California Surf Lifesaving Association Surf News/Spring... · water safety, education, and the...

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California SurfLifesaving Association

Newsletter Vol. 11 No. 1Spring 2007

1Cal Surf Spring 2007

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2 Cal Surf Spring 2007

The CSLSA Executive Board of Directors for 2006-2007 are listed below:

President Rob McGowan

Vice-President Charlotte Graham

Secretary Mike Beuerlein

Treasurer Rob Williams

Advisor Bob Moore

1st Delegate Chris Graham

2nd Delegate Don Rohrer

3rd Delegate Mike Bartlett

4th Delegate Alex Peabody

On the cover: Stand-up paddlers Jim Birdsell, Chuck Patterson and Jay Butki off of the Scripps Pier in La Jolla during the Lifeguards for Louisianafundraising event. Photo by Doreen Ingino. (See page 5)

President’s Message 3

Newsletter Changes 4

Lifeguards for Louisiana 5

Refugio State Beach Junior Lifeguards 6

Young Rescuer Receives Award 8

Agency Profile - Solana Beach 9

Fall Meeting Summary 10

Inside the Cal Surf

Cal Surf MagazineCal Surf News Magazineis the official publication of the

California Surf Lifesaving AssociationP.O. Box 366, Huntington Beach, CA 92648

www.CSLSA.org Fax (714) 374-1500

Executive Board:

Rob McGowan - President

Charlotte Graham - Vice-President

Mike Beuerlein - Secretary

Rob Williams - Treasurer

Bob Moore - Advisor

Chris Graham - 1st Delegate

Don Rohrer - 2nd Delegate

Mike Bartlett - 3rd Delegate

Alex Peabody - 4th Delegate

Committee Chairs:Don Rohrer - Certification

Jay Butki - Competition

Jon Mitchell - Exchange

Bill Richardson - Heroic Acts

Alex Peabody - Legislation

Charlotte Graham - Membership

Richard Godino - Magazine

Bill Humphreys - Public Education

Mike Scott - SouthernCalifornia Training Officers

Reenie Boyer - Junior Guards

Robert Moore - Website

Newsletter:Editor -Richard Godino, L.A. City

Staff Writer - Richard Hidalgo, Imperial Beach

Staff Writer - Al Fimlaid, Cal State

Design & Typesetting:Jennifer Velasquez

Marketing & Promotion:Scott Hubbell

The CSLSA is a nonprofit organi-

zation incorporated in the State of

California. Its principal goals are

water safety, education, and the

promotion of professional life-

guarding standards. These goals

are accomplished primarily

through beach safety presentations

to school groups, educational

exchange programs with members

of the International Life Saving

Federation and participation in

regional and national competition.

YOUR ARTICLES NEEDED! Online submission

$50 for best article with photo.

$75 for cover photo.

ADVERTISERSB/W $125 for 1/2 page

B/W $180 for whole pageColor $250 for 1/2 page

Color $350 for whole page

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President’s Messageby Robert McGowan


The calendar says it’s still winter,but someone forgot to tell the weath-erman. We’ve already had a goodhalf dozen weekend days with airtemperatures in the eighties at thebeach this year, bringing summer-likecrowds to Southern California beach-es. Our lifeguard services are gettingready for spring, holding swim tryouts,training academies and preparing foranother season of Junior Lifeguards.With some pretty decent winter swellsover the past few months, the bottomis cut up enough that it should be abusy rescue season for us once thewater warms up a bit.

Thanks to Herb White for hostingour regional meeting last October inMorro Bay. It was fun to see a differ-ent part of our region and the tour ofthe Coast Guard Station was bothinteresting and informative. At thatmeeting we adopted the revisedCSLSA Bylaws that brought our bylawsinto alignment with the revised USLABylaws. We also took action to re-filefor our 501 (c) 3 status that we gaveto the USLA many years ago. We arefinally close to regaining our own taxexempt status. Rich Godino, newslet-ter chair was given an increased budg-et to improve Cal Surf News, includingthe possible addition of color photos,mailing the newsletter to individualmembers instead of chapters, andpublishing it on the website. The nextCSLSA Board of Directors Meeting isscheduled for April 12 and 13 in LosAngeles County. Check our website atwww.cslsa.org for details.

