Please remember that there is no regular board meeting in July.  Instead we will meet at Clover Creek Quarry on the morning of the Treasure Dive (Sunday July 22th) at 10:00 A.M. to prepare prizes.  Everyone is welcome to attend and help out.

Several new member applications were reviewed and approved.  A list of the new members is in the "Around The Club" section of the newsletter following.

Final preparations for the Treasure Dive were discussed and approved.  The remaining prizes after the equipment purchases will be gift certificates to Maurer's Dive Shop of varying amounts.  The final cost to the club including prizes, tent rental, and food is approximately $35 to $40 per diver -- a great deal for the $15 registration fee!  No prize is valued at less than $15.

A thank you letter was received from D & R Divers thanking the Laurel Divers for our cash contribution to the 2001 Make-A-Wish Treasure Dive that took place in May.

Treasurer's Report: Income: $1,460.00, Expenses: $2,950.00, Current Balance: $2,917.21.

The tearful departure of President Donna Bender was announced.  Donna will be traveling with a new job, and although she will still be able to make a number of club functions, she will no longer be able to carry out her duties as President.  According to club by-laws, Vice-President Elect Brad McVicker will take over the duties of President beginning with the August meeting.  A new Vice-President is to be elected from the membership at the August meeting.  Nominations for the new VP were taken with Joe Gordon and Chuck Zupon being nominated. The vote will be held at the August meeting.

Last call for dues!  Please remember that club dues are payable in June every year, and must be paid before you can participate in the Treasure Dive or other club activities.  Please see Treasurer Barb Wyland to take care of your dues for this year.

E-mail addresses: A number of e-mail addresses are listed in the newsletter for trip contacts, etc.  Please remember though, that anyone with an e-mail address can be reached simply by e-mailing to the persons name (with the first initial of their last name if the first name is not unique among club members) @laureldivers.com.  You can also e-mail everyone on the member list by mailing to all@laureldivers.com.  Thanks to webmaster Ron Peterson for creating and continuing to update our member e-mail list!

2001 Quarry Releases are still available from Treasurer Barb Wyland and need to be signed before you dive at Clover Creek Quarry.  A supply of releases will be available at the Treasure Dive if you've not yet signed one for this year.

Advanced Diving Courses are being offered this summer by SSI Instructor Harve Montgomery.  Dates and courses are as follows:
 August 11th and 12th: Deep Diving
 August 19th:   Night Diving, Limited Visibility Diving, Navigation
 September 9th:  Stress & Rescue
 October 28th:  Stress & Rescue
Please call or see Rose Maurer at Maurer's Dive Shop (344-6641) for sign-up.  Cost of each course is $60 + cost for the manual.  Lunch is provided at no additional charge, and special student equipment rental rates are in effect for anyone needing to rent equipment for the course.

Volunteers are needed to act as Club Representatives for check-out dives at Clover Creek Quarry on July 28th and 29th.  The club reps generally give a brief talk to the students about the Laurel Divers, answer questions, and hand out membership applications.  Please see Vice President Lance Marks if you are interested in representing the club for these check-out dates.
 
Bob Maurer asks that anyone renting equipment from Maurer's Dive Shop return the gear in proper order, and not tamper with or attempt to field service any rental equipment.  A BC was recently returned with a missing part, and resulted in a disappointing ruined dive for the next person who rented it.  Please take proper care of rented equipment, check it in personally at the shop when returning, and report any problems with the equipment.  No weight belts in the dive bags please!

Lois Keegan thanks everyone for the cards, flowers, and well wishes received while she was recovering from her recent surgery.

A Quarry Clean-up is being held on Tuesday July 17th to help prepare the quarry for the Treasure Dive.  The evening will consist primarily of mowing and trimming, and will begin at 6:00.  Please come if you're able, and bring a mower or trimmer if you have one available.  A tentative rain date is set for Wednesday July 18th.  Please call President Donna Bender or Secretary Lois Keegan with any questions.

Our Annual Treasure Dive will be held on Sunday July 21st.  The cut-off date for registration is July 12th.  Please remember that prizes must be pre-purchased, and that no registration will be accepted after this deadline.  This year's event list is as follows:
Tent Erection Party: Friday Night at 6pm.
Diving & Socializing: All day Saturday.
Camp Fire Social:  Saturday night.
Diver Check-in: Sunday from 12:00 to 5:00
Treasure Dive: Sunday from 1:00 to 5:00.
Hamburgers, hotdogs, buns, and rolls will be provided by the club.  All divers need to bring a covered dish, and sign-up for a task to help make the event go smoothly.  Please sign up for your food and duty when pre-registering.  If you have pre-registered, but failed to sign-up for food and /or a duty, please contact President Donna Bender.

