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Camp Ranger Gives Up Rat Race
Of Business to Work
The ranger at Camp Mack
Scout reservation is a unique
individual for our times.
Five years ago, at the age of 47,
Dave Strayer turned his back on
the rat race of business, choosing
instead to get back to basics and
do what he liked best-work in
the outdoors. T r '
Giving up a well paid job as a
top senior service technician for
National Cash Register Company
in Lancaster, Dave took on-the
THERE ARE
MORE THAN
THREE SIDES
TO THE
HOG
CONFINEMENT
QUESTION
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•JSIA U.S.INDUSTRIES COIVIPAIMY.
And that makaa a world of diffaranca.
{ASTERN BRANCH
215 Oilier Ave., New Holland, Pa. 17557
job of ranger at the Scout Camp.
And while his salary took a
sharp drop, Dave feels his well
being jumped to an all time high.
That was five years ago. How
does he feel about his choice
today?
“It was a good one, he says. “I
don’t regret it.”
Dave had been “in business” 28
years, he explained. “I got tired
of the rat race,” he said. “I
Nearly ten years of testing and farm ex
perience have taught us that there are
many sides to the question of which
type of finishing facility is best for the
hog producer. Many producers favor the
open-front, gravity ventilation type of fa
cility. We have all the Big Dutchman
equipment necessary for the open-front
, facility. Other producers favor a total
environmental control finishing facility.
Such a facility provides greater control of
the hog’s environment, whatever the cli- -
matic conditions outside, through the Big
Dutchman Evap-O-Pad ventilation system
and the use of partial slats.'
Open-front or total environmental con
trol; let us help you put it all together!
Whichever side of the question you take,
we have the equipment you need.
in Outdoors
decided this was the time to
change if I was going to.”
When the job opening came
with the scouts, he talked it over
with his wife and together they
'decided this was what they
wanted to do.
“After all” he said, “what’s
money when you’re not enjoying
life?”
Money never did mean that
much to Dave, he explained.
What does mean a lot to him is
being free from the pressures of
business, living and working
close to nature, following his own
time schedule, even if it often
means long and irregular hours.
Their three children now grown
and married, Dave and Agnes
moved from their former home in
Lancaster into the rustic ranger’s
house on the edge of the reser
vation, overlooking “Squire
Lake” at the entrance to the
camp.
As ranger, a year-round job,
BUTLER
AGRI-PRODUCTS
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M.K.HOKE
ESTATES
140 So. Main St.
Manhelm, Pa.
665-2266
Phone 717-354*5168
bave Strayer, ranger at Camp Mack Scout reservation,
north of Brickerville, cuts wood he has cleared from one of
this summer's troop camping sites.
Dave has complete charge of
caring for the 1,002 acres of
woodland on the reservation,
which hundreds of Boy Scouts
will invade this summer.
Located north of Brickerville,
just off Route 501, the camp is
geared to handle up to 320 boys at
one time, plus a staff of 25-30
adults, during the summer
weekly sessions. In addition to
this, troops throughout Lancaster
and Lebanon Counties use the
camp for short term (weekend)
camping all through the winter,
spring, and fall.
The ranger’s work is hard and
varied over the winter months. It
involves clearing and filling in
the many' roads and mountain
trails that wind through the
reservation, keeping all camp
equipment in repair, and clearing
brush and trees from the camp
sites.
There are 12 wooded troop sites
in the camp, with a total of 32
patrol sites set up within them.
The patrol sites are rotated from
year to year, to allow the land to
rejuvenate itself, and the job of
setting up and clearing new ones
falls to Dave.
A deft hand at carpentry is a
must for the ranger, who must
keep camp buildings up to snuff,
build picnic tables for the
pavilions, and repair and build
new platforms for tents.
FARM EQUIPMENT
Before You Buy Your
• WINDROWER
• STACKHAND
• FORAGE HARVESTER
SEE US FOR OUR
EVERYDAY LOW PRICES
Your Authorized Dealer
MILLER'S REPAIR
1 Mile North of Bird-in-Hand
RDI Bird-in-Hand, Pa. Ph- 656-7013
Gribbons Road or
656-7926
rLaqcaster. Far.minp Saturday, April IQ73
Dave takes complete charge of
the swimming pool, preparing it
each spring and supervising its
filtering system during the
summer.
When camp is in session, Dave
has to “stay on top of the whole
thing,” as he puts it. Weekly
camp sessions break up on
Saturday mornings, with new
groups of campers arriving about
noon the following day. In the
short hours between, Dave must
make any emergency repairs,
make sure enough tents and cots
are ready for the incoming
Scouts, check all the patrol chests
to make sure each has its allot
ment of supplies (shoyels, pans,
utensils, etc.)anpL over the
entire camp to make sure all is in
order before'the-next group of
campers 1 arrives.
In addition, he is also in charge
of maintenance of grounds and
buildings, including daily gar
bage collections throughout the
camp.
About 25 percent of his time is
involved in paper work, and for
this he has converted his
basement into an office. Here is
also housed a large work table
and an old heavy-duty sewing
machine, where Dave and Agnes
spend many hours repairing cots
and other camp equipment
(Continued On Page 36)
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