The Pacific Northwest Region host-ed the USLA National Meeting at LakeTahoe last November at the TahoeRidge Resort. It was a great venue onthe mountainside adjacent to theHeavenly Valley ski area. It wasn’t

quite ski season yet, but it did snowone of the days we were there. At themeeting Joel Gitelson of Los AngelesCounty was presented the Medal ofValor for his heroic actions involved inthe rescue of three fishermen whoseboat went aground on Santa BarbaraIsland on a cold, stormy winter night.His account of the event was featuredin the Winter 2006 issue of AmericanLifeguard Magazine. Vic Maceo of theGalveston County Sheriff's OfficeBeach Patrol was presented a USLALife Membership for his many years ofservice to the organization. Dr. PeterWernicki, USLA Medical Advisor, dis-cussed the U.S. Lifeguard Coalitioncomprised of the USLA, American RedCross and YMCA. The focus is onresearch concerning many lifeguardrelated topics including scanning,breaks and training standards. TheEducational Conference featured “TheMaking of a Beach Patrol Episode,”Everything You Wanted to KnowAbout Trauma Assessment,” a presen-tation by the Douglas County NevadaSearch and Rescue team, and a reporton “Vamos a Nadar (Let’s GoSwimming) – Drowning Prevention inSonoma County, California.” The nextUSLA Board of Directors Meeting andEducational Conference will be at theBest Western Inn of Chicago on April26 through 28.

On the international front, thefirst International Life Saving WorldWater Safety (WWS) Conference willbe held on September 27, 28 and 29,2007 in Porto, Portugal. The hosts ofWWS 2007 are the Instituto deSocorros a Náufragos (ISN) and theAssociação de Nadadores Salvadores(ASNASA), both member federationsof ILS. According to the ILS News,“WWS 2007 follows on the resounding

success of the World Congress onDrowning 2002 in Amsterdam and theILS International Medical RescueConference in 1997 in San Diego. Thepurpose of WWS 2007 is to bringtogether the world’s foremost experts,systems and information for exchange,debate and further development thatwill lead to reduction of death andinjury in all aquatic environmentsworldwide. The WWS 2007 will havetwo major events associated andsimultaneous, one is the Conferenceand the other is the InternationalWater Safety Exhibition of lifesavingproducts, services and information.”

In January a team of CaliforniaLifeguards went to Victoria, Australiato compete in the 19th Wieland ShieldCompetition at Torquay, celebrating40 years of the biannual WielandShield competition and Lifesavingexchange between California andVictoria, and the 50th anniversary ofthe first international lifeguard com-petition, the 1956 Olympic SurfLifesaving Competition at TorquayBeach. The team members includedManager Jay Butki (L.A. County),Coach-Athlete Scott Diederich (LagunaBeach), Chad Carvin (Laguna BeachLifeguard and 2000 Olympic Silvermedalist), Micah Carlson (L.A. County),Kyle Daniels (L.A. County), BlaineMorgan (L.A. County and Cal StateParks), Tyler Morgan (L.A. County),Brian Murphy (L.A. County), MikeMurphy (L.A. County), Micha Burden(Huntington City), Renee Locarnini(L.A. County), Tandis Morgan (L.A.County) and Bridget Rome (L.A.County). Accompanying the team asEducational Officers were Jamie Orrand Sean Kennedy both from L.A.County. Although the team did very

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Newsletter ChangesBy Richard Godino

Since you have opened this issue of CalSurf News, youare undoubtedly aware that 1) the newsletter was sentdirectly to your home; and 2) the cover is in color. Thesechanges came about because of lengthy discussions incommittee and the support of the Board of Directors. Thesupport came with a caveat: get advertisers to help offsetcosts! This task has not been easy.

Committee discussions also included a recommenda-tion for a radical departure from the newsletter’s normaldistribution – an electronic newsletter. Some of the poten-tial problems with this method are privacy issues related toemails and a greater burden placed on the editor andtypesetter in regards to design. Many in committee liketheir printed copies and carefully catalog their collections

as part of the history of the Association. Others favoredthe electronic suggestion citing ease of distribution, abilityto archive electronically, full color throughout and elimina-tion of printing costs.

