With tomorrow being Thanksgiving, remember to take time to remember what you’re thankful for. Extreme Sports Scuba wants you to know to that we are very Thankful for all of you. We hope that you have a wonderful and Happy Thanksgiving.
Keep in mind that Saturday is Small Business Saturday and we’re celebrating you. Please stop and see us. 
And a few Quick reminders:
December 5th is the Dive Club Meeting
December 10th is a Try it Tuesday
A few times now in different posts I have referred to Try it Tuesday. Plus the instructors always mention that it is best to try out scuba diving in a controlled environment. So just what is a Try it Tuesday you ask? Well you’re in for a treat.
Try it Tuesday is an opportunity for an individual who is thinking about giving scuba diving a try to come into a swimming pool environment, strap on the gear, and “give it a try.”
If you missed the November Dive club meeting, again, you missed a great meeting. As I’ve said before, we know how to eat and we know how to eat well. This month’s meeting started off with dinner from Gringo’s.
Upcoming Dates:
Tuesday November 12,2013, there will be a Try it Tuesday at Five Mile Camp. If you know someone who is considering diving and would like to try it, this is definitely the place and time to give it a try. If you have any questions, please contact the Dive Shop.
December Dive Club Meeting will be held on Thursday, December 5th, 2013. A suggestion was made to do a bake sale to help raise money for Christmas for Kids. If you have any suggestions or ideas, let the Dive Shop know.
Other Business:
Kayaks: Extreme Sports Scuba is working on getting new Kayak rentals for 2014. That means that soon the 2013 rentals will be cleaned up and up for sale. Keep your eyes open if you’re interested!
New Website: The website has been under construction for a few months know. You should check it out and definitely take the “SCUBA Quiz.” Check back regularly for new and improved items on the great new website!
Photo Contest is still going on over on the Facebook Site. If you are interested in adding your photo or if you haven’t voted yet, please head over now and sign up/vote! Remember the winning photo will be displayed on the outdoor sign where a photo of Deb & Grady currently resides.
Now that we are all coming off of our sugar high from Halloween and finally made it into the month of November, we’re all waiting for that turkey. Here’s to the tryptophan-induced coma that comes at the end of the month.
I’m sure most everyone has walked into a store these days and noticed the Christmas displays that have been haunting the aisles for over a month now. We definitely don’t want to jump holidays and forget about Thanksgiving, but Saturday, November 2, 2013, we made an exception.
Saturday night was the first ever Newton County Christmas for Kids Bonfire and Chili Cook-off. The event was created as a way to raise funds for the kids of Newton County. Deb & Grady Weston hosted the fundraising event at their house. Chili cook-off contestants made a pot of their best chili, paid $10 to enter their chili in the cook-off and let the judges do their job.
I caught Grady at the Dive club meeting in October but Deb was a little busy so I told her I’d catch her another time. Sunday October 20, 2013, while tailgating at the KC Chiefs game, Deb was sitting in a chair next to me and I figured that was as good of time as any to hit her up with the interview questions. I asked her if she minded and she said absolutely not, she was game.
How did you get started diving?
Grady’s classes were bought at an auction. His instructor kept bugging me and bugging me to come try it out so I did an intro to prove I could do it. Then I found out I loved it.
How long have you been diving?
Since 1990.
Fall is in the air. Not only does fall bring with it cooler temperatures, holidays, and shorter days, but it brings on Football Season. I was raised up that there were 2 teams, the Kansas City Chiefs and anyone who could beat the Oakland Raiders. Although Dan La Due pointed out to me this weekend there are times when you hope Oakland wins a game.
Along with Scuba Diving, there are other elements that make us up as individuals. I have noticed in the short time I’ve been able to hang out with the Extreme Sport Scuba divers that there are a lot of Kansas City Chiefs fans. In fact, the Weston’s and La Due’s are season ticket holders. Dan is a Red Coater and Grady will receive his Red Coat in December.
