DR. BILL HAS DIED

[wetrat]

Those are all great options... we need to honor Dr. Bill's memory for sure. I'm not a big fan of the underwater plaque though. This would be the third underwater memorial plaque in the park, and something that more people could enjoy topside. I really appreciate the natural underwater beauty of the park more than the man-made points of interest. I'm sorry if this is an unpopular opinion but I believe it's worth considering.

 

[kiming]

I can't think of a better name for Catalina's dive park than this

Rename the City of Avalon Dive Park to the Dr. Bill Bushing Avalon Dive Park​

... Petition unterschreiben

 

[blue steal]

I like the idea of a topside memorial plaque.
All divers and non divers would see this.

 

[geoff w]

Dr. Bill Memorial Update-

After some discussions with the City of Avalon we have a few options we will be pursuing:

Renaming the Dive Park- Probably not going to happen. Too much politics involved.

Topside Memorial Plaque - Very possible and would be separate from the sign at the top of the stairs, One additional possibility to this is a So Cal Diver's Hall of Fame, where Bill would be the inaugural member.

Renaming the MPA - Currently the Casino Point State Marine Conservation Area, to something like "Dr. Bill Bushing State Marine Conservation Area at Casino Point." - Seems long but keep the location and Dr Bill's name.

Underwater Plaque - Similar to the Cousteau Plaque- and also seems doable. We will discuss locations and the installation process. This has to be approved by CA Fish & Game, but it seems achievable.

Once we get a few more details worked out we will need some help, so please message me if you would like to be involved. Also, I am sure at some point we will need funds, but will set that up once we know how much and what they will be used for.

And finally (for now) we will be reaching out to those who signed the petition, as well as those that just want to comment, to get some brief (1-2 paragraphs) statements from divers about why Dr Bill was so important to our sort and the dive community. Those will carry more weight with government entities than just the petition (although that helps a lot as well). We will publish where to send them as soon as we have that established.

Bill will be remembered at the Avalon Harbor Underwater Cleanup in late Feb, and also at Chamber Day/Eve on May 4.

Since all these options are going to take some time, for starters why not just rename the cleanup as The Dr. Bill Memorial Avalon Harbor Underwater Cleanup? It has probably always been the one single day he talked to all of us collectively than other days when we saw him individually, and his presence at the cleanups was always a strong part of our collective memories.

 

[ReefGuy]

I just saw this. Wow. Just wow.

 

[merxlin]

Since all these options are going to take some time, for starters why not just rename the cleanup as The Dr. Bill Memorial Avalon Harbor Underwater Cleanup? It has probably always been the one single day he talked to all of us collectively than other days when we saw him individually, and his presence at the cleanups was always a strong part of our collective memories.

Too late for this year but I'll add that to the idea list.

 

[WeRtheOcean]

So that's why his "Dive Dry" column here stopped.

 

[merxlin]

Since all these options are going to take some time, for starters why not just rename the cleanup as The Dr. Bill Memorial Avalon Harbor Underwater Cleanup? It has probably always been the one single day he talked to all of us collectively than other days when we saw him individually, and his presence at the cleanups was always a strong part of our collective memories.

After some discussion there was more support for the other options, and some drawbacks to renaming the cleanup. That said, there will be recognition for Bill at the cleanup., and hopefully some movement on the other ideas by then.