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INTERNATIONAL FELLOWSHIP OF ROTARIAN SCUBA DIVERS (IFRSD)
The IFRSD was the creation of New Zealand’s Birkenhead Rotary
Club member Gordon Stevenson in the early 1990s. Gordon was a
healthcare administrator in New Zealand. He served as the
fellowship’s first and second Secretary/Treasurer, 1991/1995,
and was active in the activities of the early Australia & New
Zealand Division’s local diving trips. (There were never
formal fellowship “Divisions,” yet we referred to them in that
way early on as the Australia & New Zealand participants
and the North American participants were the most active members
of the fellowship.)
 Gordon
designed the original International Fellowship of Rotarian
Sport Divers logo (in 2001 the fellowship’s name was
changed to International Fellowship of Rotarian Scuba
Divers). Gordon never lost interest in the fellowship, but
he did resign his Secretary/Treasurer duties in January 1995
because his health was failing.
Dan Lockwood was elected to fill Gordon’s Treasurer
responsibilities at that time (for the 1995/1997 term; Dan
went on to serve as the fellowship’s fourth president in
1997/1999, and is the fellowship’s current president). Tom
Hosey was elected to fill Gordon’s Secretary responsibilities
for the 1995/1997 term. Gordon died sometime in the latter
1990’s.
A Bremerton, Washington Rotary Club member, Brett Green, served
as the fellowship’s first President, 1991/1993, although he was
never active in the North American Division’s live-aboard
expeditions.
Bob Thompson served as the North American Division Expedition
Leader (tour group organizer) for many of the
fellowship’s early live-aboard trips. Champaign-West, Illinois
Rotary Club member Judy Kaufmann is credited with creating the
fellowship motto “Surface Above Self”
based upon one of the underwater photos we took of the First
Expedition participants – diving together underwater in the
Turks & Caicos Islands and holding our Rotary Club name badges
up to the camera.
Bob proposed and initiated the concept of making a gift to the
country the fellowship visited, through a local Rotary Club in
the country we visited whenever possible, beginning with our
Second Expedition to Truk Lagoon.
In 1997 the decision was made to use the group discount the
fellowship received toward a local charity in the community the
fellowship was visiting.
Bob Ewald suggested that the fellowship should generate a
quarterly newsletter in 2000. After heavy campaigning he was
elected “Newsletter Editor.”
Membership surveys indicated that there was an interest in land
based dive trips. In 2002 Bob Ewald organized the fellowship’s
first land based dive trip to the island of Dominica in the West
Indies. After a slow start this has become the fellowship’s
most popular trip.
In 2005 the fellowship put a booth in RI’s International
Convention in Chicago. It repeated it’s participation in the
2008 Convention in Los Angeles
Expedition #1: February 1991, Turks & Caicos Islands – four
Rotarians comprised the First Expedition Team: Uwe Schulz (from
the Lahaina, Hawaii Rotary Club; Uwe served as the second IFRSD
president, 1993/1995), Bob Thompson (who served as the third
IFRSD president, 1995/1997), Gary Olsen, and Judy Kaufmann (all
three from the Champaign-West, Illinois Rotary Club).
Expedition #2: January 1993, Truk Lagoon – 6 participants; local
donation: funds given to a diver air evacuation service.
Expedition #3: April 1994, Belize – 14 participants; local
donation: funds for construction of a dock at a youth
development camp.
Expedition #4: January 1995, Palau –
11 participants; no donation made because we could not identify
a local Rotary Club to work with.
Expedition #5:
May-June 1996, Galapagos Islands – 24 participants; local
donation: funds for computer equipment for a grade school.
Expedition #6: February 1997, Cocos Island – 10 Rotarians; local
donation: funds given to the Rotary Club of Puntarenas for
playground equipment for four local schools.
Expedition
#7: May 1998, Fiji – 14 participants; funds given to build a
nursing station for the Village of Nacamaki.
Expedition
#8: August 1999, Red Sea – 16 participants; funds given to the
Rotary Club of Cairo for an adult literacy program.
Expedition #9: October 2000, Australia’s Great Barrier Reef – 16
participants; no donation made because we could not connection
with a local Rotary Club.
Expedition #10: May 2001,
Grand Turk – 16 participants; contributions made to local high
school and Turks & Caicos National Museum.
Expedition
#11: February 2002, return trip to Cocos Island – 12
participants; Rotary Club of Escazu, Costa Rica, a suburb of San
Jose, to provide doors and windows for the Community House in
the Village of Fila de Mora in Puriscal province.
Land
based trip #1: November 2002, Dominica - 6 participants: no
donation made because group was not large enough to qualify for
a group discount.
Expedition #12: June 2003, Papua New
Guinea – 11 participants;
Land based trip #2: January
2004, Curacao – 10 participants, no donation made because we did
not make connection with a local Rotary Club.
Expedition
#13: July 2004, Bali, 6 participants; no donation made because
group was not large enough to qualify for a group discount.
Land based trip #3: January 2005, Grand Turk – 16 participants;
contributions were split between Turks and Caicos Museum and
Turks and Caicos Spay Neuter Society.
 Expedition
#14: April 2005, Saba, Statia & St. Kitts, (left) 13
participants; Rotary Club of St. Kitts to purchase prosthesis
for an amputee.Land based trip #4: February 2006, Roatan,
Honduras, 24 participants; donation made to the Majken Broby
Children’s Home in Roatan.
 Expedition
#15: April 2006, Cayman Islands (right), 3 participants; no
donation made because group was not large enough to qualify for
a group discount.
Land based trip #5: January 2007,
return trip to Dominica, 29 participants, Rotary Club of
Dominica to House of Hope, a home for severely handicapped
orphans in Dominica.
 Expedition
#16: February 2007, Socorro Island, (left) 5 participants, no
donation made because group was not large enough to qualify for
a group discount.
 Land
based trip #6: January 2008, Curacao (right) - 38 participants,
donation made to Rotary Club of Willemstad for the Carmabi
Foundation, a local charitable organization dedicated to reef
preservation and education. www.carmabi.org/
 Expedition
#17: March 2007, Belize (left), 7 participants, no donation made
because group was not large enough to qualify for a group
discount.
 Details
on future dive trips can be found on the fellowship’s website:
www.IFRSD.org
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