celebrate #toucan20

Celebrate 20 years of being in the scuba business with us!

Toucan20? What’s that you say?

Well, here we are…20 years later…with our passion for scuba diving and showing others the rich and vibrant world under the water, still kicking in high gear!

Who knew that one day, on a whim, I would put my fins in the water, take my first breath underwater and be hooked on scuba diving ever since?

Reflecting on this 20 year history is a bit humbling, coming from a musician from San Francisco, who married his high school sweetheart, played some college and semi-pro football, started a family, and decided to move to Illinois to start a drywall business.

Then I got bit by “the scuba diving bug”, and became a man obsessed. I took every opportunity to learn as much as I could about every facet of scuba diving. Then what? There were so many avenues to explore, so many things to see, places to travel, experiences to be had. Where would I begin? Well, everywhere, of course!

By the time I became a PADI Instructor, my next goal had been carefully thought out and planned. I would open my own dive store. It would be like opening my own tropical oasis…only in the Midwest. I would use my existing drywall and other trade skills and build what I envisioned every dive store should look like to a newcomer…an escape and a refuge from the outside world. A place to share your scuba diving stories with others, to listen to Bob Marley and Jimmy Buffett, and to continue learning new diving skills. We’d set up group trips, experience new scuba diving experiences, and explore different locales. From the handcrafted bamboo thatched roof to the “tropical palm trees” in the front parking lot, my vision of becoming “The Midwest #1 Trrropical Dive Center” was starting to take shape. We would be offering scuba lessons, scuba and snorkeling diving experiences, selling and providing in-house maintenance and repairs on many top of the line scuba diving equipment, plus so much more! Julie and I always loved to travel and experience different cultures (even in those early San Francisco days!) With this new shop, we could put together group scuba travel packages, creating opportunities to dive in different climates, conditions, locales, not to mention experience the cultures of other lands. All these ideas were finally coming to fruition! I was creating my own social dive community, my own “Toucan Flock.” Now…20 years later, I consider all those in “The Flock”, the men, women, children of all ages, even complete families…to be my closest friends, confidants, and (of course) dive buddies.

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The original Toucan Dive, as envisioned by Rick Smith, aka “Toucan Rick”

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Toucan Dive’s exterior sign, complete with palm trees!

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Toucan Dive’s matinee-style sign, which lists current class offerings, events, and upcoming trips

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The thatched hand-crafted roof contributes to the overall tropical feel when you enter Toucan Dive for the first time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I still drywall from time to time, and you more than likely have caught my karaoke performances during Pearl Lake certification weekends. I can still blow a mean harp at Rosa’s Lounge when Sugar Blue plays there, and I have still been known to jump onstage with Todd Donnelly and the rest of the Mr. Myers crew when they play locally or during one of their Blarney Island weekends. I genuinely treasure all the relationships I have gained with each and every one of you these 20 years, and I thank you for all the memories we’ve gained so far.

So what does this mean for you? It means that, for the next year, in celebration of our 20 years in the scuba diving business, and for allowing us to share our passion of the beauty we’ve found under the sea…Toucan Dive will be releasing exclusive, very limited time offerings in the form of scuba diving promotions, specials, and events as a thank you to all who have supported us these past 20 years. Keep checking the Toucan20 page for all the monthly special activities and promotions tagged with #Toucan20.

What a long, strange trip it’s been…

Now let’s go diving!!!

Toucan Rick “The Bird”