Cowell's Goes OFF!!
Message From the President
Fellow Members,
Happy Spring and a belated Easter! Now marks the time for serious contest preparation. Remember this is both an in the water and out of the water challenge. Your dues, if you have not paid them, are past due - $50 regular and $75 family. There have been questions of sending out invoices with newsletters. We discontinued that practice years ago because of costs and time, sorry.
I was able to get back into the water on my recent family vacation to Santa Barbara. Right before I left Kim Stoner e-mailed me about tweaking his back and what a pain it was to get old. Well I resemble that remark. In case you did not know, way back in the football playoffs one of my players by accident ran into my left shoulder. I ripped a connecting nerve and have had severe difficulty with my elbow. You all know like paddling and pushing up. Well, for two days and 1600 cc of IBpro, I battled the two foot surf at the Miramar. Wow, a family of dolphins stayed with me. Obviously the surf was lousy so it was just me and the dolphins. I could not bend my elbow Easter, but it was worth every second. The dolphin family was super cool!!!!
Log Jam is coming up, see Carl. He is also putting together our memorial day team. Arden Taylor is this weekend I believe. I challenge the entire membership to be at the El up and we must show club unity and strength. Buy a shirt - all short sleeve T's will be $10 and Sweatshirts $25, what a deal! The raffle for a buck, who knows what you will win. Old Surf films will be shown at the conclusion of the meeting. It is contest time so we need you there to communicate with you, but most important to share our friendships with each other, the best people on earth - SCLU!
Keep Surfing,
Pete Noble
The Dinosaur Den
Questions of the month by Kim Stoner:
Where is this photo taken?
Approximately what year was it taken?
What is the name of the bar/restaurant in the photo?
Last month's answers:
What original club member is hanging 5 in this photo? Gene Hall
What year is it and where is he surfing? 1961 at Cowells The photo was in Surfer Magazine in 1962
What original club member took the photo? Tom Hickenbottom
Inside Story: Surfer for Supervisor
Aptos, CA - Santa Cruz County resident Dan Young has officially filed nominations papers to run for the 2nd district county supervisor’s position in the upcoming June 3rd election.
Born and raised in the Pajaro Valley, Dan is an original co founder of the Surfrider Foundation as well as of the Santa Cruz Surfing Museum. Dan is a biogeographer who has worked for a variety of nonprofit organizations including The Nature Conservancy, the National Park Service, and the Center for Law in the Public Interest. He has been involved with surfing access issues since 1971.
One of the main goals once he is elected to office is to represent the surfing community which has been traditionally marginalized and disenfranchised by local governments and politicians. Currently, Dan is the music director at the new environmental Pajaro Valley High School in Watsonville, CA, president of the Santa Cruz Jazz Festival, and a board member of the Santa Cruz Surfing Club est. 1936.
Photo by Boots McGhee
Obituaries
A special thanks to Kim Stoner for writing the following two obituaries in memory of our fellow surfers and friends. Remember to enjoy each day, each breath, each wave...
Kenny "The Mechanic" Ludwig (b. 9/21/56) was well known for the magic he performed repairing surfer's cars, trucks, and boats while driving up and down the California coast in his vintage tan-colored 1962 GMC Suburban. He was dubbed "Mechanic to the Surf Stars" by the Santa Cruz surf media. He was an accomplished longboarder, migrating to a longer board in the early 1980's, well before the beginning of the longboard resurgence. Kenny grew up in Long Beach, moving to Pleasure Point in Santa Cruz where he lived on and off for 35 years. He was a member of the Pleasure Point Night Fighters and the Santa Cruz Longboard Union. Kenny passed away in early February in Hawaii while on his annual, extended surf trip. He passed away in his sleep from a heart attack. A service in Santa Cruz will take place later this spring.
Jim Taylor known as (JT), 52 years old, died in a skiing accident on the slopes of Squaw Valley on 2/25/2008. He received massive internal injuries after hitting a tree, despite wearing a helmet and being an expert skier. Jim was well known in the Santa Cruz community. He shared his passions of surfing, sailing, volleyball, mt. biking, water and snow skiing, and golf with many friends. Jim and his wife Joyce had moved from Santa Cruz to Truckee about 5+ years ago. Jim was not a member of the SCLU, but was good friends with Bob Pearson, Rym Partridge, and Kim Stoner. His last day was an epic ski day... and he died enjoying what he loved best.
The Next Wave: After 72 years, Santa Cruz Surfing Club inducts new members
This article is from the Santa Cruz Sentinel on Tuesday March 25th, 2008. Some of our SCLU members are featured in this photo, and we want to congratulate them on the honor of being handed the Santa Cruz Surfing Club torch. Part of our history stems from that club, so we honor them for their contribution to the surf community here in Santa Cruz.
For lifelong surfers, 70 is not old.
When four of the 27 founders of the Santa Cruz Surfing Club -- est. 1936 -- passed the ceremonial torch on to the next generation Monday morning, it wasn't handed to a recent winner of the Cold Water Classic or Maverick's big-wave contest. Instead, some of the recipients were men and women who surfed before wetsuits and leashes -- grandparents to those young surfers who adorn the windows of county surf shops but still "young guys" to some of the first men to ride the waves of Monterey Bay.
The new inductees promised to uphold the club's tradition of preserving local surf history. They will man the Surfing Museum at the Mark Abbott Memorial Lighthouse on West Cliff Drive, care for old rental logs and photos, and scout the waters for the generation of club members to follow them.
"We're trying to preserve the history of the club and keep it going," said Harry Mayo, 84, one of the club's original members.
Mayo still gathers with other old-time surfers at the museum on Friday afternoons. But he's the last of the club's 11 surviving members to work the museum's register. He said the group wants to make sure the history of surfing at Cowell's, Steamer Lane and Pleasure Point is preserved after they pass on.
They had some ready takers.
"It was quite an honor to be asked by the original members to be part of something they started in 1936 and to carry it forward," said Dave Dyc, 70, who started surfing in the 1950s and remembers helping Jack O'Neill with his new invention, the wetsuit.
The Santa Cruz Surfing Club was founded in 1936 by a group of early wave riders who stored their boards -- made of hollow wood and often weighing 90 pounds -- in a house near Cowell Beach, according to historical records. Members paid $1 per month for board space.
Their history "is a significant part of what it means to be from Santa Cruz," said City Councilman Mike Rotkin.
Seven of the 11 surviving original members remain in Santa Cruz County, Mayo said, and the group still keeps in touch.
The newest members are involved in local surf groups, charity contests and fundraisers, said new inductee Dan Young, 55.
"We want to keep our work going, raise money for charitable organizations, keep the museum going and keep their spirit alive," Young said.
They're also flattered to be called "young."
"I think we go there just for the accolades," Young joked. "If you surf every day, that keeps you healthy.”