LABOR DAY 2002 - Page 1

THE LABOR DAY DIVE RALLY for 2002 was held August 31-September 2 at the Willow Springs Quarry Park just west of Reading, Pennsylvania. The Rally began Saturday morning, August 31, with veteran diver Darol Murphy (left) trying out his Desco pot hat and wetsuit -- how about them boots! Retired Marine Sgt. Ray Butts is no longer physically able to dive, but newcomer Suly Novak helped dress him out in his MkV for photos (below).

SULY NOVAK (with a delightful Czech accent), an experienced scuba diver who worked dive boats in Israel before coming to New York, made his first surface-supplied dive in Chuck Thompson's SuperLite 17 mated to Ray Tucker's Amron drysuit. Suly had such a grin (above left) that it showed beyond the oral/nasal in the helmet! He was a very happy camper as Ray Tucker removed the hat after the dive (above right). New member Cliff Haugen from Philadelphia is on the right behind Suly. "Just say NO to crack" took on a whole new meaning as Suly and Cliff helped dress Chuck Thompson into the rig (below left). Somebody told Chuck to "go jump in the lake," so he did (below right).

CLIFF HAUGEN took his turn in the SuperLite rig, and even wore his glasses inside the hat (above left). He emerged another happy camper and posed with tenders Todd Storey (behind) and David Tidmarsh (right), a member of the Historical Diving Society in England, who came to the USA for the dive rally.

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