American Ranger of the Year
As a 3-year-old, Scott Cramolini gazed up at a park ranger astride a horse on a park visit and saw his life before him.
Cramolini never really considered another career after that, visiting ranger stations as a youngster, working at one as a teenager and, finally, being sworn in as a ranger as a young man.
"When you love your job and have a passion for it, it is you," said Cramolini.
Cramolini, a Ventura ranger with California State Parks and Recreation for 25 years, is America's Ranger of the Year, chosen largely by park visitors. ReserveAmerica, the camp site reservation giant, selected Cramolini as the third recipient of the annual award.
Cramolini is park ranger in five state beaches that line Ventura County's coast, including Point Mugu. He's spent his whole career there.
In a nominating message, an Ojai woman said Cramolini was memorable because he reassured her she could take refuge in her camper on the beach during a wildfire that burned 162,000 acres in Ventura County last September.
Cramolini told her not to worry about a seven-day camping limit while she was evacuated from her home.
"He stopped by numerous times during our stay to check on us and to see if we knew how our home was faring," Bettye Berg wrote to ReserveAmerica.
Cramolini remembers it as another day on the job.
"I was just trying to help her out," he said.
He was in Sacramento this week to dine with state bosses to commemorate his honor.
He talked about his career with the state Department of Parks and Recreation that started as a part-time visitor's aide during high school.
He is cop, Boy Scout, environmental educator and protector, and most of all, public servant, he said.
"I work for these people," said Cramolini, who likes to call park visitors "boss."
At 50, he looks like the quintessential beach-raised Californian, trim and blond and a lifelong surfer. He leans forward with natural enthusiasm as he talks about his love affair with his outdoor career.
He downplays the badge part of his job, preferring to climb from behind the wheel to welcome campers and ask their hometown.
The state beaches in Southern California, unlike other state parks, stretch through urban areas.
Cramolini has broken up fights, arrested men beating on spouses and campers doing drugs. With a railroad track running through one of the beaches, he has found broken bodies on the tracks, suicides mostly. He once arrested a man who beat and raped his girlfriend for four days in a camper. She was so badly beaten he couldn't tell what she looked like for days.
That isn't what park visitors want to hear about when they set up camp, Cramolini said.
"You've earned that two weeks vacation. You let me worry about that," he said.
Cramolini, unlike other rangers, has always worked at the beaches. A second generation of visitors are getting to know "Ranger Scott."
And so are another generation of rangers. His advice to new rangers who want job satisfaction is all about the visitors, he said.
"They need to get out there and bond with the visitors," he said. "That means falling in love with the people."
Cramolini was selected from a field of six top nominations. The others who were awarded silver medals were Albert Goodin of Levi Jackson State Park, Kentucky; Betsy Cormier of Otter River State Forest, Massachusetts; Bob Montgomery of the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest, Arizona; Frank Roberts of Garner State Park, Texas; Ted Smith of Forked Lake Campground, New York.
Source: By M.S. Enkoji - Bee Staff Writer
Date: 7/27/2007
As a 3-year-old, Scott Cramolini gazed up at a park ranger astride a horse on a park visit and saw his life before him.
Cramolini never really considered another career after that, visiting ranger stations as a youngster, working at one as a teenager and, finally, being sworn in as a ranger as a young man.
"When you love your job and have a passion for it, it is you," said Cramolini.
Cramolini, a Ventura ranger with California State Parks and Recreation for 25 years, is America's Ranger of the Year, chosen largely by park visitors. ReserveAmerica, the camp site reservation giant, selected Cramolini as the third recipient of the annual award.
Cramolini is park ranger in five state beaches that line Ventura County's coast, including Point Mugu. He's spent his whole career there.
In a nominating message, an Ojai woman said Cramolini was memorable because he reassured her she could take refuge in her camper on the beach during a wildfire that burned 162,000 acres in Ventura County last September.
Cramolini told her not to worry about a seven-day camping limit while she was evacuated from her home.
"He stopped by numerous times during our stay to check on us and to see if we knew how our home was faring," Bettye Berg wrote to ReserveAmerica.
Cramolini remembers it as another day on the job.
"I was just trying to help her out," he said.
He was in Sacramento this week to dine with state bosses to commemorate his honor.
He talked about his career with the state Department of Parks and Recreation that started as a part-time visitor's aide during high school.
He is cop, Boy Scout, environmental educator and protector, and most of all, public servant, he said.
"I work for these people," said Cramolini, who likes to call park visitors "boss."
At 50, he looks like the quintessential beach-raised Californian, trim and blond and a lifelong surfer. He leans forward with natural enthusiasm as he talks about his love affair with his outdoor career.
He downplays the badge part of his job, preferring to climb from behind the wheel to welcome campers and ask their hometown.
The state beaches in Southern California, unlike other state parks, stretch through urban areas.
Cramolini has broken up fights, arrested men beating on spouses and campers doing drugs. With a railroad track running through one of the beaches, he has found broken bodies on the tracks, suicides mostly. He once arrested a man who beat and raped his girlfriend for four days in a camper. She was so badly beaten he couldn't tell what she looked like for days.
That isn't what park visitors want to hear about when they set up camp, Cramolini said.
"You've earned that two weeks vacation. You let me worry about that," he said.
Cramolini, unlike other rangers, has always worked at the beaches. A second generation of visitors are getting to know "Ranger Scott."
And so are another generation of rangers. His advice to new rangers who want job satisfaction is all about the visitors, he said.
"They need to get out there and bond with the visitors," he said. "That means falling in love with the people."
Cramolini was selected from a field of six top nominations. The others who were awarded silver medals were Albert Goodin of Levi Jackson State Park, Kentucky; Betsy Cormier of Otter River State Forest, Massachusetts; Bob Montgomery of the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest, Arizona; Frank Roberts of Garner State Park, Texas; Ted Smith of Forked Lake Campground, New York.
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