THE `PHILMONT FEELING': RUGGED NORTHERN NEW MEXICO SETTING IS PLACE FOR FUN, FELLOWSHIP AND LEARNING

PHILMONT FOCUS IS PRIESTHOOD PRINCIPLES (JUMP HEAD)What is Philmont?

Where does one begin? Philmont is families, adventure and fellowship. It is training, hiking, camping, fishing, cooking, eating, reading, praying and learning - about self, nature, priesthood principles and Scouting skills.

Philmont is fun.

And for about 250 LDS priesthood leaders and their 1,200 family members each summer, Philmont provides a week-long training conference under the direction of General Authorities and other general Church leaders that is a rich spiritual experience. According to participants, the "Philmont feeling" is one of peace and serenity, of being strengthened spiritually while basking in the beauty of a rugged mountain environment.

The Philmont Scout Ranch encompasses 137,493 acres in northern New Mexico, four miles south of the tiny town of Cimarron on the old Santa Fe Trail. The area has a unique tradition of Spanish, Indian and Anglo cultures, and both Kit Carson and mountain man Lucien Maxwell had homes at Rayado, now on the southeast corner of the ranch.

Philmont is owned by Boy Scouts of America, a gift from the late Oklahoma oil magnate Waite Phillips, who gave it to BSA in 1938.

Phillips donated it " . . . for the purpose of perpetuating faith, self-reliance, integrity, and freedom. . . ."

A lofty ideal for a lofty location at the foot of the Sangre de Cristo mountains.

And since it became BSA property, more than 550,000 Scouts, Explorers and their leaders have participated in Philmont's backpacking program, hiking countless miles in mountainous country that ranges in elevation from 6,600 feet at headquarters to 12,441 feet atop Mount Baldy. The hiking and camping program is the heart of Philmont, and will be featured in a subsequent Church News article.

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Philmont Training Center

The Philmont Training Center is open for a nine-week summer season for training BSA volunteer and professional leaders. Two of those weeks - this year July 5-11 and 12-18 - are set aside for the LDS Conference on Scouting. In addition to the 1,500 LDS leaders and family members receiving training, another 3,000 people from other denominations and Scout-sponsoring entities pass through the training center annually.

The heart of the center is the stately Villa Philmonte, a Spanish-style estate built by Phillips in 1927-28. The restored villa is on the National Historic Register. It is furnished with antiques and has guestrooms to accommodate visiting VIPs and journalists. Tiled courtyards, fountains and vast expanses of lawn and trees surround the villa and provide a relaxed, pleasant atmosphere for play and pondering. Training sessions, activities and worship services are conducted in the several conference and multipurpose rooms adjacent to the villa.

The majority of conference visitors stay in two tent cities, each with shower and rest rooms, playground, laundry facilities and dining hall.

Hundreds of tents are set on wooden platforms and include two beds, chairs and an electric light - for roughing it gently. Families needing extra space - which includes most LDS attendees - are allotted additional tents.

When everyone arrives at the center, one of the first things that happens is formation of a "Philmont Ward." Leaders and teachers are called to serve through the week in capacities ranging from teacher to choir director. Choir practice is at 6 a.m. daily to prepare for several numbers at the Sunday sacrament meeting.

According to Elder Vaughn J. Featherstone of the Seventy and general Young Men president, LDS conference participants are invited to Philmont by the Council of the Twelve through a letter signed by President Howard W. Hunter. The letter goes out to stake presidents and invites them or their counselors to attend. They are then encouraged to take the training they receive concerning Aaronic Priesthood and Scouting and share it in their stakes.

If each of the one-week conferences is not filled by stake presidency members, other stake priesthood leaders and bishops may attend. Registration and travel costs for one stake leader can be paid from the stake budget allowance, said Elder Featherstone. All costs for family members are borne privately.

This year, the first week was presided over by Elder Monte J. Brough of the Seventy and second counselor in the Young Men general presidency. Elder Featherstone presided the second week. Elder Featherstone has been involved at Philmont for the past 15 years, since his call into the Presiding Bishopric. He currently serves on the BSA Philmont Committee.

Elder Robert K. Dellenbach of the Seventy assisted Elder Featherstone during the second week of the conference. Betty Jo N. Jepsen, first counselor in the Primary general presidency, and Ruth B. Wright, second counselor, helped with training during the first and second weeks, respectively. Also helping with the training were members of the Young Men and Primary general boards.

Much of the conference organization is spearheaded each year by Robert Mills, director of Mormon Relationships for Boys Scouts of America.

Topics covered in training sessions include Aaronic Priesthood and Scouting, Primary and Scouting, leadership principles, organization of the Boy Scouts of America and the partnership concept with the Church, financing Scouting, priesthood organization and Scouting, and meetings on specifics of Deacon/Scout, Teacher/Varsity and Priest/Explorer programs.

Instruction focuses on how Scouting can help achieve Aaronic Priesthood objectives of young men magnifying their callings, providing service, receiving temple blessings, serving full-time missions and preparing to become worthy husbands and fathers, Elder Featherstone explained.

Charles "Chuck" Buenger, director of the High Adventure Division of BSA and general manager of Philmont Scout Ranch, adds: "We try and work with all the denominations in helping them understand and take the Scouting program and use it for their leadership to accomplish the aims that they are trying to reach with their young men. Of course, that's what we're trying to do here with the LDS Church. We think the Philmont experience has helped immeasurably our relationship with the Church."

Elder Featherstone said one of the great things about the leadership training conference is the family togetherness it affords: "This is a tremendous experience for families. We have one family here who came last year, and when they asked their children where they wanted to go on vacation, they all voted to come back to Philmont.

"For the conference participants, this provides a wonderful training situation. When you take the General Authorities, general Primary presidency and general board members, with all those years of experience, it's a quality experience. And then the leaders go into the back country and have sacrament meetings with the young people. It's wonderful."

This year was Elder Dellenbach's first experience at Philmont. "I'm impressed with how much of the curriculum is priesthood-oriented," he said. "Over the years I've heard so much about Philmont and the spirit and the camaraderie, and that's been my experience - so much happiness, smiling, good will and love of being together."

Supervised games, crafts, hikes, movies and educational experiences are provided for spouses and children of priesthood leaders. And the older children of conference participants can spend five days in the Mountain Men and Mountain Women camping programs.