Ramps and Ampithetre built using Pa Tax dollars for Boy Scout Jamboree which now sit abandoned which never should have been allowed.

As you drive north on Interstate 79 in Butler County and approach  Moraine State Park you will see what looks like an off and on ramp which was never completed along the road..
But back in the 1970s they where actually used for a special purpose which was later roundly criticized that Pa. State money was spent for the purpose.

The reason the ramps where built was for the 2  week long National BSA Jamborees.  Once in 1973 and the other in 1977 I was just a first year scout in 73 when my mom took my brothers and couple neighbor kids all in scouting for a day trip to the 1973 Jamboree it was a great experience  and again in 1977 as a member of BSA camp Semiconon  Staff we went over for an evening show.

But I never got to attend a whole week due to extreme costs for a working class kid I even volunteered to work the entire week in 1977 but BSA insist even volunteers pay the full amount which back then was almost$600.00 for the week which was considerable. back then at minimum wage I was making $1.85 an hour In fact when a storm came thru and knocked down electric wiring and other things in the camp sites at the jamboree the jamboree had the nerve to call the ranger at Camp Semiconon and ask for help from any trades people camping or on staff  there to please come help reset up the jamboree campsites Ranger Joe told them to go to hell.

The State of Pa. paid for the ramps and for the amphitheater and other items in the park to only ever be used by the Scouts which is why it was widely criticized in the Pittsburgh Press and Post Gazette.
 And they where right for so criticizing it. The park was pretty much off limits to the public most of the time including the fact all the time it was being set up torn down areas where off limits as well.
Something no other organization has ever been granted before or after and the amphitheater sits unused to this day.

Release of Perversion Files may have yielded clues to murder of 11 Year old scout near Philly in 1970

I was only 8 years old when it happened and in Cub Scouts but never heard of this case in all my years of scouting even into my adult hood  till it came up on a cold case website the killing of a young boy scout near philly in 1970 who was camping with his troop. in Chester county when 11 yr old Terry Bowers was stabbed multiple times .

http://www.phillyvoice.com/reward-offered-1970-stabbing-murder-boy-scout-philly-suburbs/

http://www.forensicmag.com/news/2012/12/new-clues-emerge-1970-boy-scout-murder

 While staying overnight on the grounds  at St Basil The Great Church  in in East Pikeland Twp.
and it appears new leads may have come out of the perversion files released by boy scout national council

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20121205_New_clues_emerge_in_1970_Boy_Scout_murder__but_it_s_still_a_mystery.html

The state police are offering a $25,000.00 reward for information on this cold case  I hope the figure it out and person who did this is still alive and can be prosecuted .. Shame on those who hid these files away 

Why I do not mention that I am an eagle scout in the construction and maintenance Fields

Yes The Eagle Scout Award is the highest Honor a Boy scout can earn in Boy Scouting I earned mine in 1976 and was so proud to get it.  but My Scout Master the late Frank Russel also sat me down and explained how I would forever have a target on my back by those who resent those who strive to be a better individual in life .
Was Mr. Russel ever right.
I found this out from the fall of 1976 and all thru the 1980's when trying to find a good paying full time job with benefits in the construction and trades field. Not being able to secure suitable employment I decided to run my company full time  starting in 1981.

It seems back then that employers in these areas did not care to hire any one who put eagle scout  on their application and they did not want to hire somebody with a Jewish sounding last name sad but true. I am not Jewish my family last name should be spelled ICZ on the end we are Ukrainian but when my grandfather came thru Ellis island and was able to write his name on entry papers instead f making his mark like others they assumed he was an educated jew. and immigration officials spelled his name to sound Jewish. I often thought about changing my name like many of my friends have done but also like some of my friends wanted to honor my grandfather and his wishes and did not change it

I put in 100's of applications all over. One day I walked from Neville Island all the way to downtown Pittsburgh a total of 10 miles putting in applications never got one call.
The company's who where very good company's to go to work for back then where not hiring and the mills where going down. so I was low man on the totem pole and I was not going to kiss some ones ass to get a job like many I know did and be beholding to some one I keep my job.When you came out of school in 70's you had 2 choices college or military I qualified for neither Even thou I had good grades dyslexia was always in the way and back then they had no understanding of it like they do now.And Physical problems kept me out of the military 

I can proudly say any job I got was on my own merits even if it was a shit hole of a job but I did what I had to survive till I got my business going .

The realization of having a Jewish sounding last name and trying to get a job  came very clear in 81 when a friend recommend me for a job at a large industrial facility looking for maintenance people
The interview went well I thought but never got a follow up call would run into my friend couple weeks later on bus trip home from town and he told me all about him being told they don't hire Jews after he asked why they passed me over.  Well that company is out of business when the rest of the mills went down.Thats also when I started spelling my name different with ICZ on end  and started getting more offers  so that just showed how racist these company's where.   I had a similar experience where I applied after friend told me about an opening and he told me not to mention I was an eagle scout they don't like people with that kind of integrity. and Im thinking why would I even want to apply but needed work so why not if it held me thru times . So I put in an application  did not mention the eagle scout get called for an interview and during interview they asked had I achieved anything in life mentioned the eagle scout and interview went down hill from there.Eagle scouts carry the stigma of being goodie goodies
some employers don't like high achievers as well. they want a  do this do dat and shut up say nothing and know nothing.

