Next Regular Meeting:  January 3, 2002

Attendees:  Ron Peterson, Brad McVicker, Susie Feighner, Nelda Donley, Bert Sharbaugh, Dan & Diane Turcovsky, Denny Beecher, Donna Bender, and Lois Keegan.

BMM:  Donna’s Artichoke Dip, Nelda’s Melt-in-your-mouth Cheesecake, and Suzie’s Yummy Nutty Brownies.  This was a yummy meeting!

Duties were assigned for the Christmas Party.
Maurer Dive Shop donated a men’s shorty to be raffled at the Christmas Party.
Donations will be taken at the Christmas Party to be sent to Mark Hooper’s girls.
Ideas were discussed regarding a memorial plaque for Mark.
A new member application was submitted by Ariana Henderson
Meeting was adjourned.

The Annual Underwater Olympics at St. Francis University will be coming up after the New Year.  Start training now to help Laurel Divers whoop the younguns!

January 19, 2002 – Open Water Certification Classes with Harve Montgomery
Certification Dives will be in March (weekend of the 2nd or 9th) and include a Florida springs/Crystal River trip.  Contact Rose at the dive shop if interested 814 344-6641.

April, May or June, 2002, Bonaire.  Passport or photo I.D. and birth certificate are required.
5-1/2 days of diving.  Unlimited shore diving.  Approximately $600 for room (prices are based upon 4-5 persons per cottage), one boat dive per day, air, tanks, weights and daily breakfast buffet.  Approximate cost for airfare is $600.  Let Ron know if you are interested (814) 472-2144 or Ron@LaurelDivers.com

June 28, 29, 30, 2002, Moorhead City, $255 for three days of two-tank boat diving.  $100 deposit for diving due by February 1st.  Jim Smith (696-1938)

2003 – Nekton Pilot – still in the planning stages

NEED EQUIPMENT?  Bob and Rose are running a special for the Dive-In’s - $25 for the day.  Let them know early to get your equipment reserved.
FOR SALE
Scuba Network BC, size Medium, Good Condition $75.00  Josh Keyser (814 536-3308)

Underwater Camera Package:  Nikonos III 35mm lens, oceanic 2000 strobe, ikelite viewfinder, sekonic light meter, ikelite handle.  Jim Hostetler (814 472-5456)

Medium BC $25, Medium female shorty $10, Medium small wetsuit $10 JoeG123@yahoo.com

We recently received an email from Ket.Brown@co.orange.fl.us, to let us know that he has a 2 bedroom, 2 bath condo on Cayman Brac, modern kitchen, freshwater pool, air conditioning, and cable tv.  He is extending a 10% discount to club members for rentals.  Visit www.ourcaymancondo.com  or email with any questions.

I DON’T KNOW NOTHING! (news of Laurel Divers)
Sandy Smith recently submitted some of her photographs to the 25th Annual Photo Contest at the North Carolina Aquarium.  Congratulations Sandy on two First Place photos, one Second Place photo, and one Honorable Mention.  You can see Sandy’s great photography at www.aquariums.state.nc.us/files/photocontestwinners.htm

Bob Allen celebrated his 100th dive.  Bob couldn’t be reached for details – he is in Cozumel currently, working on adding more dives to his logbook.

Let me know of any events or diving milestones you have made.  Birthdays, anniversaries, 100th dive?  Call me, we’ll talk.  Lois@TechniqueSystems.com or (814 472-0774)

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The following is an email I received from Mark Hooper in July of 1999.  Mark always sent Laurel Divers interesting and entertaining articles pertaining to diving.  I enjoyed this one in particular, and saved it.  I’m printing it today in memory of Hoop.

