Scuba diving club to celebrate 50 years

A local scuba diving club that has dedicated time each year to help clean up the Columbia River is celebrating its golden anniversary.

The Tri-Cities Atomic Ducks Dive Club will kick off its 50th anniversary party Saturday with a treasure hunt dive around 9 a.m. at Howard Amon Park, near the gazebo off Newton Street.

A potluck lunch will follow at 1 p.m.

Dive club members said in the early years, scuba diving was considered a man's sport and the dive club was for men only, but by the late 1960s a few women joined the group.

The club now promotes safe diving for all and includes newly certified open water divers up to master divers.

The Atomic Ducks used to conduct cleanup dives in the Columbia River, typically after boat race weekend, and now conduct annual Earth Day dives.

Over the years, they have removed several tons of bottles, tired, barrels, old anchors, fishing equipment and other debris from the river. They also have recovered cell phones, stolen cars and racing props.

More information about the dive club can be found online at ducksdiveclub.org . Past dive club members are encouraged to attend.

This story was originally published August 20, 2010 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Scuba diving club to celebrate 50 years ."