You might be asking what a Red Coater is, well get ready to be wowed. The Kansas City Chief Red Coaters is a community-service based organization that for 50 years has served the city, surrounding communities, the region and of course the KC Chiefs. They also get to be on the field to express their support on game day by holding flags as the Chief players enter the field at Arrowhead Stadium.
This weekend Mark and I had the opportunity to experience a Kansas City Chiefs game Extreme Sports Style.
Prior to kick off there was a lot of tailgating fans. Dan walked us around and introduced us to a lot of the fans. There were all kinds of party buses and even hearses that had caskets made into bar-b-q grills. These people know how to get down and have a good time.
So, you’re thinking about becoming Scuba Certified? Or, You’ve just become certified and wonder what you can accomplish next. If you’ve done your research, you know that Grady and Deb teach through SDI or Scuba Diving International. This post is part 1 of the different types of certifications you can achieve through SDI and Extreme Sports Scuba. If you happen to find something you’d like to know more about, contact one of the instructors at Extreme Sports Scuba and they can hook you up. So, without further delay, here is a listing of the first installment of dive certifications you can achieve.
The SDI Open Water Scuba Diver course is an entry-level certification course designed to give you the necessary skills to safely conduct open water dives. Some of the skills you will learn include buoyancy, proper weighting, marine conservation, equipment assembly, proper dive planning, and maintenance. It covers all the basic knowledge about equipment, physiology and the marine environment while training students to perform basic skills underwater. This course is the key to start exploring dive destinations around the globe or just in your backyard.
The weekend of October 5th and 6th Extreme Sports Scuba had eight new open-water divers successfully complete the program.
Deb Weston and Dan La Due helped eight new students through their classroom work, pool classes and finally successfully taking them through the open-water at the lake. Due to the government shutdown, at the last minute lake classes were moved to Stockton Lake thanks to the Stockton Lake Park Ranger.
Saturday’s weather was less than favorable conditions due to the high temperature that day coming in at 73 degrees as well as rain and wind. Normally you can dive in rainy conditions however the first day of lake classes got delayed due to lightening. Once they got going though, other than the wind making the water choppy, classes went well.
Sunday morning’s classes had a quicker start to the day. The weather was partially cloudy but calm but only reached a high of 59 degrees. The students were able to start right away and were finished up by around 11am, just in time for the new certified divers to partake in the 16th Annual Underwater Pumpkin Carving if they so chose.
When you think of fall, you think of shorter days, longer nights, cooler weather and sweaters, and pumpkin carving. What’s more fun than pumpkin carving? Underwater pumpkin carving. Yes, you read that correctly. Not only are you scuba diving, but you are underwater with a buoyant pumpkin trying to keep it down all while trying to carve the winning pumpkin.
Sunday October 6th, 2013, seventeen divers tried just that. The contest started at 1pm. They were allowed 45 minutes or a low pressure of 500psi whichever came first. The pumpkins had to be as you purchased them from the store, therefore no markings, no patterns, no traces of cuts anywhere.
Kim Brungard and I went around trying to snap photos of all the participants. Have you ever tried snapping photos in pumpkin gut filled waters? Definitely not as easy as I thought it would be. 
I thought it would only be fitting to sit down with each of our instructors and get to know them on a more personal level. Sure, we all know who Grady is, but I thought it would be fun to do an interview and ask some basic questions. I actually caught him the night of the October Dive Club meeting while he had his feet kicked up on the desk and I’m pretty sure he was playing a computer game. I stumped him once but told him that this wasn’t a test for a grade so he was doing just fine .
How did you get started diving? You know as in what made you take the leap into the water.
I grew up at Grand Lake, always had a mask and fins but was tired of not being able to see anything. When I was 32 years old I was at a charity auction and wound up purchasing 2 classes.
How long have you been diving?
I was certified in 1989.
How many dives do you make in a typical year?
About 200.