The CalSurf News would like to get responses from themembership in regards to this topic. Please contact me byemail at: [email protected] or by snail mail at:

Editor – CalSurf Newsc/o 11444 Rubio Ave.

Granada Hills, CA 91344

Your responses will be tabulated as “pro” and “con”for presentation to the Board. Comments and ideas willbe presented as well.

well in the swimming events, theywere unsuccessful in their attempt tobecome the first Californian team towin the shield in Australia. MichaBurden won the Women’s Division ofthe Lorne Pier to Pub Swim, thelargest ocean swim in the world.While in Victoria the team was set upwith tickets to the Australian Openand a flight on the Life Saving VictoriaCoast Watch Airplane.

In competition closer to home, theCalifornia Surf Life SavingChampionships are scheduled for July28 in Huntington Beach. Hosted bythe HBSLSA, the venue will be at thesouth end of the beach betweenTowers 17 and 19, in the BeachBoulevard area. The Junior Lifeguardswill be returning to Santa Barbara fortheir regional championships on July20. The USLA National LifeguardChampionships are going to be inMyrtle Beach, South Carolina onAugust 9 through 11. The Crown ReefResort has been selected as the hosthotel and contact information is avail-able on the USLA website Events

Bulletin Board. The USLA CompetitionCommittee has adopted ILS competi-tion rules for the Nationals and theaddition of the Oceanman relay as apoint scoring event. The updatedrules are available on the website athttp://www.usla.org/events/rules.asp.The Nationals return to our coast in2008 hosted by Los Angeles County.

The CSLSA Executive Board meetsmonthly between Board of DirectorsMeetings. At our recent meeting ChrisGraham, First Executive Delegate andExchange Committee Chair, advised usthat due to increased responsibilitiesat work, he would have to step downas the Exchange Committee Chair. Iwould like to thank Chris for his yearsof service in that position and thankJon Mitchell of Newport Beach forstepping up to take over the ExchangeCommittee. Jon will chair the commit-tee at the upcoming Board ofDirectors meeting.

The City of Del Mar is seekingfinancial assistance from the CaliforniaConservancy to rebuild its slightly pastits prime Lifeguard Headquarters. On

behalf of the organization, I wrote aletter of support to the chief of theCoastal Conservancy.

The long awaited Patagonia ProProgram is finally ramping up andshould be available to all members inthe very near future. The company isvery sensitive about preventing abuseof this program. They offer theirgoods at extremely discounted pricesto Pro Sales Program members and ifthey find you abusing the account bypurchasing for non members, theaccount will be canceled and you willnever be able to order through theprogram again. So please take advan-tage of the program, but be certain tobe discreet and do not abuse the privi-lege. This membership benefit as wellas Da Fin discount program have cometo us through the efforts of ScottHubbell of SHP, Inc. In addition tobeing the CSLSA MarketingContractor, Scott is now developingmarketing programs for the USLA. Onbehalf of all of our members I’d like tothank Scott for his efforts and wishhim even greater success in the future.

President’s Message... from page 3

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Lifeguards for LouisianaBy Richard Godino


In the aftermath ofHurricane Katrina, severalrescue teams from across thenation were mobilized anddeployed to assist the NewOrleans first responders andthe military in their rescueefforts. Among these wasthe Lifeguard SwiftwaterRescue Specialist team of theSan Diego Fire Rescue TaskForce 8. Lifeguard JimBirdsell and the rest of hisrescue team were deployedto Louisiana on August 30via C5 military transport.They landed in Baton Rougethat morning, and by the afternoon were performing res-cues in the murky, rising waters that flooded the streets ofNew Orleans. On their first mission of the day, they weresent to a highway overpass where hundreds of people hadbeen stranded for a day and half. They loaded as manypeople as they could into their IRB (women and childrenfirst, keeping families together) and made several consecu-tive trips of 45 minutes each back to the designated safetyzone. The fearful children and grateful adults who wererescued had an impact on the team. Reflecting on themoment, Jim Birdsell realized why he and his team dowhat they do saying, “That’s when everything started tomake sense.”

