Next Board Meeting: Sept. 29, 2004; Maurer Dive Shop. 7:30 p.m.

Next Regular Meeting: October 7, 2004, 7:30 P.M. at Penn Gables, Ebensburg

Aug. 25, 2004, 7:30 p.m., Old Farm Inn, Carrolltown, PA
Present: Donna Bender, Ron Peterson, John Augustine, Dan Turcovsky, Barb Wyland, Lois Keegan

Welcome back to Merritt Schultz who renewed his membership from overseas.

A discussion was held regarding meeting format and a questionnaire to membership regarding same.  The subject will be brought up at the next regular club meeting.  The Board also reviewed expenses over the past years and discussed fund raising, expenses, etc.

Meeting was adjourned.

September 2, 2004, Penn Gables, Ebensburg, PA

President Donna Bender brought the meeting to order with the Royal Conch Blowing.

Treasurer’s Report:
Ron Peterson, Treasurer, reports the following  amounts for August:  income of $184.00, expenses of $161.51 and an available checkbook balance of $1,749.43.

Ron reported on the deposit discrepancy found during the audit.  The deposit was recorded in the prior fiscal year.  Ron distributed financial statements dated July 31, 1998 – July 31, 2004.
A discussion was held on the financial condition of the club.  A general discussion followed on how to increase club membership.
Rose Maurer spoke about diver fees at the quarry.  It was decided to send letters to other dive shops reminding them of the diver fees.

BUSINESS

Merrit Schultz dues were received from overseas— Glad the newsletter is making it’s way to you, Merrit, and we all hope for a safe tour of duty.

UPCOMING EVENTS/TRIPS

September 12, 2004 - Raystown Picnic – Dan Turcovsky volunteered to bring his boat.  He will be at Raystown at 9:00 a.m. The club provides hamburgers and hotdogs. Bring a covered dish. We will picnic at the Oak Pavilion at Seven Points Marina.  There is electricity available for crock pots.

September 14, 2004 – Quarry clean-up, 6:00 p.m.

October 9-10, 2004 – Dutch Springs.  This trip will be weather dependent.

October 30, 2004 – Halloween Dive/Chili Cook-off

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 access to unlimited shore diving. All meals, rooms and transfers included. $1036 per person, double occupancy rooms. Airfare is approximately $500. A deposit of $100 is needed to hold your spot. Contact Dee Montgomery at (814) 944-8521 or check the website at www.bracreef.com/resortinformation.html for more information.

December 4, 2004 – Christmas Party at Penn Gables.  Dinner choices are Stuffed Chicken Breast - $17; Lasagna  - $17; Stuffed Pork Chop   - $17; and Baked Haddock - $20

December 26-January 10, 2005 - Australia with Sue Morra and Saint Francis University. Approximately $5000.00  Contact Sue for more information. 814.886.2053 or  smorra@sfcpa.edu)

Mid January, 2005 - Cozumel – Saturday to Saturday or Sunday to Sunday.  Airfare approximately $482 + $60 for bus and ferry.  Flying Cancun Airlines out of Reagan International.  Dive shop website: www.aquasafari.com 7 nights with 5 days of 2 tank dives plus 4 afternoon boat dives
Safari Inn: $432 (divers)/$157 (non-divers)
Hotel Bahia: $503/$228
Suites Colonial: $475/$200
Casa Mexicana: $662/$387
For more info:  contact Jim Smith at
814-696-1938
jcsdmd1@hotmail.com

NEW BUSINESS

A lengthy discussion was held concerning club membership and the format for club meetings.
It was decided not to continuously review upcoming trips.  It gets a little boring for those in attendance.  The upcoming monthly events will be reviewed and any new trips we are promoting will be presented but then the information will only be conveyed via newsletter.  Suggestions from club members for increasing membership and making the meetings more interesting included having speakers at each meeting.  The speakers could be volunteers from members of the club who have something to share—safety tips, dive information, personal experiences, etc.  Our club consists of a varied group of people with interesting things to say.

It was also suggested that if we have a new piece of equipment (show n’ tell), we could bring it to the meeting and show other club members.

Another suggestion was that perhaps we need more day trips for those club members who aren’t interested in or don’t have the time for overnight trips.

It was also decided that present active club members will contact old members by phone to ask them if they would be interested in coming back to the club. And if not, why?  Volunteers are needed. The idea of a by-mail questionnaire was scrapped because there was a general consensus that response to these types of surveys is usually poor.

Also discussed was whether we need more social activities and whether e-mail reminders prior to regular club meetings need to be sent out.

TRIP/DIVE REPORTS

Thousand Islands:  Jeff Kerch reported. The dives consisted of two days of three tank boat dives done on Saturday and Sunday.  Saturday’s weather was cool and cloudy but Sunday was beautiful. The air temperature was in the 70°s and it was sunny.  The water was about 67°-68°. Visibility was probably 30 to 50 feet.  We filled two boats of ten divers each and this included members of the Nittany Divers. The dives were enjoyable with a brisk current on some.  The depth ranged from 115’ to around 55’.  Diving was done on five wrecks.  The wreck of the Keystorm was done twice.

Sylvia MacKinnon thanked the Laurel Divers for opening the second boat (Thousand Island trip) to the Nittany Divers.  She said they all a great time.

Since the club has been to Thousand Islands three years in a row and seen the same wrecks, Clyde Mighells suggested Wolf Island near Kingston, Ontario.  Clyde is going to get information on that trip and will get back to the club.

The daybook was $20!  Winner was Rose Maurer who was present.
 
The door prize was a retractor - Won by Everett Newkirk.

Meeting was adjourned.

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 wkerc@uplink.net Thank you!

The next Board meeting will be at Maurer Dive shop on September 29, 2004 at 7:30 p.m.

The next regular Club Meeting will be on Thursday, October 7, 2004 at Penn Gables at 7:30 p.m.

--Wendy Kerch