts should read it very carefully, and then read it again. Many things you need to know:

(1) Dates - Our arrival date at the Ranch is June 29th (i.e., 629), which is a Thursday. In order to accommodate our various pre-activities in Colorado, we will therefore be most likely leaving very early on Monday, June 26th, or possibly mid-day on Sunday, June 25th. The starting date (Monday versus Sunday) will vary based on airfares to Denver or Colorado Springs. If the Sunday afternoon (weekend) airfare to either airport is significantly less than Monday morning, we will try to arrange an extra day's lodging in Colorado and leave on Sunday. A Sunday departure would also allow us to do at least one and possibly two extra activities in Colorado on Monday morning. We will almost certainly return very late on Tuesday, July 11th. There is a slight chance that we would stay an extra day in Colorado for a "you can't miss this" activity, but we have never done so on any of our previous trips, and don't expect to on this one. Usually, all the Scouts want to do once we're off the trail is go home. (Ditto for the Adults!)

(2) Overall Costs and Payment Scheduling - The current total cost of the trip is $1100, which includes everything for the actual trip itself; this price should be considered to be plus or minus $100, and may vary even more based on air fares and van rental fees. All Scouts who have signed up have already paid a $100 deposit, so those who are still committed (several have dropped out already) will owe $1000, which will be collected in four payments of $250 each, as follows: Sunday, October 10th (First Organizational Meeting), Wednesday, December 1st (mail it in), Sunday, March 5th (Second Organizational Meeting), and Saturday, May 20th (First Campout Weekend.) All payments should be made out to "Troop 111," and if not delivered in person at the above specified meetings, should be mailed ahead of time to: Dr. Bob, listing "Philmont 2000" in the memo section.

Of course, this is not the end of the money trail. Additional payments will be required for the three shakedown events and the Service Project (details below); these will amount to another $50 or so, collected in smaller increments at the time of each event. However, the greatest additional expense - by far - will be bringing your son's camping gear up to snuff - anywhere from $100 - $600 more per Scout, depending on how much backpacking he's done to date (that is, how good is his current gear?) Those Scouts who have previously attended Philmont or some other major league backpacking event will probably be in pretty good shape, equipment-wise; everyone else will probably face some serious expenditures over the next nine and a half months.

(3) Current Crew Status - As of the deposit deadline (actually a little past the deadline), we had 30 Scouts signed up to attend. Not surprisingly, several have already dropped out due to irreconcilable date conflicts or medical reasons. On Saturday, September 4th, I either called or emailed all currently enrolled Scouts asking for a confirmation of attendance. [Noting that anyone who drops out at this point can do so without incurring a financial penalty.] As of this mass email, the following Scouts have confirmed: Andy H., Daniel He., David Ma., Stefan N., Steven S., Clark T., Dan T. and Nick T. Everyone else: Please confirm your son's attendance or withdrawal as soon as possible!

As everyone is aware, we currently have a reservation for two crews - meaning we can take a maximum of 20 Scouts and 4 Advisors. It is possible this situation will resolve itself with additional withdrawals; if not, we will either solicit for a third crew or establish a prioritization for the current attendees, with a waiting list for the surplus Scouts. For what I hope are obvious reasons, I will not address how I will prioritize until we actually have to do so. Suffice it to say, however, that SCOUTS WHO ARE NO LONGER ACTIVE IN THEIR RESPECTIVE TROOPS WILL BE DROPPED FROM THE PHILMONT ROSTER! We do not reward "seldom seen" Scouts with a Philmont trek.

Anyway, our current crew makeup is as follows (in alphabetical, not prioritized, order); italicized names are Scouts who have previously attended Philmont:

Galen B. (149), Alex B. (149), Matt G. (111), Andy H. (647), Woody H. (104), Daniel He. (647), Ben H. (149), Daniel Ho. (111), Dan Hu. (111), Brad J. (111), Neal K. (111), Dennis K. (647), Jay L. (647), David M. (647), Matt McE. (111), Kelsey N. (647), Stefan N. (111), John P. (111), Michael R. (111), Matt S. (149), Steven S. (111), Clark T. (647), Dan T. (111), Nick T. (111), Tim W. (647), Brian W. (647), Chris W. (111), Eric W. (111)

