Troop 116

Troop leaders

The young men and women

These really are youth-run troops and crew.

In both the boys' and the girls' troops, the older Scouts take it in turn to serve as Senior Patrol Leader, aided by Assistant SPLs, Junior Assistant Scoutmasters, Troop Guides, and other boys or girls in leadership capacities. These boys and girls run most aspects of the weekly meetings, monthly trips, summer adventures, and planning the annual calendar.

The Venture Crew members elect their own President and Vice President and parcel out the other duties amongst themselves.

The adults are really just there to provide drivers, credit cards, and wise counsel. (Guys, stop snickering about that last one.)

In keeping with the BSA Youth Protection principles, we try to avoid posting any information about minors on the Internet, so we will not identify the current boy or girl leaders here.

They would, however, be happy to meet you and answer any questions in person at our regular weekly troop meetings: 7:30pm in the basement of Calvary Presbyterian Church at Fernbrook Ave. and Kent Ave. in Wyncote, PA.

The adults

We also have a devoted and capable stable of adults leaders: One Scoutmaster each for the boys' troop and the girl's troop, a motley crew of Assistant Scoutmasters, and many devoted Troop Committee members.

All registered adult leaders of Troop 116 have undergone the rigorous background checks as well as training in leadership, youth protection, and various safety and outdoors skills required by the Boy Scouts of America.

Nearly all of the adults leaders of the troop are either parents of current or former scouts (parents often stick around long after their kids grow up) or former members of the troop (including a few who have been with the troop for 30 or 40 years, since they were 11 years old themselves).

All of them volunteer many, many hours of their time, effort, and often professional expertise and the troop simply would not be able to run without them.

They also serve as counselors for a large proportion of the required merit badges (as well as some un-required, but immensely fun, ones).

We will be posting contact information for each of the leaders soon. For now, please send all inquires to scoutmaster@scouttroop116.com

Scoutmaster: Boys

Reid Bramblett is a 116 alumnus (from the 1980s) and Eagle Scout, who also helps run the trips program (and maintains this website). After two dozen years as an Assistant Scoutmaster, he stepped into the Scoutmaster role in 2016.

Scoutmaster: Girls

Kurt Ahrens is the father of an Eagle Scout boy and the first SPL of the the girl troop. He's also a teacher and our environmental conscious.

Troop Committee Chair

Tom Finley is the father of a 116 Eagle Scout and has served as the Troop Committee Chair since 1999. He performs the Herculean task of keeping all the paperwork for the troop in line and acts as our liaison with the District and Council levels of the BSA organization.

New Member Coordinator

Geoff Garlow is the father of two former Venture Crew Presidents and an Eagle Scout son.

Assistant Scoutmasters/Crew Advisors

Jennifer Brandabur is a teacher, Crew Advisor, and the mother of two former Crew presidents and the current troop SPL. She also speaks French, which is classy.

Marc Daniels is the father of two current 116 Scouts.

Warren Duane is is the father of a former 116 Eagle Scout.

Eva Finney is an Assistant Scoutmaster for the girls' troop, and the mother of both an an Eagle Scout and the first SPL of the girl's troop.

Evan Frye is an advisor to the Venture Crew.

Amanda (Krebs) Frye is an advisor to the Venture Crew (and also a French teacher at CHS, so she'll know if they aren't dong their homework on trips).

Elliott Greenfield is a long-time Scouter who joined 116 after spending just two weeks with a pair of the troop's Eagle scouts on a summer Philmont trip.

Stew Lee is The Spirit of 116, yet another alumnus of the troop (from the 1970s) who runs the trips program. He is also the main Advisor for the 116 Venture Crew.

Dave Marchetti was Scoutmaster from 2013 to 2015, and is the father of a 116 Eagle.

Gordon Pfiel is the father of a 116 Eagle Scout and our fund-raising chairman. Without him, we wouldn't have those spiffy new tents, stoves, and other gear (and the boys would be paying full freight for their trips, whereas Gordon has made it possible for the more enterprising of scouts to offset nearly their entire year's worth of weekend trips with a single fund-raiser effort).

Ratanna Rann is an advisor for the 116 Venture Crew.

Stuart Rosenberg is the father of a 116 eagle Scout and just may hold the record of most summer trips attended by a parent (we're talking a month in Alaska, 10 days sailing the Florida Keys, a couple of weeks road-tripping out West, and a week portaging a canoe across the Ontario wilderness).

Howard Soloman is an Eagle Scout and the father of a 116 Eagle Scout. Every spring, when we try to talk ourselves out of doing our traditional 100-miles-in-one-day bike trip, he somehow manages to convince us to get back in the saddle. He also frequently wears a suit and tie, lending us a certain degree of unwarranted respectability.

Audrey Stoltzfus was the first female Advisor to the Venture Crew. The troop adopted her during a hiking trip on the Appalachian Trail—and, in fact, she took a sabbatical from late spring to early fall 2013 to hike the entire Appalachian Trail. We are all suitably impressed, and not just a little jealous.

Frank Way was the longest serving Scoutmaster in troop history (14 years) and the father of three (!) former scouts. His cabin in Pennsylvania's Endless Mountains served as many years as a home base for the annual winter freeze-out, and his shopping (and cooking) are the reason no boy ever came home from a trip hungry—which, considering how much teenage boys can eat, is saying something.

Steve Way is a former 116 scout from the 1990s (and son to Frank, above), a trained NOWLS outdoors leader, teacher, and chef who conveniently now lives just a few blocks from the place where we meet, so we can grab him for some of our gnarlier outdoors adventures.

Mark Weiss was a boy in the troop in the 1970s (and Eagle Scout), a Scoutmaster in the 1980s, foster father of several troop alumni, and continues to serve as Assistant Scoutmaster.

Troop Committee Members

Jeff Henderson is a former member of the troop and the Keeper of the Van (also the Keeper Running of All Troop Vehicles).

Guy Karis is the father of a former 116 member, and never complains when we enlist him and his 15-passenger van to help drive on trips. (Well, he grumbles, but he always comes anyway.) His pack may look like Sam Gamgee's, but he can outhike half the kids in the troop.

Paul Lucas is the father of a former 116 member, and has served as Troop Committee Chair.

Norm Shore is the father of a former 116 member, and served as Scoutmaster in 2011–12 and again in 2016 (following a decade of stalwart Assistant Scoutmaster work).

Jeff Shore is a former 116er, master mechanic, and new dad!

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