Richmond Dive Club – April 2022 Membership Meeting

Tuesday, April 12, 2022

Meeting held at O’Toole’s Restaurant and Pub Forest Hill Ave. Richmond and Virtually via Zoom.

Club President, Jim Dacey began the meeting at 6:59 pm.

SWAP MEET

   • Jim announced the scuba gear swap meet being held in the back meeting room of O’Toole’s beginning at 6 pm.

   • Discussed rules regarding members and non-members selling equipment.

      o No fee to members to sell equipment.

      o $10 fee to non-members to sell equipment.

      o Sellers and buyers participate with the understanding that equipment sold will be as-is and must be checked by a qualified         technician prior to use.

      o There shall be no liability to RDC, its Board of Directors or its members as a result of any sale.

      o There will be no income to RDC, with the exception of the $10 non-member fee, resulting from swap meet sales.

SCIENCE MUSEUM OF VIRGINIA – PLANET SHARK

   • Holly discussed the upcoming exhibit and the desire from the museum to have RDC members volunteer to interact with attendees to share their knowledge of sharks, experiences, pictures, etc., during the length of the exhibit dates, but also at the following events.

      o An adult only night will be held at the exhibit on Friday, June 3. Museum would love to have a good turnout of RDC members to share their shark knowledge with attendees.

      o Kids camp will be held July 25-29.

      o Lunch Break Science Wednesday. Tanya Houppermans is expected to be a presenter.

   • An email will be sent out from RDC to the members with a link to an informational video.

   • A question was raised by a member regarding RDC working with Scouts on the Scuba Merit Badge.

DIVE DESTINATIONS

   • Debi just back from seven days in Little Cayman.

   • Jim and Brett just back from a Florida Springs trip.

      o Dove Blue Grotto and Ginny Springs.

RDC BOD MEETING

   • March 24th meeting held at Mi Hacienda Restaurant in Richmond.

   • Meeting was 2.5 hours in length.

   • Attendees were:

      o Jim Dacey

      o Larry Knorr

      o Debi Moir

      o Bart Drummond

      o William Sawyer (Fluvanna Dive Center)

      o Larry Antonacci (Fluvanna Dive Center)

   • Discussed the following:

      o Diver Days

      o RDC Membership and goals

      o Swap Meet

      o Science Museum of Virginia

      o Upcoming guest speakers

      o Bylaws

   ▪ BOD to look at bylaws between now and next BOD meeting to determine changes we think need to be made. Some committees and items are no longer relevant

   ▪ Changes to bylaws would be sent out to membership with 30 days advance notice for review prior to being voted on at a normal club meeting.

   ▪ Decisions made by the Board regarding updates to the current Bylaws: Remove any reference to “Skin Diving” from the Bylaws.

   • Article 3.1.1 – Remove “Skin Diving”

   • Article 3.1.5 - Remove “Skin Diving”

   • Article 3.1.7 – Remove “such as underwater cleanups for the benefit of the diving community at large.”

   • Article 3.2 – Remove all of 3.2 (3.2.1, 3.2.2 and 3.2.3)

   • Article 3.3 – Remove “or monitor the skills and experience of its members.” Agreed to revisit this article, if required, later if clarity is needed regarding instruction.

   • Article 4.5 – Change to “complete an application”. Noted that a change will need to be made in Wild Apricot to add a waiver to the membership application.

   • Article 5.1 – Remove entire statement regarding “past President”.

   • Article 6.1 – Remove “Ex-Officio Officer”.

   • Article 6.1.5 – Remove article.

   • Article 7.1.1 – Remove article.

   • Article 7.1.2 – Remove article.

   • Article 7.1.3 – Remove article.

   • Article 7.1.5 – Remove article.

   • Article 8.1 – Remove section beginning with “with the exception of the Treasurer.”

   • Article 8.3 – Remove “appoint a nominating committee in August of each year, whose duties shall be to”.

   • Article 8.4 – Remove statement after “all elections shall be for a term of one year.”

   • Article 8.5 – Remove statement regarding “Ex-Officio Officer”.

   • Article 9.1 – Change Annual Meeting to October.

DIVER DAYS

   • Discussed the dates of RDC Diver Days for 2022.

      o Sunday, 5/22 GOOSE Day

      o Friday, 6/17

      o Saturday, 6/18

      o Wednesday, 7/13

      o Sunday, 7/24

      o Wednesday, 8/10

      o Sunday, 8/28

      o Sunday, 9/18

   • Diver Days for June to be combined over the course of one Friday and Saturday, June 17 and 18, with the ability for members to camp at Lake Phoenix on Friday night. RDC to cover Lake entry for Friday and Saturday but camping fees and other related costs will be at member expense. RDC will try to reserve the Lake Phoenix Group Campground for RDC members to be allowed to camp together.

THANKS TO OUR BOD

   • Jim Dacey

   • Bart Drummond

   • Debi Moir

   • Larry Knorr

   • Warren Bowman

SCUBA SERVICE TO DO LIST

   • Jim went over some of the items to be considered now that dive season is fast approaching.

      o Regulators

      o BCD

      o Dive Computers and Batteries

      o Tanks – VIP and Hydro

      o New Wetsuit?

THANK YOU TO RDC CORPORATE SPONSORS

   • Tri City Scuba

   • Lake Phoenix

   • Brunswick Scuba

   • Fluvanna Dive Center

   • The Dive Shop

UPCOMING FIRST AID AND SAFETY CLASS

   • A special First Aid, CPR, AED class will be given by Dalelynn Simms of Brunswick Scuba. The cost will be a special discounted price for Richmond Dive Club members only for $45 per person, we have 4 spots that are still available for the class. This class will fill up quickly, spaces are limited, so sign up now. Lunch will be provided by the Richmond Dive Club.

      o Classroom session will be held on May 7, 2022, from 9 AM to 5 PM.

      o The classroom location will be at:

          ▪ Tri-City & Adventure Center 2025 Boulevard Colonial Heights, Virginia 23834

TREASURER’S REPORT

   • $6,510 currently in the bank

   • Memberships

      o Corporate – 5

      o Family – 20

      o Individual – 40

5-MINUTE TIPS FROM FLUVANNA DIVE CENTER

   • Larry Antonacci, from Fluvanna Dive Center, gave a 5-minute talk on preparing your gear for the upcoming season.

   • Some of his tips were:

      o The importance of not waiting until the last minute before a dive trip to have gear inspected and serviced.

      o Checking wetsuits for fit after the winter months.

      o Taking tanks in for Hydro during the winter months when things are slower.

      o When purchasing new regs, ask if 1st year service is free. Some manufactures offer free parts every other year. Some may recommend only a bench test versus parts replacement if the regs haven’t been heavily used.

Business meeting ended at 7:19 pm.

PRESENTATION

   • Plant a Million Corals Foundation

      o Dr. David Vaughn and Dee Dee Vaughn provided a very informative presentation on the Foundation, how they can propagate      elkhorn coral at a faster rate by cutting it into smaller pieces and the work they are doing to plant one million corals in a year.

The presentation ended at 8:10 pm.

The next meeting will be held on May 10, 2022, at O’Toole’s Restaurant and Pub at 7 pm, with the meeting also broadcast virtually on Zoom.