The thrill of it all

Heather Rawlyk

Friday, Oct. 15, 2004 | 4:02 a.m.

The Adventurers, Las Vegas Chapter is always accepting new members. For more information call Jeff Kessler at (702) 650-2896 or e-mail to LVAdventurers@ aol.com.

A little more than one year ago, 49-year-old Eda Koshmerl decided she wanted to get more out of life than just going to work and lounging at home.

"I came to a point where I needed a release from everything," she said. "I wanted to get out and have adventures. I wanted to get together with some friends and get outdoors and live."

A Las Vegas resident for 23 years, Koshmerl had made plenty of friends around the Las Vegas Valley but hadn't met anyone who shared her appreciation for nature and outdoor activities.

"So my husband told me I should join some sort of club," she said. "I wasn't sure I'd find anything like I wanted, but I started looking around."

Koshmerl happened to find an ad for The Adventurers, Las Vegas Chapter -- a local social club that offers a variety of activities from sunset hikes at Mount Charleston to sky diving in Utah.

It was exactly what Koshmerl was looking for, so she picked up the phone and called the club's founder, Jeff Kessler, and signed up.

Kessler, who works as a blackjack dealer at the Hard Rock Hotel, explained that he, too, had once reached a point in his life when he wanted to participate in things he'd always wanted to do.

So six years ago he founded the club in an effort to bring Las Vegans together to experience more in the city than just gambling, he said.

"One day I just realized that all I was doing was working and the world was just passing me by," Kessler said. "I wanted to start a club where people with my similar interests could do things together. That's what it started at. Now we're a family."

The Adventurers, which currently has about 50 members, isn't a singles club, Kessler said. Members range in age from their 20s to early 70s and include both single and married men and women, he said.

Members also come from a a variety of professional backgrounds and include teachers, nurses, casino employees, real estate workers, doctors and lawyers.

The group participates in all kinds of activities to accommodate thrill seekers but also holds events for those who simply want to meet up and have a good time, he said.

"We plan events like sky diving, rock climbing, camping, paintball and things like that for active people," Kessler said. "Then we also have things like monthly dinners, theme parties, happy hours, jazz fests and things like that for more laid-back people just looking to have fun."

Members are also known to schedule their own "unofficial events" once they've made friends within the group, Kessler said.

"Besides our planned events, people hold their own things like football parties and sometimes even plan their own trips to San Diego or Venice Beach, Calif., for the weekend," he said.

Making friends and planning new events has been the best part of being a member of the club, said Koshmerl.

"I ended up making so many friends and getting so involved that now I'm on the special events coordinating team," she said.

In fact, Koshmerl is in charge of a three-day trip to Death Valley this weekend, she said.

"We've got about eight of us going," she said. "There's actually going to be a star-gazing convention out there, so we're going to go join them one night. We're also going hiking at the sand dunes, visiting Scotty's Castle and we'll probably play volleyball and swim too."

Kessler said that although there are about 50 members in the club, it is typical for small groups to attend an event.

"The thing with this club is you can just look at what we're going to be doing and sign up for just the things you want to do," he said. "You're not tied down to doing all these events -- just the things you're interested in or something you can afford to do."

The club, which is modeled after other adventure groups around the country, has a variety of membership options. Singles can choose either a three-month membership for $45, six-month membership for $60 or one-year membership for $100.

Couples can join for the same variety of memberships for $60, $90 or $150.

"The best deal is to join for the full year," Kessler said. "But we wanted to give people that option so they're not bound to the club for a full year if they don't want to be."

New members also get their first month for free so they can decide whether the club is for them or not, he said.

"We hold happy hours every Friday and also have welcome mixers the first Thursday of every month for new members," he said. "That's a good way for people to meet besides jumping out of an airplane."

Michelle Giambrone, 24, joined the club three years ago and has since been recruiting anyone she can to join.

"I tell everyone I run into about how much fun I'm having in the club," she said. "I'm not telling them just to recruit, I just want people to have the same experience I am having."