Special to the Cassville Democrat

Members of the KISS Rebreathers dive team were presented with Resolutions from the Missouri Senate at a special “Meet the Divers!” event held in the Emory Melton Inn & Conference Center on Sept. 17.

The Resolutions, which commend and congratulate the divers for “establishing Roaring River Spring as the deepest spring cave in the contiguous United States,” were presented to the divers by State Sen. Mike Moon, R-Ash Grove. The KISS Rebreathers (Keep It Super Simple) team set a national depth-record of 472 feet subsurface in the cave on Nov. 13, 2021, during the seventh of monthly, weekend visits which began in May 2021.

More than 120 area residents attended the event to learn more about the ongoing diving project, slated to continue Oct. 14-16 and Nov. 11-13 of this year.

Dan Wadlington, a representative from the office of U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., was in attendance, as well as several Missouri State Parks officials, including Roaring River State Park Park/Historic Site Manager Joel Topham, Roaring River Assistant Manager Carrie Byron, Director of the Ozarks Region Justin Adams, Assistant Director of the Ozarks Region Carl Bonnell, Ozark Region Commander Captain Geoffrey Evans and Roaring River State Park Concessionaire Manager David Waugh.

The audience was treated to a PowerPoint presentation by KISS Diver Gayle Orner, followed by a video featuring underwater footage of the divers navigating through the cavern and the restriction that exists at a depth of 225 feet subsurface in the cave. When KISS Rebreathers CEO and head diver, Mike Young, took the lectern to introduce the video, a spontaneous and lengthy question & answer session began which revealed the extent of the public’s interest in the Roaring River Cave diving project.

“People weren’t asking the average type of questions,” Young said. “I was surprised by how knowledgeable people were about diving and about the Roaring River project itself. “It was nice to be recognized by the state of Missouri for what we’re doing here, because Roaring River Spring is such a unique natural resource. It needs to be protected and preserved.’

Young labels Roaring River spring as unique because of the high quality of water and the volume of over 20 million gallons it pumps out daily. “Missouri has a lot of big springs,” Young said. “[It has] more than its fair share, actually, when you consider places like Lake Mead, in Nevada, where they’re experiencing serious water shortages.”

Orner said, for her, no single question stood out at the event because there were so many good questions.

“It was clear that the community has been following our progress, and that they really appreciate what they have in Roaring River Spring,” she said.

KISS Diver and Underwater Photographer Randall Purdy said he appreciated the sentiment of the lady who asked Young what she could do to help with the project, which is self-funded.

“I thought it was very gracious of her,” Purdy said. “Mike told her he just appreciated the opportunity to dive into the spring, but I interjected and said, ‘Cookies! We’ll always accept cookies.’”

After learning that the divers have individual day jobs in addition to their diving projects, one audience member asked Young what they do for relaxation.

“We dive,” Young said. “That’s what we enjoy doing.”

Young says a desire to explore is behind his – and most other divers’ – love for cave-diving. “Underwater caves are one of few frontiers left to explore,” he said. Sometimes together, sometimes with other companions, the divers who comprise the KISS team spend most weekends diving somewhere.

The island of Cozumel is a favored destination, as are trips to hunt for megalodon teeth off the coast of North Carolina. The Meet the Divers event was hosted by the Cassville Democrat and Missouri State Parks and was coordinated by Sheila Harris, who has provided newspaper coverage of the KISS team’s exploration of Roaring River Cave since they began diving in May 2021.

In his welcoming address delivered by his wife, Jordan Troutman, Cassville Democrat Editor Kyle Troutman referred to Roaring River State Park as a “shimmering crown on the heads of Barry County and the state of Missouri,” and that the national spring diving depth record was another jewel upon it. He thanked the divers for “showing us the wonders of what we have right beneath us” in Roaring River Cave.

Roaring River State Park Superintendent Joel Topham said he’s both humbled and encouraged by the huge community turnout for the event, in which he welcomed those in attendance by reminding them that, with the ongoing exploration in the Roaring River Cave Spring, we are living in historic times.

“I thank Mike Young and his team for answering the call to become new pioneers, and for sharing their adventures and discoveries with us and the world,’ he said. “Like you, I will watch with great joy as we see how deep the cave spring really is.”

The KISS team hopes to explore beyond last year’s 472-foot depth-record during their October 14-16 trip.

Sheila Harris and the Cassville Democrat would like to offer a special thank you to Waugh and his staff for their provision of the conference center, refreshments and seating for the overflow crowd.

KISS Rebreathers divers present for the event were CEO and head diver, Mike Young; cartographer, Jon Lillestolen; underwater photographer, Randall Purdy; creature collector and survey assistant, Gayle Orner; safety divers Neil Brownlow, Greg Ables, Mike Henry, and Eric Hahn; surface commander, Tony Bryant; and surface assistant, Tony Creason. Tim Bass, of TL Bass Telepictures, who is producing a documentary about the Roaring River diving project, was also present.