REMEMBERING OUR HEROS
5-28-08
By Corky Carroll

As this is Memorial Day weekend, a time set aside to remember and honor those who have given their lives in service to our country, I thought that I might take this time to do a little tribute to our late surf heroes who have moved on to the big lineup in the sky. As there are really a lot of them I am sure that I will leave out somebody that should be mentioned here but I will do my best to present some of the greatest that are gone. I am sure there will be a dude or two up there ready to drop a huge river rock on my head for forgetting them. That is one of the real bummers about getting older….. Actually two of the real bummers. One is the fact that all your pals keep passing away and the other is the fact that you can’t remember who’s left and who’s not. Anyway, here is my Memorial Day tribute to some of our late surf legends.

Eddie Aikau, the fearless Hawaiian big wave rider. This dude was one of the first to put style into big wave riding and is the “Eddie” referred to in the saying, “Eddie would go.” Also the “Eddie” is named after him. That would be the big wave championship held each winter in over 20ft surf at Wiamea Bay on the North Shore.

Mickey Dora, the “Black Knight of Malibu.” The former bad boy of surfing known for his classic style and his dark humor. Mickey set the standard for perfect technique for surfing Malibu in the 1950’s and 60’s.

Butch Van Artsdalen. The original “Mr Pipeline.” Also known as “Black Butch” and the first dude to really rip at the Pipeline back in 1962. Originally a California boy but spent the last half of his life as a lifeguard in Hawaii. This due was the real deal.

Dewey Weber. This is the dude who originally put the “whip” in the “whip turn.” He was the most flamboyant hotdogger of his time and also became one of the world’s largest surfboard manufacturers in the 1960’s. Dewey was also Buster Brown in the old Buster Brown shoe commercials on television as well as a national yo yo champion. When I was a little kid I always wanted to be able to surf like a combination of Dewey Weber and Phil Edwards. They were very different in style and approach; maybe that’s how I got so screwed up in the first place. Never could get either one right.

Duke Kahanamoku. What can I say about Duke? He is sort of like all of our grandfathers surfing wise. The guy who put it on the map. What a cool man he was too.

Jack and Mike Haley. The Seal Beach brothers who won our first United States Championships in 1959 and 1960.

Hoppy Swartz. Hoppy was like the hottest surfer on the coast back in the 1940’s and later was the man most responsible for organizing surfing competition and starting the United States Surfing Association in the early 1960’s. He gave way more to the sport than he ever took away. This guy had my respect always.

Brennan “Hev’s McClelland. A classic surfer from the Laguna Beach area who was known for his humor and crazy antics. Hev’s used to be the announcer for the early surfing championships here in California and appeared in many comedy skits in the old surfing movies. He was also the M.C. for the SURFER poll during the 1960’s.

Dale Velzy. The “Hawk.” One of the greatest guys and surfers ever. Dale was an innovator and master surfboard builder but was never much of a businessman. He had a smile and good word for everybody and was as loved a person as you could ever find. He gave us a lot and is one of the true legends.

Lorrin Harrison. Known to his pals as “Whitey.” This dude was a total surfer. He ate it, drank it, breathed it and lived it. He gave it to his family and all his friends. He could ride a surfboard, surf a canoe, paddle and build outriggers, ride tandem and make those cool palm frond hats too. Very cool man.

Bill Holden. We lost Bill a few months ago. He was a great surfboard shaper as well as probably one of the happiest guys you would ever meet. I loved to see him because even if I was in a bad mood just being around him would change that in about one minute. He made YOU happy just with his vibe. A real Orange County legend of surfing.

I don’t have room for more, but they know who they are.

THERE ARE STILL COOL KIDS
The Wave ~ 5-28-08
By Corky Carroll

I got an email just now from Ron and Teresa Jue, parents of Eagle Scout, Tommy Jue. You gotta check this out as it proves that there are still some really cool kids out there. Not just the red eyed, pierced nippled, tattooed meanies that keep hissing at me all the time when I am just trying to ride a few innocent waves in what should be the tranquility of my golden years.

“To Mr. Corky Carroll: Tommy’s story

On March 27, 2006, Huntington Beach High School student and Boy Scout, Tommy Jue, was reading in an article by Eleeza Agopian in the Local section of the Register about how volunteers at Wheels 2 Water were showing disabled people how to surf. Then on April 6, 2006, The Wave printed a follow-up article by Rachel Olsen on a Wheels 2 Water event at Bolsa Chica Beach with photographs on how surfers are rolled onto the beach in specialized wheelchairs with oversized wheels. Tommy, who was involved with the HBHS surf team at that time, thought here was the perfect project to combine his experiences in surf with his Eagle Rank project requirement. After talking with Travis Tremble, of Wheels 2 Water, Tommy discovered that W2W did not have their own specialized wheelchair. They would borrow one beach wheelchair for their events and people would have to wait until the chair was free to get into the water. Tommy decided that for his Eagle project he could provide one of these specialized wheelchairs so that more people could participate in the water instead of waiting.

To start, he needed a new standard wheelchair, which was donated by David Tschumi from Ortho-Med, after Tommy explained his project to him at a pharmacy convention Tommy attended with his father.

The next challenge, how to convert a standard wheelchair to a specialized one? Through the Internet, Tommy came across the story of Hank Weseman, who is a quadriplegic as a result of a pro drag boat accident. Tommy met with Hank at his company, Hot Shot Products in Torrance, who provides products to help other quadriplegics like him, continue to lead active lives in sports. The necessary parts, labor and technical information to convert the wheelchair could be obtained for $900.

The last challenge, how can a 16 year old raise this much money on his own? One of the requirements for an Eagle project is that it must demonstrate leadership of others. Tommy and HB Boy Scout Troop 555, held a single, extremely successful garage sale at his house that raised exactly the amount Tommy needed. The garage sale was so successful, that the police were called at 8am that morning in 2007 (2 hrs after the sale started) because cars were double parked up and down the street and traffic had backed up so much on the residential street where the sale was at.

Now, after 1.5 years of planning, implementing and completing the work of converting the wheelchair, as well as leading the troop to hand make 100 wooden surfboard participation awards for W2W to distribute, Tommy’s Eagle project was completed and donated to Wheels 2 Water. W2W had also displayed Tommy’s converted wheelchair at the ASR (Action Sports Retailers) convention in San Diego last year in hopes of bringing more awareness to the program. Wheels 2 Water has been using “The Tommy chair” to bring more disabled participants into the water at their surfing events, last week at Bolsa Chica Beach. See photographs below from Wheels 2 Water.

On Saturday, May 31, 2008, 2pm, at Journey Evangelical Church in Westminster, Tommy Jue, now 17 years old, will be receiving the rank of Eagle, the highest advancement award the Boy Scouts of America offers to Scouts. Approximately 4% of all Boy Scouts attain Eagle. In addition to successfully completing a community project, each candidate must earn at least 21 merit badges and hold leadership positions. See attached bio. Travis Tremble, of W2W, will be there to make a special presentation to Tommy also.

So, the journey from Boy Scout to Eagle starts from an article in The Register. Thank you to all the storytellers (we enjoy your articles on surfing very much), reporters and photographers at the Register to publish stories and photographs to inspire a boy to make a difference.”

I had to share that with you as it really hit me as a nice thing in this age of “gimme gimme.” My respect to you Tommy Jue.