Three great chances to win! Well not ‘win’, but still hang out with Phriends.

Banner Elk, NC
March 28-30
Weekend of relaxing, telling tall tales and maybe hiking.

Camp Bowers, White Oak, NC
April 18-20
Weekend of Service with the OA Conclave

Falls Lake, north of Raleigh
June 7, Saturday Only
Celebrate National Trail Days with your Philfriends.

All details for all three.

Annual Summer Reunion

August 16-19

$100 adults (ages 12 and older) $30 youth (ages 5-11). Registration deadline is June 30. This is the event of the year for the PSA. Come to Philmont and gather, fellowship, and share your favorite Phil-memories.

This year’s reunion will feature the dedication of the Silver Sage Staff Activity Center on Saturday, August 16th. The PSA Annual Meeting will be on Sunday, August 17th. Stay around on Monday, August 18th, for activities, side hikes, a service project and more fellowship. The events will wrap-up on Tuesday morning, making it an extended reunion.

The reunion will be located at the Philmont Training Center, where there are plenty of showers, tents and parking spaces.
Reunion - Adult
Reunion - Child

PSA Summer Philmont Trek

August 10-16

$350 per person; Registration deadline is June 30, 2008
Limited to 60 participants; must be able to meet Philmont participation requirements.

PSA Summer Trek

PSA Autumn Adventure Trek

September 14-19 and October 12-17

$240 per person; Registration deadlines are August 22, 2008 and September 19, 2008 respectively
Minimum of 6 participants; must be able to meet Philmont participation requirements.

PSA Autumn Adventure

PSA Voyage at Northern Tier

June 12-19

$400 per person; Registration deadline is May 1, 2008
Space is limited; must be able to meet Northern Tier participation requirements.

PSA Voyage

Why buy on eBay when you can get them from the source?

Large backpatch

Regular size patch

The IWTGBTP front is on the brick-red unisex vintage shirt and the Ranger patch front is on the charcoal regular t-shirt.

The back design is the same for both—it is a faded silk screen image. Both are $15. We are taking pre-orders with the shirts ready for the reunion.

* colors are approximate

20070730 Update: Sold Out

The PSA Annual Meeting and Reunion is shaping up for October 12-13 in Dallas, Texas. A committee is in place and plans are progressing. We intend to make this an exciting, fulfilling, and productive event. Plan to arrive Friday night or Saturday morning for a full day Saturday of events and activities

Saturday morning/early afternoon at the Solano Marriott Hotel: PSA committee meetings and informal fellowship in the morning. Everyone is invited and encouraged to attend a committee meeting of your choice. Your input will be valued. Reunion activities in the early afternoon.

Saturday afternoon and evening at the National Scouting Museum in Irving, Texas: Registration for the annual meeting and dinner at the National Scouting Museum opens at 3:30 p.m. From then until dinner, enjoy free self-guided tours of the museum. A buffet dinner will be served at 5:30 p.m., followed by the PSA Annual Meeting and presentations of the 2007 Silver Sage Awards honoring Dean Tooley and John Westfall.

Accommodations: The Solano Marriott has provided a special rate of $99 for PSA attendees on Friday night. The same rate may be available for Saturday night. Please make your reservations directly with the hotel, specifying that you are attending the PSA meetings.

Cost: $65 per person for the full day of fun (includes breakfast and lunch at the hotel and dinner at the museum). Fee to attend only the dinner, annual meeting and awards ceremony is $25 per person.

Registration: Registration for this big event is available on the PSA web site. We encourage (read that as plead) you to register as early as you can.

Photos Wanted: One of the activities we think will be fun, interesting, and informative is to review the changes in the camps, both staff and non-staff, over the years. To accomplish this, we need your help! We need your pictures of the camps, with or without campers/staff. They can be negatives, prints, slides, or CD images. We will prepare albums and a show that will be used during the Reunion events on Saturday afternoon and also during the pre-dinner touring of the National Scouting Museum. If you wish to retrieve the pictures you send to us, they will be available at the end of the business meeting on Saturday evening.

