September 21, 2022
Curious Minds Gather for Meet the Divers Recognition Event at Roaring River
Mike Young, lead diver and owner of KISS Rebreathers, is shown above answering questions at Saturday's Meet the Divers event.
Adriana Keeton
A recognition event for the Roaring River Expedition Dive Team was held Saturday, September 17, at the Emory Melton Inn and Conference Center at Roaring River State Park. The event was hosted by Missouri State Parks and the Cassville Democrat.
Opening speaker, Sheila Harris, has been following the dive team's record-breaking dives into the Roaring River Spring Cave since inception in May of 2021. She gave a short speech and introduced members of the expedition dive team.
Jordan Troutman, wife of Cassville Democrat Editor Kyle Troutman, then read a letter from the spearhead of the event in his absence, due to a prior commitment.
Joel Topham, Superintendent of Roaring River State Park, also addressed the audience and introduced state park officials who were present.
Gayle Orner, the only female diver with the expedition dive team, then gave a presentation on the basic rules of cave diving, the safety measures used, and went over the objectives of the monthly dives into the spring cave, which are to safely explore and map the spring cave as well as produce a documentary on the exploration, while surveying for cave life. To get a better understanding of the 472 foot record breaking depth of the spring cave set in November of 2021, Orner compared the Statue of Liberty, which stands at 305 feet and the Washington Monument, which rises to a height of 555 feet.
Mike Young, lead diver and owner of KISS Rebreathers took the podium next and showed a short video of dive footage that will be used for the documentary while answering audience questions. The dive team had hoped to possibly explore past the 472 feet mark during this visit, but due to water clarity aborted at approximately 350 feet. A member in the audience questioned if the water clarity could be due to the 2.1 magnitude earthquake on September 14, near the Missouri boot heel and Northeast Arkansas. Young stated it would explain the disturbance of a rock formation and water clarity within the cave system.
To cap off the event, Missouri Senator Mike Moon presented each diver of the Roaring River Expedition Dive Team with a Senate Resolution plague to recognize their achievements.
Refreshments were served at the event by Roaring River State Park Concessionaire David Waugh.
A recognition event for the Roaring River Expedition Dive Team was held Saturday, September 17, at the Emory Melton Inn and Conference Center at Roaring River State Park. The event was hosted by Missouri State Parks and the Cassville Democrat.
Opening speaker, Sheila Harris, has been following the dive team's record-breaking dives into the Roaring River Spring Cave since inception in May of 2021. She gave a short speech and introduced members of the expedition dive team.
Jordan Troutman, wife of Cassville Democrat Editor Kyle Troutman, then read a letter from the spearhead of the event in his absence, due to a prior commitment.
Joel Topham, Superintendent of Roaring River State Park, also addressed the audience and introduced state park officials who were present.
Gayle Orner, the only female diver with the expedition dive team, then gave a presentation on the basic rules of cave diving, the safety measures used, and went over the objectives of the monthly dives into the spring cave, which are to safely explore and map the spring cave as well as produce a documentary on the exploration, while surveying for cave life. To get a better understanding of the 472 foot record breaking depth of the spring cave set in November of 2021, Orner compared the Statue of Liberty, which stands at 305 feet and the Washington Monument, which rises to a height of 555 feet.
Mike Young, lead diver and owner of KISS Rebreathers took the podium next and showed a short video of dive footage that will be used for the documentary while answering audience questions. The dive team had hoped to possibly explore past the 472 feet mark during this visit, but due to water clarity aborted at approximately 350 feet. A member in the audience questioned if the water clarity could be due to the 2.1 magnitude earthquake on September 14, near the Missouri boot heel and Northeast Arkansas. Young stated it would explain the disturbance of a rock formation and water clarity within the cave system.
To cap off the event, Missouri Senator Mike Moon presented each diver of the Roaring River Expedition Dive Team with a Senate Resolution plague to recognize their achievements.
Refreshments were served at the event by Roaring River State Park Concessionaire David Waugh.