- Not surprisingly, we also have an extensive number of Adults who wish to join us for Philmont 2000. As noted above, at this time we can only take 4 Advisors for our 2 confirmed crews (we must have 2 Advisors per crew.) In the highly unlikely case that we drop below 20 Scouts, we can take additional Advisors, up to 4 per crew. Note that I will never "bump" a Scout to take another Advisor! Finally, if we get a third crew, we can and likely will take additional advisors above the required six. Other than myself, Adults who have expressed from moderate to intense interest (there may be others) include:

As noted above, the preliminary Scout roster includes 3 Philmont-experienced Scouts; similarly, many of our potential Advisorsare also Philmont experienced. I have personally been to the Ranch eight times, Rick W. twice, and Tim A., Jeff L., Al M., and Dave T. once each. Believe me, having experienced Scouts and Advisors counts for a lot, and this will definitely make things easier for everyone involved.

(5) Physical Requirements - Scout participants are required (by Philmont) to be First Class and either 14 years old or a graduate of the eighth grade by our arrival date. Every member of the crew will meet those requirements. HOWEVER, we also expect (and monitor) that the Scout is physically, mentally, and emotionally capable of handling the trek. These are not trivial concerns; unready Scouts not only have a terrible experience themselves, they also adversely impact the rest of the crew. You do a Scout no favor to force him to take on a trek he can't handle, and we will certainly not do so. This is a particular concern this year, where we have a large variance in both experience and physical stature among the Scouts. Note that replacement for physical, mental and/or emotional concerns is at my discretion.

Adult Advisors are likewise expected to be fully capable of handling a trek, and will be replaced if in my opinion they are not in adequate physical condition. It is probably worthwhile to note that "poorly conditioned Advisors" is the number one complaint concerning Adults on the Philmont chat-lines.

(6) Pre-Activities and Scout Commitments - [READ THIS SECTION VERY CAREFULLY!!!] The single most important factor in having an excellent Philmont experience is proper crew development here in Arlington long before we step on the plane. This is accomplished through the above mentioned shakedown events and service project, plus 3 Crew meetings. All participants are required to make all shakedown events, the service project and all crew meetings. The only exemptions to this policy will be EXCUSED ABSENCES (by me) for PLAYOFF sporting events (not practices or regular season games), priority academic events (SAT's or High School Entrance Exams), or illnesses. Failure to attend an activity without an approved excused will be grounds for immediate termination, with replacement from the waiting list. In short, we will not take your son's Philmont experience any more seriously than he does. If you or your son are unable or unwilling to make these commitments, withdraw immediately! - none of us needs the aggravation. Attached is a commitment form that you and your son MUST sign and return along with your first payment on October 10th; failure to do so will be considered an automatic withdrawal from this year's trek.

OK, why am I being such a jerk? Easy - past experience. I am no longer willing to accommodate Scouts whose idea of commitment can be summed up as: "OK, so long as I feel like it and don't have anything else to do." Combined, the other Advisors and I will be spending thousands of hours prepping this trip - a huge investment in time for which we expect a full return. Our job is to get all the members of the crew fully prepared - and working together as a team - before we ever step on board the plane. That cannot be done piecemeal. Philmont is not like any other Scouting experience - it requires a full measure of devotion in order to excel. Again, past experience has shown that those Scouts (and Advisors) who miss meetings and events are invariably the same ones who show up ill-trained, ill-equipped and ill prepared, and have a miserable time. More importantly to me, they also cause everyone else to share in their misery - and that cannot and will not be tolerated. Each crew member will be investing over twelve hundred dollars (some over eighteen hundred) in order to go on this trip; it is my job to ensure that everyone gets their money's worth, and doesn't have their trip ruined by one or two Scouts or Advisors who failed to take their commitments seriously. Unmotivated slackers need not apply.

Now, having said all that, I am not (too) ridiculously hard-core. As noted above, exemptions can be granted for truly important activities. I have allowed Scouts to come late or leave early from some activities (as long as it wasn't "every" activity.) I try to cram as much as possible into our weekend events - there's very little "sitting around" time built in. I have worked from dawn `til dusk on service projects in order to give every Scout a time frame he could make. I have even held a meeting (the same meeting) twice on a weekend when half the crew couldn't make the original schedule. None of these are ideal, but I'm willing to make the effort as long as the Scout is otherwise dependable and serious.

