Fans’ Ravens Nest mixes football, fun and fundraising

Thursday, Oct. 6, 2005

With the hard tap of a beer bottle on a wooden table covered with memorabilia of the Baltimore Ravens football team, dozens of people decked out in purple, black and white redirected their attention from plates stacked high with spicy buffalo wings to the front of the room.

Mike Naused, chairman of Ravens Nest 14, the Sykesville⁄Eldersburg chapter of The Chamber of Ravens Nests, began the group’s monthly meeting as visitors ended conversations about football, work and their families.

While the group’s camaraderie could be heard throughout The Chop House Restaurant and Pub Tuesday evening, the discussion’s topics grew more serious as the meeting began. Committee members announced upcoming events, all planned to benefit a charity, nonprofit organization, or needy family.

Tuesday evening’s agenda, like most, was a full one – a membership report welcomed several new faces to the mix, sign-up sheets were passed around to solicit volunteers for various positions for a bull roast, raffle tickets were sold, members signed up for an upcoming trip to Ocean City and details of an upcoming pub crawl in Canton were discussed.

‘‘We have as many events as any chapter in the organization,” Naused said. ‘‘It’s something to be proud of.”

The group has grown since founded in 2001 by Ted Miller, Deb Miller, Jim Raine and Bridget Stacy.

‘‘We were sitting around watching football and decided to do it,” Raine said. ‘‘Once we started doing stuff for the community’s benefit, I said, ‘this is me.’”

What began as four friends who enjoyed helping their community with a common love of football, has slowly morphed into a calling. Tuesday night’s membership report listed 120 members — 32 more than listed last February. In 2004, the group raised $10,500 for charities including the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, the Carroll County Youth Service Bureau, Target Community and Educational Services, the ARC of Carroll County and Carroll Food Sunday. In addition to monetary donations, the group has donated food and clothing to several service organizations including Shepherd’s Staff in Westminster, CHANGE, Inc., and holiday gifts to needy Eldersburg families.

On Tuesday night, the group planned to give a $2,000 donation to Habitat for Humanity to assist the rebuilding efforts in the Gulf Coast region affected by hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Last month, the group collected 6,000 pounds of clothing and sent it to the Astrodome in Texas to aid victims of Hurricane Katrina.

Donations are mainly funded by several activities throughout the year, including two bull roasts, a golf tournament, a summer picnic, away game raffles that give members eight chances to attend a Ravens game in another city and 50⁄50 raffles.

‘‘We don’t just talk about football,” Naused said. ‘‘Just because we’re a fan club doesn’t mean that we don’t do good things for the community; we do good things while we talk about football.”

The spirit of football is the main bond that holds the group together.

‘‘Everybody in this room I’ve met because of the Ravens Nest,” Naused said while helping people sign up for a St. Patrick’s Day trip to Ocean City.

In one corner of the packed room, Mike Naused’s wife, Cathy, distributed ‘Nothing but Nest’ T-shirts, golf shirts, sweatshirts, jackets, hats and other purple, black, white and gray items to members who had placed orders earlier in the year. One of the outnumbered females in the room, she said that she enjoys the group because of what she has in common with it members.

‘‘We’re all football fans, most of the time,” she joked. ‘‘Mike [Naused] and I like football and it’s nice to enjoy it with other people.”

Not only does the group help charities, they help other Ravens Nests form. There are currently 35 nests throughout the Mid-Atlantic region with more gathering each football season. On Tuesday, Naused announced that Ravens Nest 14 is going to purchase a banner for a recently formed group, Ravens Nest 36.

‘‘The president and his wife are both Baltimore City cops so that might help us out in the long run,” Naused joked. ‘‘It was not a problem for me to stand up and say ‘we’ll pay for it officer.’”

The friendships and opportunities to meet Ravens fans from across the state are what appeal to the group.

John Brandt, vice president of Ravens Nest 14, enjoys the group because they have a lot in common.

‘‘It’s the people [that keep me coming back],” he said. ‘‘It’s a good group of people and we work together to give money to charitable organizations.”

A love of football brought Brian Upton, Jane Waclawski and Charles ‘‘Hoss” Upton to the group but helping local organizations is what keeps them coming back.

Hoss Upton said, ‘‘We’re having a good time and raising money in the process of doing it.”

Chapter officials

2005 Officers

Bridget Stacy, president

John Brandt, vice president

Dan Dutterer, treasurer

Deb Miller, secretary

Jeff Donahue, sergeant at arms

2005 Board of Directors

Mike Naused, chairman

Alice Decker, board member

Ron Drager, board member

Mark Keidel, board member

Jim Schneider, board member

Mark Waclawski, board member

Steve Waters, board member

Ravens Nest 14 is always recruiting new members to participate in fundraisers and talk football with. Annual membership is $25 per person or $40 per couple. For more information, visit www.ravensnest14.com or come to the next meeting scheduled for Nov. 1, at 7 p.m. Meetings are held at 7 p.m. on the first Tuesday of each month at The Chop House Restaurant and Pub in the Eldersburg Plaza Shopping Center on Georgetown Blvd.