By the time they returned to their base of operations(the New Orleans Saints practice field) at the end of thefirst day, they had made over 400 rescues. They would

spend the next 18 daysthere, completely self-suffi-cient with their personaland team gear and MRE’s.Each day followed a pat-tern: 5:30 AM morningbriefing and deployment.The team was instructed tomake rescues only. As theypassed lifeless bodies dur-ing their mission, theywould enter GPS coordi-nates for recovery teamsassigned to that task. Uponreaching any residence asthey searched, they wouldcall out “San Diego Rescue –

here to help”. If there was no response after a few min-utes, it would be logged and they would move on to thenext house. They would often encounter people whochose to remain at their home or “sheltered in place”,even though they might be camping out on the roof oftheir house that was filled with 5-10 feet of water.

The San Diego Task Force also boarded Blackhawk hel-icopters to check on the status of residents of retirementhomes and assisted living facilities. After rescuing 40 peo-ple at one location, they encountered 15 elderly lifelessbodies at another. Occasionally there were miracles, suchas when they found a 75 year old man with diabetes onthe bottom level of his apartment where he had survivednine days without food or water, enduring repeated dia-betic seizures.

The 18 days were filled with sights few members ofthe team had seen or will ever forget. People holdingsheets out of their windows marked with “SOS” or occa-sionally “Looters Beware”; the chaos that was theSuperdome where ambulances left constantly, cars wereoverturned and dead bodies were everywhere; countlessfamilies huddled outside in terrible heat and near 100%humidity. The team noted that they had never seen somany civilians with firearms and they were convinced thatLouisiana’s state dog must be the pit bull. At one point,

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Shoreline Church volunteer group in the finished playground. Jim Birdsell back row left in black Saints cap.

Surf skis leaving Carlsbad. Photo by Doreen Ingino

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Refugio State Beach Junior LifeguardsBy Al Fimlaid

Refugio State Beach is one of sev-eral beaches on the sparsely populat-ed shoreline south of PointConception in Santa Barbara Countythat are guarded by State lifeguards.Refugio is about 10 miles west ofGoleta off of Highway 101. Thebeach itself is expansive, beautifuland palm lined.

The Refugio State Beach JuniorLifeguard Program was started in1994 by retired Lifeguard SupervisorGreg White. The Program currentlyhas two 3-week sessions and runsfrom late June to mid-August.Participants in the Program come

from the surrounding areas of SantaBarbara County including Buellton,Solvang, Santa Ynez, Goleta and theCity of Santa Barbara itself.

For such a small and remotebeach, the Program is fairly large,with nearly 200 participants each year.The goal of the program is to makethe Junior Lifeguard experience edu-cational as well as fun. The partici-pants are introduced to safe marineand aquatic recreational opportunitieslike relays, volleyball, kayaking, surf-ing and snorkeling. Refugio Bay, withits reefs, kelp beds, and point break isuniquely suited for these activities.They also learn to value and takeresponsibility for the health of marineand coastal resources. They experi-ence enhanced physical conditioning,acquire ocean lifesaving skills, andthrough constant contact with com-passionate instructors and workingwith their partners in a team buildingenvironment, they develop respect forthemselves and others. The skill andfitness of the Program participants isevident by the fact that several havereturned from the last three NationalChampionships as champions in theirage group and event.

The Program organizationincludes oversight by a full timeLifeguard Supervisor; 10 – 11 JuniorLifeguard Instructors; and 10 – 14Assistants. The assistants are volun-teers who have come up through theProgram and are now “lifeguards intraining”. The activities of theProgram are enhanced by the pres-ence of the assistants who help withone to one instruction and act asmentors to the younger participants.While helping with the Program, they

learn role modeling and mentoringskills, become familiar with StateOcean Lifeguard responsibilities, prac-tice observation and hazard recogni-tion skills and prepare to pass theState Lifeguard Exam and the rigor-ous State Lifeguard Training.Currently there are six working life-guards that came up through theProgram, four of which are JuniorLifeguard Instructors.

The Program also provides tuitionassistance to participants that qualify,and swim lessons are taught by staffduring the spring for those that needassistance with their swimming skills.

Refugio State Beach is less thanhalf a mile from one of the most trav-eled highways in the state, but it isstill several miles from the nearest set-tlement that could be called a“town”. Although the JuniorLifeguard Program is similar to otherprograms in relation to curriculum,organization and recruitment, itsremote location poses a problem.How do you get interested partici-pants to the beach daily from 30 or 40miles away? With generous support

Refugio Junior Guards. Photo by Robin Cappon

Refugio Junior Guards practice rockentries. Photo by Robin Cappon to page 7...

