NAUI - 50 Years of Diving History and still Growing! - Midwest Scuba ...

Pat Hammer (standing left) withHarold Bach (standing right) andRichard Hartley receiving thePADI Platinum AwardSafety Stop: Pat HammerPat Hammer, owner of Scuba Emporium in Orland Park, Illinois, is afixture in the Midwest diving community. He is one of only 65 PADIPlatinum Course Directors in the World. Mr. Hammer started diving ata young age. In 1971, while still in college, he belonged to a dive clubwith over 150 members. Being foresighted, he realized the potentialsuccess of opening a dive store. Pat opened his first facility in 1974 andbecame a course director in 1975. Over the years he has owned stores inIllinois, Michigan, Atlanta, Georgia and Crystal River, Florida. Todayhe owns facilities in Orland Park, Illinois and Lauderhill, Florida.Early in his career Pat opened a store in Alsip, Illinois, next to a CoffeeShop, which he frequented. It was there that he met a waitress namedSherry. They married and Sherry became a big part of Pat’s life andbusiness. Sherry loves to teach so it was a great match from the verybeginning. Pat gives Sherry a lot of the credit for the tremendous successof his operations. She wears many different hats, handling accountsreceivable, accounts payable and much of the financial and accountingaspects of the stores. Pat likes to say that “Sherry holds the pursestrings, I am just an employee!” Pat does a lot of Instructor TrainingCourses in Illinois. Since 1980 he has also held training in Caribbeanlocations such as Sandals Resort in Jamaica and St. Lucia. Heeven does Instructor Courses in the desert southwest state ofArizona. He also owns the Our World-Underwater expositionthat is hosted every year at the Donald Stephens ConventionCenter in Rosemont, Illinois. Our World-Underwater is withoutquestion one of the most successful venues in the United States.Pat told us, “Eileen Skiba is my right hand on the project anddoes a fabulous job.”Pat completed two terms with DEMA’s Board of Directors,which gave him the ability to speak and interact with manydive retailers from all over the world. Organizing the trips andtraveling with his clients is Pat’s favorite activity. Unfortunately,traveling for fun has been difficult because of a busy instructionalschedule. He also enjoys spending time at his Florida store wherehe mingles with guests and makes an occasional dive off his boat“Hammer Time.” Pat Hammer may be the most successful diveprofessional in the Midwest and is definitely a Midwest Diveryou should know! He can be contacted at scubapat@aol.com andhttp://www.scubaemporium.com