Commitment, in my mind, is a matter of attitude. I refuse to accept a Scout missing an entire weekend because he had a "mandatory" 2 hour sports practice or game Saturday afternoon - one of the 40 to 60 (or more) such practices and games he'll have during the upcoming season - or missing a meeting because he felt like going on an impromptu bike hike with a friend "since it was such a nice day" - or missing a service project because "I forgot." [Yes, I've heard all of these excuses, and some more that were even more lame.] Hell hath no fury like an Advisor whose time is being wasted for trivialities like these! These were clearly not Scouts who were serious about going to Philmont, and no-one should be spending their hard-earned cash (or wasting my time) sending them there. Bottom line - I am widely regarded as one of the top Philmont Advisors in the entire Council, and you'll get the best I've got in giving your son a superb Philmont experience - but he's got to want it, bad. If he does, we'll work through anything. There's a quote from Howie Long, the perennial all-star from the Oakland Raiders: "I played desperate." Well, I Scout desperate, especially for Philmont - and so should your son.

(7) Pre-Philmont Training Schedule - This year's trek starts with our first crew meeting, to be held on Sunday, October 10th, from 7 - 9:30pm, at the St. Agnes Parish Center. All Scouts must attend, along with (at least) one Parent. This meeting is critical, and will cover a wide variety of topics, including a general overview of Philmont, our tentative itinerary, a discussion of our upcoming Spring Schedule, an overview of physical conditioning, equipment, medical forms, merit badges, 50-Miler Awards, and crew leadership and organization. Note that the late Sunday night timeframe was specifically selected in order to provide maximum accessibility to all families. P.S.: Although I'll be wearing one, you do NOT have to wear your Scout Uniforms to this meeting.

The entire schedule is attached as a separate sheet (for easier posting); please fill in your family calendars with the pertinent dates immediately - this will help you to avoid scheduling conflicts later.

(8) Forms, Forms, Forms - (A) The Troop 111 Scout Medical Form is posted on the Troop website. All Scouts (including 111): Please complete this and bring it to the first meeting. Note that this form is held in strict confidence - please be completely honest in filling it out. Also note that this is NOT the official Philmont Medical Form - those will be provided at a later meeting (I haven't gotten them yet.) By the way, if you belong to an HMO where scheduling physical exams in the Springtime is problematic, please schedule your son's Philmont physical NOW for sometime this Spring - avoid problems later. [This, by the way, is always my biggest headache with respect to Philmont paperwork - please, please, please get this scheduled ASAP!]

(B) In addition to the Troop 111 Scout Medical Form, I also need a photocopy of your Health Insurance Cards, both front and back. [If you are about to change your Health Insurance (during Federal Open Season), please wait on this - but let us know that you are changing, so we're not left hanging on your form!!!] These cards are required by Philmont, and this is done for your benefit; most of these cards have specific information on protocols that must be observed when bringing your son in for emergency care (phone numbers, pre-approvals, etc.) - otherwise, you can get stuck for whopping medical bills (and none of us need that unpleasantness.) By the way, I have never had to take a Scout in for hospital care on any trip - including when I was the Council Planemaster in 1992 and was responsible for 53 participants; nonetheless, an ounce of prevention and all that....

(C) Also attached is a general permission slip, covering all of our shakedown events, meetings, service project, and Philmont itself. Please sign and date, and bring to the meeting. I will still generate formal permission slips (with detail informational tails) for each event as it occurs, but this general permission slip will be the safety net if your son forgets to bring his to an event (a constant problem.)

(D) As noted above, also the Commitment Form, must be signed by both the Scout and one of his parents.

9) For those who are still unsure as to what a Philmont trek entails, you may wish to read the Crew Diary from our 1998 trek, at: 1998 Philmont Diary Note that you'll need about two hours to do so....

10) Miraculously, every Scout and potential Advisor for 629-B is on-line. For reference, my email address is as follows: drbob-at-troop111.org.

See you at the first crew meeting.

Parents, please share and discuss this letter with your sons. Scouts, please share and discuss this letter with your parents. Nine and a half months to go....

- Dr. Bob, SM-111

_____ At least 1 Parent (both, if possible, would be better)

_____ Troop 111 Medical Form, Completed in Full, Signed and Dated

_____ Photocopy of Health Card, Front and Back Sides

_____ Signed Generalized Permission Slip for Philmont and all pre- and post- events.

_____ Check for $250, made out to Troop 111 (except Daniel Ho. and Neal K.)

Please come to all meetings on time - slightly early (6:55) would be preferred. I WILL start the meeting on time!

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8 September 1999