HUBBARD Divers put face on pumpkins underwater

Divers say their sport offers an escape from life's routines.
By PETER H. MILLIKEN
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
HUBBARD -- The most challenging aspect of underwater pumpkin carving is keeping the pumpkin underwater, scuba divers say.
That became obvious to even the casual observer Wednesday evening in an underwater pumpkin carving contest at the Hubbard Community Pool.
Pumpkins don't sink by themselves, said Roseann Prachick, 49, of North Jackson, who was in the contest last year.
Underwater pumpkin carving poses other challenges, too.
"The weight of the water will cave it in if you make the face too big," she recalled.
"It's something different to do. It's a little bit of a challenge," she said of the contest.
Having learned scuba at the Hubbard Community Pool, Prachick said she enjoys diving because it allows her to see live underwater plants and animals she wouldn't otherwise see.
Weighted down with about 40 pounds each of gear, about 30 divers, ranging from age 11 to 65, had an hour to carve their pumpkins while submerged in 12 feet of water.
Meanwhile, in a new activity this year, eight children carved pumpkins at the pool's edge while standing in the shallow end of the pool.
"It's so extremely buoyant," Steve Soyka, 47, of Canfield, Prachick's instructor and fellow contestant, said of a pumpkin, noting the difficulty of keeping it submerged. Soyka has been on scuba dives in Honduras, Belize, the Cayman Islands, Costa Rica, and Cozumel, Mexico.
Reasons for diving
Soyka said he enjoys "the peace and serenity that you find underwater. No noise. Nobody can call you on the cell phone. Nobody can bother you. It's very beautiful."
Another participant was Travis Clower, 32, of Cortland, who entered the pool hooked up to a scuba tank and wearing his commercial diving helmet.
Clower's commercial dives typically are at water intakes and sewer outfalls and in pipelines. Clower, who dives commercially for Underwater Services of Ohio of Williamsfield, repairs pipelines and other underwater structures. "I just enjoy being underwater. It's a lot different from a normal office job," he said.
He also scuba-dives to shipwrecks in the Great Lakes and off the East Coast, having twice visited the Andrea Doria off Long Island. His deepest dive was 407 feet to a shipwreck off Virginia Beach.
The second annual pumpkin-carving event was sponsored by the pool, with Treasure Cove Scuba of Niles providing the prizes and supervision. First prize was a $50 gift certificate for the store, won by Anthony Leshnack, a diver from Liberty. Each contestant paid an entry fee. Proceeds went to the Multiple Sclerosis Services Agency in Austintown.
"The hardest part is to get the top cut off. As soon as the top's cut off, and you get some water in there, it's fine," said Greg Filipski, pool director, offering a tip for keeping a pumpkin submerged.