Competition. Photo by Robin Cappon

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Refugio State Beach... from page 6

Lifeguards for Louisiana... from page 5

the team’s mission had to be temporarily suspended whenthey came under fire.

After their 18 day tour of duty was over, the lifeguardsreturned home, changed forever. Jim Birdsell was somoved that he decided to assist the people of Louisianarebuild their lives and their community. Last summer, Jimhooked up with Kids Around the World, a charity devotedto helping children whose lives had been disrupted by dis-aster. He enlisted his lifeguard and firefighter buddies toparticipate in a 50 mile, multi-discipline ocean event. Thegroup started at 4:50 AM at Dana Point and rowed doriesto Cotton’s Point. Then they swam to waiting outriggercanoes for a paddle to Carlsbad. At Carlsbad theyswitched to surf skis and paddled to Torrey Pines, and thenswitched to stand-up paddle boards for the final leg to LaJolla Cove, finishing a little over nine hours after theystarted. The group, Birdsell, Mitch Kahn, Rob Pelkey, RobRojas, Chuck Patterson, Jay Butki, Scott Diederich andKevin Wakashige, raised over $35,000 to build a play-ground in one of the hurricane-ravaged communitiesaround New Orleans.

The story didn’t end there. This past February, Birdsellwent back to New Orleans to help construct the play-ground.

The $35,000 Lifeguards for Louisiana raised wasmatched by a charity in the state. “Kids Around theWorld” provided a playground kit and supervision. Jim’sSan Clemente church, Shoreline Church, provided most of

the labor.On February 23, with the labor of love completed, the

volunteers formed a prayer circle around the new play-ground, built on the campus of Andrew JacksonElementary School. Two hours later, at the dedication cer-emony, the first classroom of kids jumped into the play-ground.

The whole episode, from the initial deployment as res-cuers to the paddle for charity to the construction of theplayground, was a life-changing and spiritual experiencefor Jim Birdsell. He is now planning a similar effort toassist military personnel who have been injured in the war.It is clear that his organizational ability and dedication arehuge. Larger still is his faith and selfless capacity to carefor the welfare of others. Those traits insure the successof his next endeavor.

Paddling outrigger on the way to Carlsbad. Photo by Doreen Ingino

from their employer, the State ofCalifornia, the Junior LifeguardProgram Directors hired a private buscompany, through a competitive bidprocess, to transport over 100 partici-

pants from the north county towns ofBuellton, Solvang, Santa Ynez andLompoc. Further efficiency isobtained by including routineProgram field trips in the contract.

Junior Lifeguard instructors andProgram Directors throughout thenation are renowned for their dedica-tion and creativity. That is certainlythe case at Refugio, where theseinstructors and directors have come

up with a way to bring a valuableprogram to hundreds of kids who,otherwise, may not have had theopportunity to be exposed to theocean and a chance to become life-guards.

Please visit the Refugio StateBeach Junior Lifeguard Program web-site at www.refugiojgs.com. - Editor

Refugio State Beach

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On Sunday, February12, 2006, twelve year oldTrent Popovich hadintended nothing morethan enjoying a day ofsurfing by the CayucosPier north of Morro Bay.He had used a rip to getoutside and wait for awave when he heardsomeone crying out forhelp. Looking in thedirection of the cries, hesaw two young girlscaught in the current.At first, he thought onemight be his little sister,but upon approachingcloser he saw that it was not and that both girls werecaught in the rip and barely able to stay up.

He placed both girls on his 6’2” board and started toswim them back to shore. Both girls became terrifiedwhen all three reached the turbulent surf line. The wavesknocked them both off the board several times. AlthoughTrent kept his leash on to stay close to the girls and the

board, he had tounleash once to savethe younger girl whohad been swiftly carriedaway by the rip aftershe fell off the board.

As Trent struggledto keep the girls on theboard in the poundingsurf line, VolunteerFirefighter CraigConklin, saw the emer-gency, secured a rescueboard and paddled outto assist him. Joined byanother unidentifiedperson, Trent andConklin were able to

bring the girls, Olivia Montanya (age 10) and her cousinMya (age 8), safely to shore.

