Does anybody know this SSR owner: Bill West??? I found only one image with part of his SSR at the Ravens Roost website & sent Bill an invite to stop on by fanatic to say hello! Sounds like a great GROUP...
Ravens Roosts, Ravens Nests celebrate team, help charities
10/17/06
By Scott Weybright
Home-field advantage means more than just the roar of the crowd when the Ravens take the field at M & T Bank Stadium Sunday afternoons.
Ravens Roost 15, a group of devoted Ravens fans who add to the din that supports the Ravens' defense, is undertaking a plan to buy abandoned houses near the home of the Ravens and fixing them.
Bill West, president of Roost 15 in the Arbutus area, said when the homes are sold, "a lot of the profits [will go] back to Ravens Roost 15 so they can distribute to the local schools, churches, little leagues, football leagues and stuff in the community."
The first such project, on Mangold Street in Baltimore, is already underway, West said.
Roosts, which trace their histories back to Colts Corrals, active in the days when the players wore blue and white jerseys at Memorial Stadium, are dedicated to supporting the Ravens and their communities.
Roost 15 is one of more than 90 groups based in Maryland and Pennsylvania and will mark its 40th anniversary in January.
West said about 10 original members are still involved.
The local group has 135 active members. There are also 75 lifetime members who have been in the organization for 25 years or more.
The group meets once a month at Kibby's Restaurant and Lounge on Wilkens Avenue.
Each home game since the Ravens' arrival in 1996, Roost 15 has met at the same spot on the parking lot under the Interstate 395 overpass. The spot isn't hard to find, as West drives his purple Chevrolet SSR with Ravens logos on the sides to the party.
The Catonsville chapter of Ravens Roost, Roost 55, also holds benefits and events to raise money for local organizations.
It meets once a month at the Knights of Columbus hall on Frederick Road to talk football.
But the group's 35 members talk about more than the home team. They also discuss which charities deserve their support because they feel that is just as important as football.
Former president and Roost 55 founder Ron Grahl pointed out the success of a Fourth of July event this year at which members sold snowballs at the Knights of Columbus as one example of their charity work.
"We did 500-some dollars worth of snowballs," he said. "Time we got things said and done, we made $400 that goes in our kitty to go donate to the kids."
He said the group, now in its sixth year, has helped support groups ranging from the Catonsville girls fast-pitch league to the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life to the Delrey School on Delrey Avenue.
There are other benefits to belonging to the group besides getting together with fellow football fanatics.
"You not only have an organization that's for the community and a fan club," Grahl said. "You develop a lot of good friendships."
In addition to Ravens Roosts, there are also Ravens Nests.
There is no competition or major differences between a nest and group, according to the local members.
"It's like Pepsi and Coke," said Nita Hardy, former president of the Ravens Nest 25 in Catonsville and Ellicott City and a Catonsville resident. "We're all fans."
Hardy's husband, Mark Hardy, founded the Nest 25 after the team won the Super Bowl in 2001.
He said he wanted to get involved with a group of fellow fans and be able to help the community.
The couple has had season tickets on the 50-yard line since the first season the franchise came from Cleveland.
The group, one of about 35 nests around the country, meets once a month at the Tiber River Tavern in Ellicott City to discuss chapter business, decide what charities to support and talk football.
Nests have sprung up from New Jersey to South Carolina to California.
Nita Hardy said the Catonsville chapter has more than 30 members and hopes to reach 50.
All members are welcome to tailgate together before home games, though not everybody can make it to every game.
Over a dozen were in the parking lot before the Ravens' victory over the San Diego Chargers Oct. 1.
Hardy said everybody is usually at their regular spots by 11 a.m. on game day, ready to have a few adult beverages and dig in.
"We've been here since 8:30 this morning," Nita Hardy said as she stood in the parking lot near Oriole Park at Camden Yards, a short walk from the football stadium. "I've been up since four cooking."
"This is the football side of our Nest," she said. "On the other side is raising money, having bull roasts, having fun and helping our community."
Nest 25 held an annual bull and oyster roast Sept. 23 that raised more than $2,000. That brought the total raised this year to more than $5,000.
All of the money will go to charities including the Maryland Council for Special Equestrians, My Brother's Keeper and the Casey Cares Foundation. The group votes on which charities it wants to support. Members can nominate new groups they know could use help.
At the group's tailgate, pulled pork, Italian meatballs and fried chicken wings covered in Old Bay seasoning were among the offerings on two tables covered with Ravens tablecloths.
Hardy, who had her traditional purple wings painted on her cheeks, said the menu changes each week, except for her specialty.
"The staple is always the Kielbasa bread," she said, alluding to the cooked Kielbasa sausage she wraps in bread dough, bakes the morning of the game, then slices and puts on the grill at the tailgate.
Hardy said she enjoys every aspect of the organization.
"We're sports fans that do a lot of good work," she said.
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