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Post subject: 50 years later, Gillmen still exploring the deep
 Posted: Nov 08, 2006 - 01:09 AM
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Puffer
Joined: Dec 31, 1969
Posts: 73
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50 years later, Gillmen still exploring the deep
By: John Karas
EastHartfordGazette.com 11/02/2006
They have explored sunken ships, helped police search for bodies in lakes
and rivers, and offered a taste of adventure to hundreds of gravely ill
children.
October 28, old and new members of the Gillmen Dive Club - the third oldest
diving club in the United States and the oldest in Connecticut - braved
stormy weather to celebrate the group's golden anniversary at the Marco
Polo Restaurant on Burnside Avenue.
Wet weather was fitting for a group that prides itself on shared love for a
watery sport.
"There are people who know how to dive, there are people who scuba dive,
and then there are scuba-divers," said Woody Tinsley, a member of the club
who works for the town of East Hartford. "I'm a scuba diver. I go all the
time. And these are like-minded people who give me the opportunity to do
this."
"I can't count how many dives I have," adds Eric Simon, "and my son,
Ricky,
has over 100 dives, this year alone."
"Dive safe and dive often" is the motto of Lee Prettyman Jr. Director of
aquatics for the Hartford YMCA in the 1950s, he and some friends
established the Gillmen. Officially organized June 16, 1956, the Aqualung
enthusiasts took the name of the amphibious monster of then-popular horror
movie "The Creature from the Black Lagoon" as a way to reflect mastery of
the watery world.
So "Gillmen" they were, and soon lived up to the name: Few dive clubs in
America have had an impact on the sport of diving that the Gillmen have
had. The group played a key role in developing what became the YMCA's
National Scuba Training Model. And more than 4,000 divers have received
certifications from the club's instructors.
There were many stories to tell October 28 as they gathered here in East
Hartford to look back on 50 years of diving adventure.
"We have with us old-time members that we haven't seen for 35 to 40 years,"
said Bob Buettner, a member of the Gillmen Club since 1978. He and his
fellow diving enthusiasts shared memories of underwater explorations around
the world, and tales of adventure and discoveries that only they could
fully appreciate.
For other visitors the club organized an exhibition of artifacts. Vintage
diving equipment and spectacular 'finds' recovered from old shipwrecks
opened a vivid window on the past. There were objects from the Norwegian
freighter Volund from Bergen than sank in Long Island Sound in 1908 -
thankfully, without loss of life, says Eric Simon, who explored the wreck
with his son. They both held up two large brass plates that, at one time,
were attached to the ship's steering wheels.
"It was a steel ship, and the steering wheel was about six feet in
diameter," Simon explained. "In the center of it was this brass plate that
covered the nut it was attached on. The wheel was wooden with a brass
inlay, and we found a part of it."
There was brass scrap from the cargo of the freigher "Ramses" that went
down off Cape Cod in the 1800s. Among them brass lamps and also small brass
cases in which a well-known Massachusetts watch company shipped its watch
movements.
"These were for made for the watches of Waltham Watch Company," said Simon.
"The curator of the museum that houses the company's equipment and
memorabilia heard about this from a gentlemen in the marina, and called me.
We ended up going there to see all the things that they have."
There were small brass figurines recovered from a wreck in Lake George -
"Maybe part of a broach," ventured Simon - and pieces of jewelry.
For many visitors, however, the most interesting artifact was what at its
time must have been the most mundane one: what looked like an earthenware
funnel with a lever and a brass cover attached, but which, in reality, was
a toilet seat bowl from Volund.
"Divers bring up anything we can get our hands on," joked Cynthia Butts,
president of the Gillmen Club.
In truth, that porcelain bowl was a true archaeological find: a real
eye-opener on the conditions sailors aboard turn of 19th century ships
lived under, and provided a good reminder of how much hygiene has
progressed over the past century.
Simon said that much of the work that members of the club do every year is
archaeological, and the club had a leading role in the discovering and
exploring the Cornfield Point Lightship - the LV51 - which is the only
vessel recognized by the state of Connecticut as an underwater
archeological historical preserve.
"One of our club boats was actually towing the side-scan sonar that
discovered the boat," Simon said, "and we dove the boat. It was in 190 feet
of water - we had about a 28 minute bottom time. But we had 45 minutes of
decompression."
Archeology and treasure hunting are all a part of the fun of being a diver.
But the Gillmen also offer a great contribution to a much nobler cause -
giving children suffering from cancer and other life-threatening deceases a
taste of adventure and excitement. Through "Frogmen Volunteers," a group
the club formed, members organize every year a diving session for the
children at the Hole-in-the-Wall Camp, in Ashford. It gives gravely ill
children the thrill of underwater activities at the camp's lake.
"We take them in three feet of water and we have underwater checkers,
underwater tic-tack-toe, we play games with them." Buettner said. "The kids
love it. They think they are Jacques Cousteau, Mike Nelson, and all the
rest of them."
Buettner said that doctors at the camp told the Gillmen that the children
would never be able to do diving without the club's help. "Doctors say
there would be too many complications. But the kids love it. We started
going in the Hole-in-the-Wall in 1988, when they first started the camp,
and we are always invited to come back. It's a great program."
The Hole-in-the-Wall program and the many other contributions of the
Gillmen Club over the 50-year-life of the group history prompted Governor
M. Jodi Rell, to officially proclaim October 28 "Gillmen Day" in the State
of Connecticut.
Tinsley said that the tribute is well deserved.
"I stated diving in New Hampshire 10 years ago," he said, "and when I came
in Connecticut, three years ago, I just wanted to do reef-diving. Then I
joined the Gillmen, and I realized what they did. I said 'this is the
varsity team of scuba diving.'"
The Gillmen Club has been meeting in East Hartford for the last 47 years.
It now meets at Marco Polo Restaurant the last Thursday of every month.
Information on the club's activities and history can be found on
www.gillmen.org |
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