Oh boy Oh boy, do we all scrub up well ! The Ramada Hotel, Cannock was the venue for this years Scuba + Outdoor Pursuits “Doing It Dive Club” Christmas Party. This year however was not like any year previous, there was not a Batman; Shrek or Supergirl outfit in sight, infact the optional Black Tie approach was by all but a few taken as gospel.

With an early start at 7pm in the Ramada Hotel, Cannock bar, there was a bustling excitement building for what this new style Christmas Dive Club party had in store. Once upstairs in the 360 degree function room, we were all directed to our tables, and made our greetings to our new companions for the evening. With such a great venue, and good company we all relaxed into the evening straight away, well all except Mark who of course was pacing the floor (just to make sure we were all enjoying the evening).

The first of our little surprises for the evening was “Mark and His Nuts” event, sounds strange we know. Just to get the evening underway Mark; John and Ang had dug deep and sprung for our first bottles of wine. Of course always the showman, Mark couldn’t just give them away, we had to do the “Wallnut Raffle”, with ten lucky ladies having the chance to rummage around to pull out one of the 92 individually numbered nuts. The lucky winners were swift to take charge of their wine, and of course share it liberally with their table guests.

Dinner was served, and judging by the collective smiles and swiftly emptied plates it was well received and enjoyed. All except Toby and Will who seemed to get the Chefs Special “Bullet Sprouts” (Sorry Guys). With most people full to bursting there were still some who could still find room for the odd bauble!

After dinner Mark was again up on his feet and with his able bodied assistant, Fireman Phil, he was calling for our attention once more. This time we were to be treated to a blast from the past, as the Scuba + Outdoor Pursuits Dive Club Team Awards were back, after their long absence. There were several diver awards, all with one sole intention to celebrate and recognise the sterling work of the training team. Mark was very keen to stress that the entire team had worked selflessly and harder than ever this year, but that a few had gone even further beyond the call of duty.

The awards list and awardees read as follows:- “Spreading the Dream”, the award for the Instructor who has done most to encourage his students to progress and develop, went to the new guy Wayne Morris; “Top Dogfish”, the award for the busiest Instructor with the most diver certifications, went to Brownhills and Birmingham Dive Instructor Mark Carter; “Shoal Favourite”, the award voted for and selected by the team for the Divemaster or Assistant Instructor that has gone furthest beyond the call of duty to help the team and students, went to a very well deserving Glenn Williams; “Apex Award”, for the management choice of the team member who has committed and given most to the group, went to Stoke favourite Toby Cannon; “Progressive Waves”, the award for the student making the greatest advances in their diving, went to Birmingham Dive Club regular Alan George; and finally the “Dumbass”, no explanation award went to Instructor Gray Boulter, for his famous Ooops I forgot to close my drysuit zip incident at NDAC.

With the award complete and desert already delivered, it simply remained for us to wolf the sweeties; down the coffee and get ready for some boogieng. With a superb DJ and great tune guidance from Maya and the girls the evening sped on in true rhythmic fashion. In fact the evening sped by so quickly that before we knew it we were downstairs chomping on the worlds biggest ever Hot Dogs, supplied generously (well after exchanging your £2.50 that is) by the lovely man in the white outfit and fluffy top hat. All in all a great night out, and one defiantly to be repeated in about 365 days – Merry Christmas & Happy New Year !