Shop owner pairs pumpkins with scuba diving By Cory Myers

October 31, 2005
Emerging from the chilly October waters of Wall Lake, scuba diver-turned-clown Todd Sorensen empties water from his jack-o’-lantern during Landshark Scuba and Snorkle’s first-ever Underwater Pumpkin Carving Contest earlier this month.

Nine divers turned out for the contest, carving seven pumpkins with designs ranging from a dolphin to the normal scare fare.

Sorensen’s “Pam, the Nauseated Pumpkin” (imagine pumpkin guts and seeds flowing out from the mouth), won the contest.

“This is a novelty,” said Colonel Echols, owner of Landshark Scuba and Snorkle. “A lot of people think there is no scuba diving in South Dakota, but there is a whole underwater world out here.”

Despite some problems with visibility and keeping the buoyant pumpkins from shooting up and out of the water, Echols plans to make this an annual event.

“It’s just fun,” Echols said. “Any diver looks for any excuse to go diving.”

(http://www.argusleader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051031/NEWS/51031001/1001&template=printart)