If you will not be able to participate but are willing to share your pictures, we would be very happy to receive them. If needed, we will mail them back to you after the event. Of course, you are encouraged to bring any and all pictures with you, especially ones with younger versions of you and friends. It is a good discussion
starter and we all enjoy the memories they spark.

Send your photos to Dave Romack, 2407 Villa Vera, Arlington, TX 76017
For more info, contact Dave at romack@us.ibm.com.

The interest for the PSA Rangers 50th Anniversary Reunion has been overwhelming the last few weeks. We had 300 people register by May 20th for the event—a record number. We accepted people on a waiting list through May 31st. At this time we don’t know if we will be able to accommodate the list.

As you can imagine, interest has been high, much higher even than we had anticipated. Our challenge has been how to respond to that interest in a way that meets the needs of our members without interfering unduly with the summer operations at the Ranch, which of course must make providing service to the current generation of young people their first priority.

We feel this reunion will set a precedent for our future department reunions and regular PSA reunions back at the Ranch. We are very sensitive to the impact we are going to have on the ranch with 300 people: doubling the number of people who arrive on a typical day. Therefore we can not accept any more registrations and will have to turn away anyone who decides to just show up that weekend for any of the scheduled events.

We are encouraging those who want to make it back to the ranch this year to sign up for the PSA Autumn Adventure treks September 9-14th.

Update: Sold Out

A reminder that the Ranger’s 50th Anniversary Reunion deadline approaches (May 31st). As of this writing there are about 50 slots open. The associated trek is full.

As for the buckles, the picture say it all…

Not pictured:
Silver Plate
Silver

Fall is the best time to camp at Philmont. Experience the pleasure of hiking the Philmont backcountry, when the aspen trees change to gold. Enjoy warm, sunny days and cool, crisp nights. View the splendor of Philmont fall colors. Observe wildlife preparing for winter.

Last fall just a handful of PSA members got to experience first hand what the Autumn Adventure program at Philmont is all about. It was amazing. Don’t miss out on your opportunity to participate this year. Create your own itinerary and hike for days without seeing anyone outside of your crew. At first glance the ranch seems closed for the season, but the magic of the place never ceases.

Autumn Adventure is open to crews of six to 12 participants accompanied by an Autumn Adventure guide. Know some friends you would like to share the Philmont experience with? Form your own crew and create your custom itinerary. Don’t know anyone you can get to come with you? Sign up and you will be put in a crew of other PSA members. All participants must be registered members of the BSA (but not necessarily the PSA).

Hiking at Philmont hasn’t gotten any easier. Make sure that you are ready for the physical activity involved with enjoying HOmE on foot. Also the autumn weather is different than the summer weather we are all used to. You need to be prepared, but it’s worth it.

The fee for Autumn Adventure is $40 per person per day, which includes all trail food and a staff guide. This year the PSA treks will be held from September 9-14. Sign up early so that crews can be formed and itineraries planned. For your planning purposes it is helpful to know that you will hit the trail the day you arrive and can leave the day you come off the trail, but many spend the night and enjoy some off-trail fellowship over dinner.

If you want to sign up or have questions about the program, contact Fred Cribbett for more information.

Date: Saturday, May 5th
Time: 8AM - 8PM
Where: National Capital Area Council’s Camp Snyder (Haymarket, Virginia)
Cost: $15 per person. No more than $20 for a family.
Includes: Lunch and supper

Watch for PSA signs entering the camp.

Entire Cub World day camp will be open for families.

Outdoor Leadership Skills (old show-and-do) also that day at the camp.

Will have travel maps to local sites: winery 2 miles up the road, Manassas battlefield, Old town Manassas, etc.

For more information contact Jack Person at jperson@gsb.uchicago.edu or 703-528-3464.

“…From Beaubien to Porky and from Cito to Car-Max”

Join former Rangers and other former staffers for a 6-day/5-night Trek in the Philmont backcountry following the PSA Rangers 50th Anniversary Reunion. Explore those shining hills and once again enjoy all that Philmont has to offer without worrying about catching a bus back to Basecamp to pick up your next crew.

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