The club will be making a day trip to Mount Storm, WV to dive on Saturday August 11th.  Mount Storm Lake is a cooling lake for a coal-fired power plant.  Even in the dead of winter, water temperatures seldom fall below 50 degrees.  August water temperatures are generally in the mid-80's from top to bottom!  The lake is several miles long, reaches up to 120-feet in depth, and generally averages about 15-foot of visibility.  Although there's not a lot of underwater attractions, the real fun comes from diving without a wetsuit.  Bathing suits are the norm for summer diving.  The trip is about 3 hours each direction, and we will be leaving and returning on the same day.  All diving will be from shore.  We will meet at Ames Parking Lot in Ebensburg at 8:00 A.M. for the trip down.  An alternate crew will be meeting and leaving from Altoona.  Please call or e-mail Denny Beecher (472-5776 or mosskeetoe@aol.com) if you are interested in attending the trip.

The Niagara River Drift Dive will take place from August 23rd to 26th.  Trip itinerary will be departure after work Thursday night, a two-tank wreck charter on Lake Erie Friday, dinner at Niagara Falls Saturday night, and drift diving (unlimited) from shore Saturday and Sunday.  All reservations and deposits for the trip have been turned in, however there may still be availability for any late additions.  Please contact Denny Beecher (contact info with Mount Storm Trip above) if interested.

A Dive-In at Clover Creek Quarry will be held on Saturday August 26th beginning at 2:00 P.M.  These are generally held soon after new-student check-outs, and are intended as an opportunity for newly certified students to mix with and meet members of the Laurel Divers.  Anyone unfamiliar with how to reach the quarry can meet at the Donut Shop in Hollidaysburg.  The group will leave this location promptly at 1:00.  Bring a picnic lunch and lawn chairs, tour the quarry, feed the fish, and meet new friends.  There will be plenty of dive buddies available if you come without one.  Maurer's Dive Shop will be offering a special $25 price on equipment rentals for the day.  Contact Bob or Rose Maurer (344-6641) to reserve equipment.

The Nova Scotia Trip will be held from September 1st to 9th.  Details are available in past newsletters, or from Sylvia MacKinnon (237-3261 or sylviam@psu.edu ).

Our Annual Raystown Picnic will be on Sunday September 16th at the Oak Pavilion at Seven Points Marina.  The club will be providing hamburgers and hotdogs -- everyone attending is asked to bring a covered dish.  In past years, the club has rented a pontoon boat for the day to shuttle divers to and from the dive sites.  Due to the high cost ($250+ for the day), and the number of available member boats at past Raystown events, a discussion was held concerning relying on boats owned by club members and not renting the pontoon boat this year.  Anyone wishing to attend is asked to sign-up in advance so that we can determine if the pontoon boat needs to be rented, or if club-member boats will be adequate for the day (the final decision will rely on advance sign-ups and will be made closer to the picnic date).  Anyone with an available boat is equally needed to sign-up in advance.  A sign-up was passed around at the July meeting, and will also be circulated at the August and September meetings.  If you wish to attend and are unable to sign-up at the meetings, please contact President Donna Bender.

A week-end camping trip and picnic is being planned to be held at Bud Collier's hunting camp near Port Matilda, PA on September 29th and 30th.  This is planned as a family outing, and everyone is asked to bring a covered dish.  Additional details, times and directions will be available at the next meeting and in the next newsletter.

The Annual Halloween Dive and Chili Cook-off will be held at Clover Creek Quarry on Saturday October 27th.  A mini treasure dive with one prize of a $100 gift certificate to Maurer's Dive Shop will begin at 1:00.  The chili cook-off will begin at 5:00.  The name's of the past year's chili masters can be seen on a plaque at Maurer's Dive Shop.  Additional details to follow at upcoming meetings.

A trip to Cozumel, Mexico will be held from December 2nd to 9th.  Cost of the trip is $705 per person (double occupancy) for 7 nights lodging, 5 days of 2-tank boat diving, unlimited shore diving, and all meals.  Cost does not include transportation to Cozumel.  Call Dee Montgomery (944-8521) for further details.

Denny Beecher made his 250th scuba-assisted underwater trip on July 4th.