2004 Meetings and Social Events

• Dec. 14, 2004: Club Holiday Dinner at Amarone Restaurant. 27 club members joined a tasty evening of Italian food and friendly banter, followed by a few heading off to continue the evenings' fun at a local nightspot.
• Nov. 18, 2004: Club Meeting. 23 members heard from seasoned dive instructor Jeff Bachmann of Long Island Scuba on what you can see diving Long Island: the fish, critters, reefs, wrecks, etc. A group went out for dinner afterwards.
• Oct. 21, 2004: Club Meeting. Michael Lawrence, a VDC member and dive instructor, presented on diving with NITROX.
• Sept. 22, 2004: Club Meeting. Attendees enjoyed a fun club meeting called 'Fish Mate' with exercises including 'mating' with the same 'fish' of your species. Michael Greenberg, a VDC member, presented on Underwater Navigation.
• July 28, 2004: VDC Midsummer Social. VDC members Alex Knowlton and Frank ___ hosted the club with an evening of summer drinks and tasty treats.
• May 20, 2004: Club Meeting. Richard Blankfein, Volunteer Coordinator at the New York Aquarium, presented to 29 club members what the Wildlife Conservation Society is up to in their scuba diver filled tanks at the aquarium. A group went out for dinner afterwards.
• April 15, 2004: Club Meeting. Two experienced dive professionals on the forefront of recompression chamber facilities, Ron Brown and Dawn Salka, presented to the club on treating decompression illness ('the bends'). Robert Cowin of the Conserve Our Ocean Legacy Foundation also presented on the ecology of the ocean's resources. A group dinner followed.
• April 1, 2004: Club Social at XL Lounge
• March 27, 2004: Club Outing to the Beneath The Sea Scuba Diving Expo at the Meadowlands Convention Center, coordinated by VDC member Eric Heller.
• March 25, 2004: Club Meeting. Steve Barnett of the Divers Alert Network (DAN) presented to the club on "What The Traveling Diver Needs To Know". A group went out for dinner afterwards.
• March 20/21, 2004: GLBT Expo @ The Javits Center. The VDC was represented by a booth manned by 12 club members
• Feb. 19, 2004: Club Meeting. Dean Fessler of the Shark Research Institute talked about sharks and their real behavior and ecology, Diving Dominica presented by VDC members Enis Bengul and Daniel Johnson, and the DFL charity donations were finalized.
• Jan. 15, 2004: Club Meeting. Members got together to discuss dive safety and determine the DFL charity nominations. A group dinner followed.