Laurel Divers
Monthly Newsletter
October 7, 1999
| President: |
Diane Turcovsky |
(814) 695-6878 |
| Vice Pres: |
Josh Keyser |
(814) 536-3308 |
| Secretary: |
Denny Beecher |
(814) 472-5776 |
| Treasurer: |
Donna Bender |
(814) 472-9796 |
NEXT MEETING
The next meeting will be on November 4, 1999. The meeting will be
held at the Penn Gables Restaurant in Ebensburg at 7:30 P.M.
The next board meeting will be on November 11, 1999. The meeting
will be held at Maurer’s Dive Shop in Carrolltown at 7:30 P.M.
OCTOBER MEETING
We had 32 members present. The door prize was a Laurel Diver’s hat
won by Greg Sprencz. The daybook had a $65 balance, and was won by
Harold Cameron who was not present. This money will be carried over
to the next meeting.
Treasurer’s Report: Income: $249, Expenses: $346.45, Current Balance:
$2,035.47
Sue Morra and Shelley Kirkpatrick presented a slide presentation on
their once-a-year, leave-the-students-at-home, trip. This year’s
trip was to Dominica. The slides were of wonderful quality, and the
presentation was interesting and informative. Thanks Sue and Shelley!
THIS & THAT
Laurel Diver glass mugs are still available. The mugs are hand-etched
with the Laurel Diver logo. Cost is $10 each. Call Mark Hooper
at 942-6666, or let him know at a meeting, if interested.
Our annual audit of the Treasury will be performed shortly before the
November meeting. Our audit volunteers are Linda Kelley, Lois Keegan
and Ron Peterson.
John Ware will be presenting a slide presentation on coral reef ecology
at the November meeting. John will be traveling from Baltimore, and
presents this slide show free of charge for interested groups. It
should be an excellent presentation. Please plan on attending.
O-S Systems will be holding a drysuit demonstration at Clover Creek
Quarry on Saturday October 17th. There is no cost or obligation to
buy—simply show-up, test-d(r)ive a drysuit, and see if you like it.
Rose Maurer will need a final count of those interested, as well as their
measurements so that the manufacturer’s rep will bring the correct sizes.
Please call Maurer’s Dive Shop at 344-6641 if you plan on attending.
PAST EVENTS
The liveaboard trip on the Nekton Pilot proceeded without problems despite
the recent Caribbean storms. David Lee reported that the food was
fantastic, and the boat crew very accommodating. The water temp averaged
84 degrees with visibility of between 40 feet and 100 + feet. One
of the trip hi-lights was a shark-feeding dive.
Several club members participated in a charity fundraiser bicycle ride
on the Ghost Town Trail on October 3rd. A big thanks to Joe and Karen
Gordon who had their trailside cabin available for our hungry bikers!
UPCOMING EVENTS
October 30th will be our Annual Halloween Dive and Chili Cook-Off.
We will have a mini treasure dive from 2:00 to 5:00. Cost to enter
will be $5 for members, and $10 for non-members. There will be one
prize of a $100 gift certificate to Maurer’s Dive Shop. The chili
cook-off will start at 5:30. Bring your own competition chili or
another covered dish.
Our Annual Thanksgiving Dive at Mount Storm will be held on November
27th. We will meet at the Penn Gables Restaurant at 8:00 for the
trip down. More details at the next meeting.
The Nittany Divers invite all of our club members to attend a Lobster
Tailgate Party at the Penn State homecoming game on November 6th.
Cost for the lobster dinner, with beverages and accompaniments, will be
approximately $15 - $18, or about $10 without the lobster. Call Diane
Turcovsky at 695-6878 if interested.
Our Annual Christmas Party will be on December 11th at the Penn Gables
Restaurant. There will be no regular club meeting during this month.
Festivities will begin with a social hour from 6:00 to 7:00, and dinner
will be served at 7:00. We will have a DJ for after dinner entertainment.
There are still opening for the Liveaboard Trip with Blackbeard on January
15th – 22nd. Cost is $784 and includes all diving and meals.
Airfare from Pittsburgh is available. Final payment from those already
signed-up is due by November 15th. Call Sandy Beecher at 472-5776
for further details.
AROUND THE CLUB
Help!!! Please send me something! Did you cross a new dive
milestone, receive additional training, or have something else interesting
happen? Let me know at a meeting, call me at 472-5776, or e-mail
me at Mosskeetoe@aol.com.
Congratulations to Lois Keegan who completed the entire 24-mile Ghost
Town Trail on the October 3rd ride!
Best wishes for a speedy recovery and rapid return to the underwater
world for Donna Bender who is recovering from a recent surgery.
Dive Destination—The Thousand Islands
Years of shipping through the Great Lakes Waterways have resulted in numerous
ships being lost in the Saint Lawrence Seaway, which flows from Lake Ontario
eastward to the Gulf of Saint Lawrence. Having heard of the excellent
diving in the region, I decided to tow my own boat northward for the eight-hour
journey and sample the diving for myself.
We stayed at the Thousand Islands Inn in Clayton, NY. The Inn
is situated streamside on the river (although as much as twelve miles wide,
the Saint Lawrence is actually a river). The Inn offers numerous
diving packages, as well as packages for fishing and other activities.
The packages included all meals and several diving options. The Thousand
Island’s Inn claims to be the birthplace of Thousand Islands Salad Dressing
and serves it as a house specialty. The meals were exquisite!
The menu boasted items like brazed venison and lobster newburg, and our
package allowed for unrestricted menu choices for breakfast and supper.
For our charter-dive, the Inn sent us a packed lunch so big it was given
to us in a wooden box!
Plenty of other accommodations are available in Clayton and nearby
Alexandria Bay, including campgrounds and riverfront cottages. We
picked a two-day Wreck / Bottle Diving Combination at the Inn and were
not disappointed.
The town of Clayton is small (population 2,350), but scenic.
Alexandria Bay is located about 12 miles away and is larger and more commercialized.
The nightlife was not exactly fast-paced, but there were numerous specialty
shops to browse, and a good supply of restaurants.
The boating was somewhat advanced since the swells typical of the Great
Lakes were present on the river. Large freighters of 400 + feet were
common sights as they navigated past us. We were able to boat to
at least a half-dozen lighthouses, including one on a small island which
has two picnic tables and a charcoal grill for boaters to use. Several
local marinas cater to the vacationing boater, and finding a temporary
slip was no problem.
Boldt Castle is one of the area’s most well known attractions.
It is located on Heart Island which faces Alexandria Bay. The castle
was built at the turn of the century by multi-millionaire George Boldt,
owner of the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City. Boldt was having
the castle modeled after a true Rhineland castle of the 16th century, and
planned to present it to his wife Louise Boldte on Valentines Day.
Sadly however, after $2.5 million dollars of investments and several
years in the building, Louise Boldt died before the castle was completed.
George Boldt immediately ordered all worked be stopped on the castle.
It sat as a half-finished derelict for 73 years, left to the mercy of the
wind, ice, snow and vandals. The Thousand Island Bridge Authority
acquired the property in 1977 and has spent years trying to restore the
castle to its 1904 condition when the construction was halted.
The castle is open for visitation with several tour boats running ferry
services from Alexandria Bay. If you have your own boat, docking
facilities are also available, and we took advantage of these for our visit
to the castle.
It was an interesting and truly impressive self-guided tour through
the castle and grounds. Since the construction was never completed,
the rooms lack adornments and furnishings, but it’s easy to imagine the
grandeur of this building if it were ever so completed. Still, 120
empty rooms get to be a lot after a while. . .
Did we dive on the trip? You bet, but I’m out of room.
To be continued next month. . .