WINE & CHEESE PARTY AND ARCTIC DIVE WITH THE REBELS

It’s February!

Time for our Annual Arctic Dive and Wine & Cheese Event at Lake Murray, OK. The Diving Rebels & Scubadillos will be heading north of the Texas boarder to Oklahoma on Feb. 24th. We would like to invite any interested divers and non-divers to join us. Lake Murray State Park is located about 24 miles north of the Texas border just off I-35 and 7 miles northeast of Marietta, OK. This is an easy day trip – only 1:30 – 2:00 hours from DFW. As in past years, the park has been opened a week earlier than normal to accommodate our event. It will be open to the public also at that time but is not publicized so on the park website. Mr. Joseph Hahn, the Lake Murray State Park manager (also a diver) is to thank for this. The Diving Rebels have reserved three of these campsites – 9, 17, and 19. Site 17 will be utilized exclusively for he outing operations area – food, contest, etc. Sites 9 and 14 are available for reservation through Jim Magnuson with payment at the rates noted above. Many sites are still available for camping BUT none are reserved for us, so if you want to camp, we urge you to reserve your spot ASAP. To reserves the sites, go to https://guestrez.megasyshms.com/…/lake…/SearchCriteria/ be sure to select the date: Feb 24 and the park MARIETTA LANDING and CLICK SEARCH to see what is available, or you can call the park office at (580) 223-4044 and ask for Tracy. There may also be accommodation at the park lodge as well as cabins. Traditionally, for those spending the night at the park, we meet for breakfast at the beautifully refurbished lodge as the dining area provides an impressive overlook of the lake

DIVING
Although there is no official dive time scheduled, there is an unofficial time dive of 11 AM there at the campground boat ramp area. Should you not be able to make that time, the lake is continually open for your diving pleasure on an ad hoc basis, so you can make your own arrangements as desired. It should go without saying that one needs to be prepared for cold water diving so bring the appropriate gear (thick wet suits or drysuits).

WINE AND CHEESE CONTEST
We will have our famous and traditional wine and cheese contest where we utilize a panel of just slightly less than sommelier-quality judges (if you don’t have an entry, you can be a judge) who will rate and award prizes for best red wine, best white wine, worst wine, and best cheese. The judging will begin about 3:30 PM. So, scour your wine cellar or favorite liquor store to bring your best/worst red and white wines that will be judged by an erudite panel of vintner wannabes who will closely taste and scrutinize the entries for bouquet, flavor, clarity, and all such hoity-toity wine things. We’ll award “winner” gift certificates for first prize for the best red and white wines. We’ll also award a “loser” gift certificate for the worst wine. After the wine contest, we’ll choose the best cheese, and the winner will also win a gift certificate (no entries for worst cheese, please!!). We need judges for both contests, so if you are not a contest participant or related to a contest participant and would like to judge, please let me know. Please bring your bottles uncorked to the judging site and place them in the provided labeled paper bags to maintain the “secrecy” of the process. After the conclusion of the contest, please feel free to incorporate the left-over wine and cheese into the forthcoming meal.

FOOD
The Diving Rebels plan to serve a meal at about 4:30 pm, consisting of a main dish of brisket, turkey, and sausage. We are asking that you bring a favorite side item of either a salad or desert and your own drink. We will also provide water and tea. To assist in meal planning and preparation, we’re asking attendees to purchase tickets. Through February 18, each ticket costs $10. After that date and at the event, each ticket costs $15. If you would like to attend and have not yet obtained your ticket, you can contact me, and I will reserve and mark a $10 ticket for you on assurance of surety of your first born that you will attend by contacting Steve at (214) 641-6013. I’ll hold your ticket if you can give me a confirmation.

RAFFLE
After the meal, we will have our traditional raffle featuring all kinds of wonderful items. We ask if you have good-as-new dive related items that could be used by anyone, that you consider donating these for this activity and allow someone else to experience the joy in the use of these items that you formerly experienced. For those of you who will be bidding, please bring cash.

BONFIRE
If you have some good quality firewood that is not infested with any insect pests or contaminated with any chemicals, please feel free to bring this along and we will see about creating a moderate campfire to create some warmth and a nice effect. Be sure to bring a comfortable chair for sitting around the fire and visiting at the end of the day.

LODGING
RV and tent camping is available at Marietta Landing campground. The campground was redesigned primarily for RV camping with an expansion of the paved areas and a reduction of open and uncovered areas. A map of the campground is provided below. The RV rates for each campsite range from about $32 – $40 per night. Each site can also accommodate up to two tents. The first tent reservation will be $32 and the second tent at the same site is $16. Each of these reservation rates also includes a day pass for that vehicle at no extra charge. If you have made a reservation to spend the night in a tent, RV, cabin, or lodge, you will be provided with a day ticket for entrance to the park. If you are just there for the day, you will need to go on the park website (provided below), to purchase a $10 car pass or you can stop at the park headquarters and purchase a pass for $10/vehicle. So, you might carpool, if not spending the night. The Diving Rebels have reserved three of these campsites – 9,17 and 19. Site 17 will be utilized exclusively for the outing operations area – food, contest, etc. Sites 9 and 14 are available for reservation through Jim Magnuson with payment at the rates noted above. Many sites are still available for camping BUT none are reserved for us, so if you want to camp, we urge you to reserve your spot ASAP. To reserves the sites, Go to https://guestrez.megasyshms.com/…/lake…/SearchCriteria/ be sure to select the date: Feb 24 and the park MARIETTA LANDING and CLICK SEARCH to see what is available, or you can call the park office at (580) 223-4044 and ask for Tracy. She is really a delight to work with and she told me she would be happy to work with anyone that would like to make reservations or has any questions. Should you happen to speak with Joseph, please give him special thanks for working with us so generously this year. Note that you must book a minimum of two nights and if you are planning to have two tents on the site, you need to specifically add (and pay) for that. There may also be accommodation at the park lodge as well as cabins. Traditionally, for those spending the night at the park, we meet for breakfast at the beautifully refurbished lodge as the dining area provides an impressive overlook of the lake. The park website is noted as follows. https://www.travelok.com/state-parks/lake-murray-state-park Go to https://guestrez.megasyshms.com/…/lake…/SearchCriteria/ to see what camp sites are available. Should there be a potential weather impact develop as we get closer to the event, we will update as necessary. Please contact me with any questions, comments, or complaints. Thanks, and we look forward to seeing you that day. – Steve Ogden 214.641.6013.