Knowing this I would have never worked for them anyways you don't want to hire some one becsue they have integrity like an eagle scout or have a Jewish sounding name I want nothing to do with you and tells me everything I need to know about you.
I have heard blacks refer to Pittsburgh as Mississippi Pittsburgh  and asked them why and they said its because Pittsburgh is an extremely racists city and the reference is to Pittsburgh being the most southern northern city. its a shame but its true the Pittsburgh area and state in general has a very large proliferation of hate groups from the KKK to Skin heads and extreme segregationists

Unfortunately I hear the N word  and the K word being used all too frequently while I work
when I hear it from people I avoid them and if its an actual customer I drop them I do not need these type of customers.

Had a realty customer ask me one time how I could be living in Penn Hills and let my wife shop at local grocery store because blacks shop there also?
Tells me thats why he moved out of Penn hills  he did not want wife shopping with blacks because they can not be trusted. Needless to say I no longer work for him.

Thats where I have to give many of my customers credit for not allowing racism and hate speech to go on in their places of employment they hear it or see it that employee is warned and then fired if it keeps up.

I also rarely mention I am an Eagle Scout because there are too many employers who do not hire eagles seeing them as goodie goodies especially when they are running a business where questionable practices are condoned.

Then again same situation you do not want to hire an eagle I do not want to work for you if you are not going to run a legitimate company and take care of your customers and employees and allow shady practices.  See too many of these type of company's in Pittsburgh which explains why so many last a few years and are gone. Actually getting a good company to work for with good pay is hard these jobs are few and far and the less than reputable company's  know this and take advantage of their employees and get away with their shady practices.If you have no skills at all and just a high school degree your really screwed in this city 
Call it under- employment which has been a big issue in this town ever since the mills went down.
I know plenty of hard working people who deserve to be paid and have a descent job but do not have one because they are so hard to find especially if your not skilled.

This is why I preach to our young people  you need to stay and keep educated and always be looking for that next great thing because jobs and technology change so fast

One of the reasons I have been successful with my business is I was always willing to travel out to jobs and further away from the big city's  the better I find the quality of people I work for sad but true.  What ever it is that causes such racism and bigotry in Pittsburgh I will never  understand  there is no excuse for it. But sadly it goes on everyday.

Camp Tionesta its been 45 years since this beautiful camp was destroyed for no good reason

Yes its hard to believe it will be 45 years  come August 2021 that the beautiful Camp Tionesta was destroyed and eliminated all over lies from a deceitful  and deceptive  Allegheny Trails Scout Council

https://1drv.ms/b/s!Araoxwn4t5TqrE1-SMCex3HSvzV_?e=4Dlfob

Those who made that decision are now mostly long gone and  many have passed away   You would have to be in your 50's to have attended the week long summer  camp like I did for several years with the now closed Troop 224  which I regret to this day very being affiliated with .

The camp sat on US Forrest property along Tionesta lake which was formed when the Tionesta valley was flooded .

You can still see the road which lead into the camp  in picture above it appears to be just open ground now some day I would like to go back up and explore the old camp along with old Semiconon

The camp was abandoned and forgotten and a big lie as usual was told everyone why they closed it.
They aid Government would not renew lease . This was a lie they would renew lease but a 10 year lease which Allegheny Trails council did not want to commit to since they had land donated and where building a big new camp heritage in Farmington Pa. where all the council big wigs could stay with there family's in nice homes and they could send their ids for the summer. Yea I remember seeing all the slides of the new plans and construction. Went to camp one time and never been back I was so disappointed in what I saw we went from rugged  wilderness based camps to standard public summer camp. Our troop  no longer in business refused to stay there .

Scratch above is how I remember the camps layout .
The water front at bottom was the Tionesta Lake which was actually part of the abandoned Pa Route 62 when it was rerouted to build the lake and dam to help protect Pittsburgh from floods
and it had miles of trails to explore a natural breeding trout stream as well. They offered an overnight   Bivouac trip where you went across the lake on canoes and camped  however our troop never did it.
Its a shame today's scouts will never know about this camp and its great times and what a rugged wilderness type camp was really like.

 Old even then  Writing stationary they gave us to write home 

Boot and Paddle Canoe Trip What I always suspected has been confirmed a Tick bite in 1974 During a Trip was infected with Lyme Disease

In summer of 1973 and  1974 I took a 150 mile long canoe trip  from Tionesta Pa to Pittsburgh known as Boot & Paddle Program which I have written about in previous article and its experiences.

However during that trip  which hundreds took over the years it ran from 1960's to late 70's
I was bitten by a Tick no big deal several scouts where and leaders just backed them out carefully with hot piece of steel or a cigarette .Little did we know those ticks at the time where infected with the then unknown Lyme disease .I woke up with a tick the last nights stay over behind a power plant  and they removed it

Just recently after doing extensive research and listing to several experts on radio and then finally having a blood test  after bringing my concerns to my Dr. it proved I was in fact infected in the past with it and it went untreated because Dr.s at the time had no idea what it was and thought it nothing more then a variant of ring worm by the distinct red bulls eye it leaves for several weeks

This explains many of the malady's I have had over the years when you look at what the disease does to a body untreated which in my case where often ignored or missed by Dr.s


Lyme really did not come to the forefront till the 90's and still so much is not known about it. If caught early it is aggressively treated with antibiotics when not it can lead to a life time of many medical issues from arthritis to cancer and many more thing we just brush off as getting old.
I have been trying to get word to those who took trip with me to let their Dr.s know they to may have been infected and while its way too late to do anything about it at least it gives some answers why some of us have gone thru medically what we have.We would all be in our 50's to 90's in age or deceased and many of us did die young from cancer and other diseases these ticks might well have contributed to.

I cant blame Dr.s for missing it lets face it medical treatment back then was no where near as good as it is now and even if they did suspect what would they have treated us with till advanced science came up with the answers.