Next Board Meeting: March 24, 7:30 P.M., at Maurer’s Dive Shop
Next Regular Meeting: April 1, 2004, 7:30 P.M. at Penn Gables, Ebensburg

March 4, 2003, Penn Gables, Ebensburg, PA
Donna Bender called the meeting to order.

Treasurers report:
Ron Peterson read the treasurer’s report. There was a total income of $236; total expenses of $176.01; leaving the available checkbook balance $1983.44

New Member:
The club would like to welcome Raymond Jacob. He was  certified in October through Maurer Dive Shop. Welcome aboard Raymond!

It’s fundraiser time! If you did not pick up your tickets at the meeting, they will be sent to you! The tickets are $2 each. The ticket holders have to chance to win $100 a day for 5 days based on the lottery numbers for May 24-28. Ticket money must be turned in to John Augustine by May 17th.

The calendar has been planned for the upcoming year. If you receive your newsletter by e-mail you can get on the Laurel Divers Website for a copy.

Denise Horne is willing to teach a CPR course, signs will start in April, the course date will then be set later.

The club will be buying a 50/50ticket from the Make-A-Wish foundation for $100 and the chance to win $5000. If we win, the monies will go to the treasury.

Deposits are due now for the June 25-27 trip to Morehead City. The amount is $150. The final payment of $105 is due by May 6th. We need to know what room arrangements you want so that the rooms can be booked. This trip has now been opened to non club members. The sign up is now first come first serve.

Everyone that signed up for the Beneath the Seas trip, your rooms have been booked.

For anyone interested in the Thousand Island trip, we need a $70 deposit to hold your spot on the second boat. The remaining spots have been opened to the Nittany Divers. The final payment of $70 will be due by July 1st meeting.

Lois reported on the “Clampet’s go to Wegman’s” trip. The store was packed with variety, great prices and better food. The crew shopped for two hours, then retreated to cook all of their finds. No one walked away hungry!
Special thanks go out to Laurel Diver Sylvia MacKinnon for excellent directions and planning for the day.  A big thank you also to Sylvia’s beau, Gary, for hosting the “after shop” event and opening his house to us for the remainder of the day.  Gary treated out Laurel Divers to his special “grilled smoked salmon” which was the hit of the meal.  Thanks Gary!

Jim Smith showed a video on their recent trip to Cozumel. They had great weather and wonderful diving. Thank you Jim for sharing your video.

March 20, 2004, Discover Scuba, Maurer’s Pool, 6-9 p.m.

March 26-28, 2004, Beneath the Seas, contact Donna Bender (814 695-0540), or go online to: www.beneaththeseas.org for more information.

April 17, 2004, after Easter dive, 1 p.m., at the quarry.

April 24-May 1, 2004, Honduras, Co Co View Resort, Roatan, Honduras Bay Islands. All inclusive 7 day package including: 24/7 beach diving and 2-tank boat dive trips daily. $850 + tax. Contact Tom Davis for more information.
(814 768-3483)

May 18, 2004 Quarry clean up and road repair, 6 p.m., bring a shovel and lend a hand.

May 21, 2004, 7 p.m. this Friday will be the kick off for our Every Other Friday Night Dives or EOFND.

May 22, 2004, Make-A-Wish dive, 12 p.m. Contact Donna Bender for more information. (814 695-0540)

June 24-28, 2004, Morehead City, $85 per day, three days of diving will be $255. $150 due when signing up for trip. The balance will be due by May 6, 2004. Contact Jim Smith for more information.
(814 696-1938 or jcsdmd1@hotmail.com)

July 3, 2004, 4th of July weekend dive, 1 p.m. at the quarry.

July 16-18, 2004, Treasure Dive weekend, the set-up will be the 16the, the party will be the 17th, and the dive will be the 18th.

July 16, 2004, Girls only trip to Morehead, contact Sandy Smith for more information. (814 696-1938)

August 13-16, 2004, Thousand Islands, a $70 deposit is required, with the final payment of $60 due by June 30th. Deposit is due ASAP. The first 10 people that signed up will be on the first boat. The remaining spots have been opened to the Nittany Divers. The cost is $65/day, American. Sleeping arrangements will be made later. Contact John Augustine for more information (814 942-8267)

August 28-29, 2004, Thousand Island trip with Dee and Harvey Montgomery. Contact Dee at (814) 944-8521.

November 13-20, 2004, Cayman Brac Resort, six 2 tank boat dives on Brac’s pristine reefs, dive the Russian Destroyer Tibbitts, the famous Bloody wall and have unlimited shore diving. All meal, rooms and transfers included. $1036 per person, double occupancy rooms. Airfare approximately $500. A deposit of $100 is needed to hold your spot. Contact Dee Montgomery at  (814) 944-8521 or check www.bracreef.com/resortinformation.html for more information.

December 26-January 10, 2005, Australia with Sue Morra and Saint Francis College. Contact Sue for more information. (814 886-2053 or smorra@sfcpa.edu)

A possible trip to Bahamas aboard the Dream Too to swim with the dolphins for May or early June 2005 is being looked into. Donna Bender will be presenting a video and information at the March meeting. The cost would be $1300 per person plus $75 port fees if 11 book the trip. If 10 book the cost will be $1425 plus port fees.

The day book was $19 and the winner was Shelly Kirkpatrick who was not present. The monies will be rolled over to next month.

The door prizes were Sea drops, ear drops, a blinking light for a tank and a Laurel Divers sticker, which were won by Arlene McCully.

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!

--- Laura Butler