A progress report from the PSA

What’s in a name? The new Staff Activity Center being built at Philmont’s Camping Headquarters will serve the needs of the seasonal staff for years to come. The Philmont Staff Association conducted a three-year capital campaign to raise one million dollars to fund this project. The actual name of the building will be the “Silver Sage Staff Activity Center”. Why this name?

The Silver Sage Award is a recognition presented by the PSA to those who have provided exceptional service to Philmont, its participants, the PSA, or any field of human endeavor that brings honor and credit to the legacy of the Philmont staff. The first awards were presented in 2005.

Past recipients of the Silver Sage Award:
2005

• Joe Davis
• Elliot “Chope” Phillips
• Virginia Phillips
• Lawrence “Boss” Sanchez

2006

• Glenn A. Fowler
• Ned C. Gold, Jr.

2007

• Dean Tooley
• John Westfall

The Silver Sage Award is a tribute to the Philmont staff. An anonymous donor provided the largest gift to the capital campaign, and requested to the Staff Activity Center in honor of the first Silver Sage class.

This honor is certainly appropriate for the new Staff Activity Center. These past recipients and those to come have been instrumental in making Philmont what it is today.

So there you have it, the “Silver Sage Staff Activity Center”

Donor Recognition

As it has been mentioned before, there are over 700 donors to the Silver Sage Staff Activity Center. Any donor that gave at least $100 will have their name engraved on a brick that will be placed on the front porch. There will be nearly 650 engraved bricks recognizing our donors!

There is, however, a group of donors that gave at levels that set the pace for the capital campaign. They will receive additional named recognition around the building.

The rooms in the Silver Sage Staff Activity Center will bear the names of these donors:

• Hembree Hall is named for H.L. Hembree
• Murphy T.V. Room is named for John Murphy
• Hugh Brewer Family Computer Room is named for Hugh Brewer
• The Stein Snack Zone is named for Dwight Stein
• The Taylor Family Porch is named for the Taylor Family (John, Sally, Shelley, Holly, and David Taylor).

Above is a picture of the donor brick area on the Taylor Family Porch.

More Donor Recognition

There were also several additional fund-raising efforts during the capital campaign in recognition of some special Phil-folk. The OA Trail Crew staff and alumni raised $25,588 in honor of Gene Schnell and Steve Willis. The Activities staff office will be named for them.

Friends, family, and community members from Austin, Texas raised $35,475 in memory of Bruce Walcutt, a man who made many valuable contributions to Philmont, the Order of the Arrow, and Boy Scouting in Austin. The Training/Conference room will be named for him.

The open-air pavilion will recognize Joe Davis, by his long-time friend Jim MacGillivray and the Baldy Mountain level donors. They are: Clarence J. Baldwin, David Cope, Lee Huckstep, Frank C. Koranda, the Lockwood Family Foundation, Edward A. Pease, Christopher A. Rautman, the Rolley Foundation, Jim Ryffel, Wink Sharpe, Robert F. Smith, and the Waite & Genevieve Phillips Foundation.

Again, a special thank you to all of our donors.

Construction Update

Mark Your Calendars

Silver Sage Staff Activity Center will be dedicated with a ceremony on Saturday evening, August 16, 2008. This is the opening event of our annual PSA Summer reunion at Philmont. More details coming soon.