Next Board Meeting: November 25, 2003, 7:30 P.M. at Maurer’s Dive shop

Next Regular Meeting: December 6, 2003, Annual Christmas party at Penn Gables, Ebensburg, PA, cocktails start at 6:00 P.M.

Board meeting, Maurer’s Dive Shop, October 29, 2003, 7:30 P.M.

BUSINESS:

The Halloween Dive was discussed. There were 11 divers, we made $55.

The Christmas dinner menu was chosen. It will be your choice of chicken breast, pork chop, or lasagna for $12.75; of baked haddock for $15.50.

The door prizes for the Christmas party were discussed. Also discussed were the non-diver prizes. There are going to be really great prizes for everyone that comes to that party, so we’ll see you there!

November 6, 2003, Penn Gables, Ebensburg, PA

Donna called the meeting to order. The natives requested a different octave, although it was attempted, they mighty conch refused to perform any other sound.

Ron read the treasurers report: total income of $259.50; total expenses of $308.48; total balance of $2591.27.

Important note:

The board meeting was moved to Tuesday, the 25th, due to Thanksgiving, same time and place.
The regular meeting will be on Saturday, December 6, at 6 P.M.

NEW MEMBERS:

The club would like to welcome the George family to the club! Welcome Bud, Donna, David and John!

BUSINESS:

This month’s meeting was a dive shirt meeting. Everyone who wore a dive shirt shared their stories about their favorite dive. Thank you to everyone who shared their stories, they were all very interesting!!

Sign up for the Christmas dinner started this month. If you weren’t able to sign up and want to come ,please send your money to Ron before December 1st. The menu is as follows: Stuffed chicken breast, pork chop and lasagna are $12.75; the baked haddock is $15.50. You do have to choose something form the menu choices we have. There will be fabulous door prizes for the divers as well as the non-divers. We will have a DJ as well. Come and enjoy a night of festivity! Cocktails will be from 6-7, dinner will start at 7, and dancing will be from 8-11. Due to continued family obligations Brad and Matt will not be able to DJ this year.  Joe Gordon and Bert Sharbaugh both know of someone who is available to DJ for the evening, so we will still have dance music. Brad and Matt, we do hope to see you both at the party!

The Manatee trip in January was cancelled due to lack of interest. However, there is a trip to the Keys planned for February. The details for that trip are included with the newsletter.

We opened the floor for board member nominations, no more names were added, so the nominees are: Joe Gordon, Barb Wyland, Bert Sharbaugh, Denny Beecher Jeff Kerch and the Turcovsky’s. Elections will be held at the Christmas party.

A trip to Wegman’s in State College was discussed. We will go shopping for food and then cook it at Sylvia’s. When more details are decided on we will have it in the newsletter!

TRIP REPORTS:

Joe reported on the Virginia Beach trip. They arrived Friday night. The waves were about 3-4’, so the fish were well fed. They dove a tower and artificial reef. They didn’t see much because the visibility was only about 10’ because of a storm. They did see lots of starfish and a whale!

Jeff and Wendy Kerch reported on the Halloween dive. The water temperature was about 58, with vis around 15-20’. Ron Peterson won the $100 prize.. Everyone went to the Turcovsky’s for the chili cook-off. There were 4 types of chili, and it just so happens Wendy was proclaimed the winner! Congratulations! After everyone’s bellies were full, they watched a re-run of the Bearwitch Project.

Lois reported on the Rutgers trip. Unfortunately, it was cancelled because there were only 100 people signed up. (10 were from our club) We were thinking of other records to break, maybe the most amount of people on gear in Ron’s van at one time...?

John Augustine reported on several places he visited, among them was the river where Deliverance was filmed. He listened really hard, but didn’t hear any banjos.

Sue Morra and her students from St. Francis took a trip to Wabank, they had a good time! (Incidentally, Sue also reported that the students have started training for the annual Scuba Olympics)

Joe reported on a “treasure dive” at Raystown. He found an extendable stick, lost Lois, but she found some Oakley’s!

Donna reported on her trip to Galapagos. She went the 7th of October. They did 4 dives a day, mostly off Darwin Island. We watched an incredible video of the trip, and Donna saw 9 Whale sharks, schools of hammerheads, sea lions, turtles and an abundance of fish. Thank you Donna for sharing your trip with us!
 
UPCOMING TRIPS/EVENTS:

November 29, 2003, Mount Storm, after Thanksgiving dive. Contact Denny Beecher for more information.

December 6, 2003, Christmas Party, 6 p.m. The menu choices are listed above. We’ll be there with bells on, will you?

December 26-January 1, 2004, Keys trip with the Nittany Divers, usually leave PA, the 26th of December, drive to the Keys, camp at the KOA grounds, dive for 3 days and celebrate New Year’s on Key West. $119 for diving and camping, $90 just to camp. Contact Sylvia for more information.

January 1, 2004, Annual Ice Dive, 1 P.M. Come and get chilly with us!

February 5-9, 2004, Key Largo Trip, information is included with the newsletter. Contact Tom Davis or Donna Bender for more information.

April 24-May 1, 2004, Honduras, Co Co View Resort, Roatan, Honduras Bay Islands. All inclusive 7 day package 24/7 beach diving, 2-tank boat dive trips daily. $850 + tax. There are currently 10 people going. If you are interested, Tom needs $100 to hold the room and you need to book your airfare. Airfare is approximately $650 right now. Contact Tom Davis for more information.

July 16, 2004, Girls only trip to Morehead, contact Sandy Smith for more information.

August 14-15, 2004, Thousand Islands, a $70 deposit is required. Deposit is due ASAP. The first 10 people that signed up will be on the first boat. Another 10 people are needed for a second boat. The cost is $65/day, American. Sleeping arrangements will be made later. Contact John Augustine for more information

The daybook was $127. The winner was Joe Gordon, who drew his own name...

The door prize was a choice of tank banger and wrist slate. Barb Wyland was the winner and chose the wrist slate.

For Sale Items – can be found at LaurelDivers.com, and then select “Classified Ads”

Laurel Divers patches are available for $3.00.

If anyone is interested in adding any trips to our list please send all information to Laura@LaurelDivers.com. Thank you!

Looking to get out of the cold PA winters and head south for some great diving???  Do we have the deal for you! We found  a great deal on some diving in the Florida Keys – but the deal is an internet special that will require that each person book their own room and diving to get the special rate.  Rooms are limited so ACT NOW!

Airfare from Pittsburgh to Ft Lauderdale   $195
Contact Dana at World of Travel 814-765-3377 or 1-800-564-3500 Air Tran – Leaving Pittsburgh 2/5/04 at 6 a.m. – arriving Ft Lauderdale at 10:05 am (flight 989/71) Returning 2/9/04 air tran at 1:10 pm – arriving Pittsburgh at 7:23 pm (flight 604/986)

Accommodations at Amoray Dive Center in Key Largo Florida.  Rooms & 3 days of 2-tank dives $272.75 per person.  This includes taxes and is based on double occupancy.  Call 1-800-426-6729 to book.  Tell them you are with the Titanic Dive Center Group – this gets us on the dive boats together.

We will be renting vehicles – cost will depend on type and number of persons per vehicle.  As an example – a Ford Explorer with 4 people will run about $75 per person for the 4 days.  A minivan will run about the same.  Compact cars are available for approx $30/day

IF you are going, please make your reservations and contact Tom Davis at Titanic Dive Center or Donna Bender of Laurel Divers to confirm that you have made your reservations.   If you have any questions call Tom at 814-768-3483 or Donna Bender at 814-695-0540.