Breathe
What follows is the Commencement address that Sid recently gave at a PADI Open Water Certification graduation.
Ladies and gentlemen of the class of '99:
Always breathe.
If I could offer you only one tip for the future, breathing would be it.  The long-term benefits of breathing under extreme changes in pressure has been proven by millions
of people whose lungs do not have hideous, gaping holes in them, whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own tragic, yet amusing, experience.  I will dispense this "advice" now.
Enjoy the convenience and elasticity of your fin straps.  Oh, never mind. You will not understand the convenience and elasticity convenience of your fin straps until they've
broken. But trust me, in 20 years, you'll think back on all the dives you've missed because of broken fin straps and recall in a way you can't grasp now, how much of a moron you must be to have forgotten an extra fin strap.  AGAIN.
You are not as negatively buoyant as you imagine.
Don't worry about being eaten by the local fauna. Or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as expecting your dive buddy to calculate the correct NDL for your dive.  The real troubles during your dive are apt to be things that never crossed your nitrogen soaked mind - The kind that will keep you in a decompression chamber until 4:00 PM, next Tuesday.
Stuff everything you see into your BC pockets during every dive.
Equalize.
Don't close the valve on your dive buddy's tank - No matter how funny it may be.  Don't  put up with dive buddies who will turn off yours.
Purge.
Don't waste your time on perfect buoyancy. Sometimes your dive slate will sink you like an anchor; sometimes you can't submerge without the aid of a 55 gallon drum full of lead shot.  There are 5 gazillion variables, and you will bleed from your ears if you think about it too much.
Remember to keep some slack in your float line.  Don't get tangled in it.  If you succeed in doing this, tell me how.
Keep your old dive logs. Throw away your raunchy old mouthpieces.
Streamline.
Don't feel bad if you haven't quite mastered the compass. The most interesting dives I have been on were led by divemasters who didn't know how to use one.  The most interesting divemasters I know often mistake it for their watch.
Get plenty of Dramamine - Keep it in your dive bag.
Be gentle with your mask strap.  You'll miss it when it breaks.
Maybe you'll find a sane, human-type dive buddy – maybe you won't.  Maybe he'll have a Death Star Class spear gun as well, maybe you won't.  Maybe you'll need to design a spear-proof vest; maybe you'll require a prosthetic torso.
Whatever you do, don't pity yourself too much, or weep bitterly for yourself either. Your dive buddy is probably insane.  So is everybody else's.
Spit in your mask.  Do it as often as possible.  Don't be afraid of it or of what other people think of it.  Spit is the best de-fogger you'll ever own.
Use the standard hand-signals, even if you don't quite remember *exactly* what they meant  (If your dive buddy doesn't understand, simply exaggerate the gesture until
he/she does).
Sh*t-can any directions you receive with SCUBA gear - Who the h*ll needs directions on "how to use a snorkel" anyway!?! (Besides your dive buddy)
Do not look at the picture on your Certification card - It will only make you feel ugly.
Do not get too attached to your weights or the stuff you clip to your BC.  You never know when they'll be gone for good.
Understand that dive boat captains come and go, but always tip them generously.  Slip them at least a 5 or a 10, because when you surface, you'd like to see the dive boat waiting for you - Not back at the dock next to the Tiki Bar.
Float on the surface, but submerge before you drift to Cuba.  Play underwater, but surface before your joints start to tingle.
Off-gas.
Accept certain inalienable truths: Your power inflator will stick.  You'll get sand in your second stage.  You, too, will pee in a rental wetsuit.  And when this happens, you'll fantasize that when you were a newbie, power inflators never stuck, you never inhaled sand, and nobody ever peed in the rental wetsuit you are currently wearing.
Pee in your wetsuit.
Don't expect anyone else to watch your SPG.  Maybe you have a 120cu.in tank. Maybe you have a pony bottle. But you never know when either one might run out.
Don't mess too much with your power inflator or by the time you're 4 minutes into the dive you will have 300psi.
Be careful whose gear you buy, but be patient with those who let you borrow it. Buying used gear is a form of mental illness. Selling it is a way of fishing your wetsuit from the dive bag (Where it has been for the past 5 weeks - after you put it away wet...), rinsing it off, chiseling off the reeking moldy parts and stiffing some poor shmuck for more than it's worth.
But trust me on the breathing....
                                    _____   O o
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                            --ooO--------Ooo-- Mark