D&R Divers History
Owners: Denny & Rita Thompson
In 1983 Denny & Rita went on a family vacation to Austin Lake, Canada where they enjoyed camping & fishing. Denny had gone to this lake for years doing a lot of fishing and just relaxing. Rita, not really being much of a fisherman decided to try her luck one afternoon with Denny going out in the boat to do a little fishing. To make a long story a little shorter, to Denny's surprise Rita lands in a very large pike. Of coarse Rita is very excited by this large fish, swearing it had to be the biggest one in the lake, Denny's reply "if a person went scuba diving he was sure they would see a lot bigger fish in the lake." So the following Spring Denny decided they take Scuba Lessons. They were certified at the Clarion University by Ken Minear a NAUI instructor. From 1984-1992 they enjoyed diving, but with no dive store in the area it was very limited sport for friends and family to try. In 1992 the couple decided to open D&R Divers. Rita went to Florida and took her Divemaster Course and Instructor Development Course from Keith Matson at the Florida Diving Institute where she completed the PADI Divemaster Course and PADI Instructor Development Course & Medic First Aid Instructor. In 1996 Rita went back to the Florida Diving Institute and completed her Staff Instructor Course, and in 1997 completed her Master Scuba Instructor. D&R offers classes ranging from Open Water Diver to Divemaster and many Specialty Classes including: Enriched Air Diver, Full Face Mask Diver, Search & Recovery Diver, Drift Diver, Underwater Navigator, Deep Diver, Night Diver, Wreck Diver, Ice Diver, Dry Suit Diver, & Equipment Specialist. D&R classes are available in Bradford, Brookville, Clarion, Clearfield, Curwensville, DuBois, Kane, Punxsy, Ridgway, Reynoldsville, & St Marys. D&R Divers is a "Full Service Dive Shop" offering Equipment Sales, Rentals, Repairs, Air Fills, Nitrox Fills, & Dive Travel. We are proud to say we celebrated our 10th Anniversary May 2002. Since 1996 the have been holding a annual underwater treasure hunt to benefit the Make-A-Wish Foundation raising over $127,478.60. Next years hunt is Saturday, May , 2006. Check out the Make-A-Wish section you might see a picture of someone you know. By the way if you want to see the big fish it's hanging in the store at D&R Divers.
History continues: In 2003 Denny and two of our Assistant Instructors Joanna Peace & Ray Imhof went to Blue Horizons Dive Center down near Philadelphia and completed their PADI Open Water Instructor Course with Nick Jennys. Denny, Joanna, and Ray all will be helping with classes and possibly running so trips for the 2004 season. We are very excited to add them on and looking forward to the year.
