Laurel Divers, Monthly Newsletter, December 1999

Laurel Divers
Monthly Newsletter

December 11, 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 January 6, 2000. The meeting will be held at the Penn Gables Restaurant in Ebensburg at 7:30 P.M.

The next board meeting will be on January 13, 2000. The meeting will be held at Maurer’s Dive Shop in Carrolltown at 7:30 P.M.

DECEMBER MEETING

Our annual Christmas Party took the place of the December meeting. Although I'm uncertain of the exact count, there were approximately 70 members and guests present. A big thanks to the following people whose extra efforts made for a hugely enjoyable party (and apologies to anyone who I may have overlooked):
   * Brad McVicker and Matt McVicker for providing the DJ service
   * Bill Kimmick for donating the ceramic underwater scene used for the fund-raiser, and the scuba santas used for door prizes
   * Donna Bender for meticulously painting the underwater scene and scuba santas
   * Lois Keegan for peddling the raffle tickets
   * Maurer’s Dive Shop for donating a gift certificate for use as a door prize
   * Josh Keyser for playing Santa Claus
   * President Diane Turcovsky for organizing and over-seeing the party
   * Our other officers and board members who helped organize the party
   * Mark Hooper who filmed and edited the “Bear Witch Project”
   * The dozen or so actors and actresses who starred in the “Bear Witch”

The fund-raising raffle netted $116 for the club, and was won by John Fry. The daybook had a balance of $133, and was won by Rob Kummerer who was not present. This money will be carried over to the January meeting. Door prizes and winners were as follows:
   * Wal-mart Gift Certificates (for non-member guests): Karen Gordon, Norm Cox, Bill Conlin
   * Maurer’s Dive Shop Gift Certificate: Dan Turcovsky
   * Underwater Flash Lights: Eric Steinbring, Matt McVicker
   * Underwater Scissors: John Fry, Paul Brawley
   * Custom License Plate: Sam Ferra
   * Mesh Dive Bag: Mimi Bradley
   * Pelican Box: Bert Sharbaugh
   * Scuba Santas: John Betting, Rick Paige, Dan Myers, Lance Marks, Josh Keyser

Treasurer’s Report: Income: $687.70, Expenses: $30.00, Current Balance: $2614.65.

THIS & THAT

We voted for our year 2000 board members at the meeting. Our new board members w>

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rt Sharbaugh, and Dan Turcovsky. Please remember that board meetings are open to all club members. We generally have about 10 – 15 officers, board members and club members at the meetings, and share lots of food, stories, and good times (sometimes we even do a little work).

We will begin working on our year 2000 calendar at the January board meeting. If you would like to run a trip, our suggest one you’d like to see run, please plan on attending the board meeting, or let any of our officers or board members know of your proposed trip.

Quarry releases are due once again! If you did not sign a year-2000 release at the Christmas Party, please see Maurer’s Dive Shop or Treasurer Donna Bender for one. Please remember that a properly signed quarry release must be signed each year before using the quarry property.

If you have an e-mail address, please let us know. If you’re not currently listed on the Laurel Diver’s e-mail page at http://Ebensburg.com/scuba/email.htm, then please send an email to Webmaster Ron Peterson at Scuba@Penn.com to let us know your address.

PAST EVENTS

The annual Thanksgiving Dive at Mount Storm proceeded as planned. Twelve divers were present for 20-feet of visibility and 60+ degree water temperature.

UPCOMING EVENTS

The Liveaboard Trip with Blackbeard will sail from January 15th to January 22nd. We’ll have a full report of the trip at the February meeting.

Maurer’s Dive Shop, along with the Penn State Nittany Divers, will be hosting an O-S System Drysuit Demonstration at the Penn State Natatorium on Saturday February 12th (time of day to be announced later). This is a no-cost, no-obligation opportunity to try a drysuit within the comfort of an indoor swimming pool. If you would like to attend, please call Maurer’s Dive Shop at 344-6641 to register.

I received an interesting advertisement that was forwarded to me on e-mail from Mark Hooper. Beneath the Sea will be holding their 24th annual Undersea Exposition and Dive Travel Show at the New Jersey Meadowlands Exposition Center on March 24th – 26th. The event will include everything from equipment and travel displays, speakers, discussion forums, a film festival, a Cayman Islands Decompression party, and programs for children. More information is available on their web site at http://BeneaththeSea.org.

AROUND THE CLUB

Please keep the information coming. 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 Harve Montgomery who received his Advanced Openwater Instructor’s Rating from SSI. A big thanks from Harve to Bob Maurer for helping him reach this goal.

Congratulations also to Dan Myers and to Carol Myers who each logged their 100th dive, and received their Century Divers Certification from SSI.

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!
wishing everyone a safe and happy holiday season