Dozens of guests attended Newtown Underwater Search & Rescue’s (NUSAR) first annual open house on Saturday, April 27. Held on-site at NUSAR’s station, 28 Riverside Road in Sandy Hook, the event let residents meet the team and learn about their equipment and capabilities.

NUSAR is a professionally trained, all volunteer emergency rescue team. Founded in 1989, the group is dedicated to saving lives year-round for water rescue and recovery incidents in Newtown and surrounding areas, alongside promoting water safety education.

What drove NUSAR to hold the first open house now was to raise funding and raise awareness as to who they are and what they do. Since this was their first annual open house, NUSAR Chief Mike McCarthy said the team had no idea how many people would even show up.

With dozens filing in from the community to show their support and talk with the team, NUSAR members were overjoyed seeing the turnout for the event. McCarthy hopes, he said, the April event showed those who attended what the team is capable of and will build momentum for further community support and awareness.

“We’re just trying to get our name out there, show people what we do, what we have,” he said.

To that end, NUSAR members went all out in making the experience memorable for their guests by setting up various demonstrations. There was a video demonstration that showed the team in action and detailed the equipment and procedures they use to stay safe and effectively perform rescues and recoveries.

NUSAR members also led tours of their vehicles and vessels, where attendees could stand inside their trucks and boats and see the team’s equipment up close.

A big hit among the demonstrations was the dive tank, where one of the team’s divers goes into a tank full of water in their dive suit and face mask. Guests could even speak to the diver and ask them questions through the team’s communications systems as they were underwater.

The water in the demonstration tank was green with limited visibility, reflecting what the divers see on a regular basis, according to NUSAR Assistant Chief Dr Mike Cassetta. The tank also had goldfish of all shapes and sizes swimming around inside for guests to see.

Inside the station, there was a silent auction, information packets on proper water safety, along with team apparel and other goodies for sale including chocolate chip cookies, muffins, and brownies.

Several local businesses contributed prizes for the silent auction, including a spa basket, jewelry, wine, and landscaping service, with all proceeds benefitting NUSAR. Norwalk-based mobile caterer Dave’s Mobile Planet Pizza was there to support the event and sell pizza to any hungry attendees.

Everyone was even treated to a special guest appearance from Resources in Search and Rescue (RSAR) and one of their dogs Fiona, affectionately called Finny.

NUSAR Vice President Dawn Singer and Cassetta emphasized that the team makes it a point to be there for one another as a family. Since this is a volunteer group, each member draws from their own varied professional and personal backgrounds to help the team however they can. They also make it a point to honor any and all members of the organization, past and present. This is best seen in the colorful diver cutout propped outside that guests could stick their head into, which was named Budge in honor of a diver that they lost about a year ago.

To Cassetta, the foundation of NUSAR’s mission is doing what they can to support not only each other, but also the community.

“I’ve been diving for many years, so I have a passion for diving. But also, being a member of the community, I wanted a way to give back,” he said. “Everybody has a different reason for joining the team, but the mutual thing is that we all want to help.”

For further information on NUSAR, call 203-270-4390, email info@nusar.org, visit nusar.org, or find the team on Facebook (NewtownDiveRescue) or Instagram (@newtown_dive_rescue).

Reporter Jenna Visca can be reached at jenna@thebee.com.