Disabled find liberation under water and a pink flocking

Former Truckee resident Dan Shaw says he found the scuba lessons he took last summer liberating.

The 56-year-old former construction worker is a paraplegic who lost the use of his legs when he fell from the second story of house a year and a half ago.

He and three other divers with disabilities went through training at Sierra Diving Center.

"After I got certified, we would go out together," he said. "Last year we had a large group of 15 people who would meet at Tahoe."

The divers visit Sand Harbor and Hurricane Bay when they go.

"I need help to get down to the water," he said. "But once I'm in it is absolutely liberating. Physically, it's not hard. The challenge is the mental part. You have to keep your head on straight and think through the process. That is very satisfying."

Before he was injured, Dan had been a bush pilot in Alaska and on the ski patrol at Northstar.

Classes at the center are just starting.

"It takes about a month and a half to certify and after that you can go out into the lake."

I don't think Linda Fettic has been the first person to be flocked by the Job's Daughters, but she's the first person to call me about it.

Linda said she woke up on Thursday morning and there, on the front lawn of her Birch Street home, was a flock of pink flamingos.

"I didn't know anything about this," she said. "I used to be in Job's Daughters, but I didn't know they had the organization here."

The flamingos are a fund-raiser for the group. Anyone who has been flocked can have the flamingos removed for a $5 donation. For another $5 the flock of flamingos may be passed on to a friend or family member. Linda said she thought they were pretty, but I don't know how much it would be to keep them.

Anyone interested should call 882-1413.

Nevada Magazine Publisher Rich Moreno said he took a run north of Winnemucca to Star City, scene of a serious bug infestation.

"It wasn't so bad where it was still green," he said. "But where it was dry, you could see where the sage had all been stripped. The trees were like skeletons with black bugs all over them."

Rich's daughter refused to get out of the car. Smart girl.

My other Nevada Magazine news has to do with the publication's circulation manager, Amy Ginder, who is playing Janet in the Bruka Theater production of "The Rocky Horror Show." I can remember going to the movie in the early '80s when people used to bring everything from lighters and squirt guns to spare tires. I had to wrestle my friends to keep them from pulling my spare tire out of the trunk.

Amy is a Reno resident and has been at the magazine for just under a year.

Longtime Carson resident Richard Cundiff came by the office to drop off an item about his 50th wedding anniversary.

Richard is a gunsmith and photographer. His craftwork was featured in a 1986 article in the Appeal's entertainment publication, The Apple Tree.

The article was written by Joe Eward and shot by photographer Lisa Tolda.

When he first called, he asked about Lisa, who is now working at the Reno Gazette-Journal.

Richard and his wife were away for the past four years and he went to Bath Street looking for the Appeal.

"I walked into the old shop and they asked me if I wanted to get my heart checked," he said. "I said no, I'm looking for the newspaper. A lot changes when you are away for four years."

The Bath Street building has been turned into a medical complex, but back when it was a newspaper, there were days when I could have used a heart check.

Jim Roberts told me he sold 14 copies of his book to people who had seen my article last Sunday.

I have a couple of corrections from that column, though. The name of the town in Michigan near Bois Blanc Island is Cheboygan. Sheboygan is in Wisconsin. Sue Morrow told me Jim is a UNR professor emeritus of political science, not history.

Kurt Hildebrand is acting city editor at the Nevada Appeal. Reach him at 881-1215 or e-mail him at hildebrand@nevadaappeal.com.