Williamsport, Pennsylvania Project
“This was the best day of my life!”
Mentee, The Mayfly Project
Project Location
Williamsport, PA
Year Project Founded
2027
Project Lead Mentor
Charles Knowlden
Co-Lead Mentor
David Weigle
Mentors on this team
Looking for mentors!
Children mentored to date
TBD
Children to be mentored in 2027
8
Local foster care partners
Looking for local foster care partners!
Local companies that support this project
Susquehanna Chapter of Trout Unlimited, looking for additional community support!
Apply to Mentor
Support the Williamsport Project!
At the end of our program, I received a thank you note from my mentee. He enjoyed the time we spent together on the water and mentioned that ‘he didn’t know fishing could be so fun’! It was his first-time fishing and admitted that he considered fishing ‘boring’ and that he didn’t want to do it. His perspective changed after our time together on the water. We talked conservation and he jumped right in to help keep the lake clean. His favorite part, of course, was his ‘First catch’! The note included pictures of us and it filled me with happiness and a few of those ‘happy tears’!
Mentor from The Mayfly Project
Project Mentors
Charles Knowlden, LEAD MENTOR
Charlie was born a long time ago in Williamsport, PA. He went to school in South Williamsport where he was mentored by his Biology Teacher, Don Daughenbaugh, to tie flies and fly fish. After graduating college he returned to the area to teach Industrial Arts for 37 years. He also taught nine years as an adjunct faculty at a local university. In 1969, he met a colleague from a neighboring school district named Al Troth who instilled a lifelong passion for fly fishing and fly tying in him and many others. Having the opportunity to travel and fish in many states in the Eastern US during the summers, he was able to hone his skills and fish some great streams, ponds and lakes for many species. His favorite state besides PA in which to fish is Maine where he spends most of the summer since retirement. He has been active in the Boy Scouts and earned the Silver Beaver award. He is most proud of his two sons, both of which are Eagle Scouts, outdoorsmen, and husbands and fathers.
His maternal grandparents fostered 42 children over the years besides raising seven of their own and one they adopted. Several of those foster children remained close to the family their entire lives and are some of the reasons why he looks forward to working with children who are less fortunate then he was. He has developed a great appreciation for nature and the environment and hopes to be able to pass on his knowledge to this younger generation