For his courageous efforts that resulted in the success-ful rescue of two children in the surf, Trent Popovichreceived the Heroic Act Award from Herb White of CalState Lifeguard Association and President Rob McGowanat the Fall Board of Directors meeting.

Young Rescuer Receives AwardBy Richard Godino

Trent Popovich and family with Rob McGowan and Herb White

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Agency Profile – Solana BeachBy Richard Hidalgo


History and tradition envel-op Solana Beach and the SolanaBeach Lifeguard Service.Captain Craig Miller andLieutenant Jason Shook werekind enough to provide infor-mation about the lifeguardoperation, characteristics of thebeaches and history of the area.

Solana Beach is a smallcoastal town about twentymiles north of the City of SanDiego. It started as 140 acres offarm land purchased by ColonelEd Fletcher, an early community leader and developer, for$20 an acre from George H. Jones. With the help of hisbrother-in-law Eugene Batchelder, Col. Fletcher, created thesmall agricultural community later known as Solana Beachand promoted it as an avocado growing center. The cre-ation of the town was typical of the growth the County ofSan Diego experienced during the early 20’s.

The 1.7 miles of beaches adjacent to the town is prima-rily sandy surf beach below towering bluffs, although thenorthern beach, Tide Park, is mainly reef and is commonlyknown as “Tabletops”.

The lifeguard “department” was started in 1941, whenthe County hired two permanent lifeguards to protectbeach goers on the north county coastline. These life-guards built a lifeguard station at Fletcher Cove near agunnery bunker on the bluffs. The military called thebunker a “pill box”. “Pill Boxes” has since become thelocal name for the Fletcher Cove area. Bill Rumsey was the

first Lifeguard Captain inSolana Beach.

For the next 40 years, life-guards in Solana Beach workedfor the County of San Diego.When the City of Solana Beachincorporated in 1986, the life-guards transitioned from theCounty to the City under theParks and RecreationDepartment. In 1995, the life-guards were placed under theFire Department as the MarineSafety Department.

The Marine Safety Department employs three full timelifesaving personnel: a Captain, a Lieutenant and aSergeant. Complimenting the full time staff are 30-35 parttime, mainly seasonal, employees. During the summermonths there are 10-12 lifeguards on duty during week-days and 12-14 on duty during weekends, staffing threeportable towers at Del Mar Shores, or “Rock Pile”, Seascapealso known as “Cherry Hill”, and at Fletcher Cove, belowthe headquarters, known as “Pill Box” as noted above.There is also a semi-permanent tower at Tide Park, or“Tabletops”. The very successful Junior Lifeguard Programhas over 350 participants during the summer. The programis staffed by lifeguards who serve as the Program Directorand Assistant Director, senior instructors, instructors and 10-12 assistants. The program works out of a portable towerat the north end of Cherry Hill and is overseen by theMarine Safety Captain. (All portable towers are removedduring the off-season and stored at the Del MarFairgrounds).

The Marine Safety Department hosts several beachclean-ups during the year as well as the Fiesta Del Sol dur-ing the first weekend of June, KOZ Triathlon in earlyAugust, the Splash ‘n Dash and Beach Blanket Movie Nightin late August and the Pro/Am Surfing Contest.

The Department operates three rescue/patrol vehicles,one surf rescue skiff, two PWC’s and one ATV and has thecapability to perform dive rescues, cliff rescues and riverrescues if needed.

The Solana Beach Lifeguard Association is the CSLSAchapter that represents the lifeguards of the town in USLA.

Personal Watercraft Photo by Mike Pilgrim

Solana Beach lifeguards

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Fall Meeting SummaryBy Richard Godino

The CSLSA fall meet-

ing of the Board of

Directors was hosted by

the California State

Lifeguard Association in

Morro Bay on October 12

and 13, 2006. The loca-

tion was great, and many

of us enjoyed walking

along the waterfront,

with its shops and restau-

rants, after the meeting

concluded. As an added

bonus, we were treated

to a fall thunderstorm in

the early morning hours

of October 13, complete

with lightning, thunder

and hail. The storm cleared to a wonderful morning for the

committee reports and business portion of the meeting.

In the President’s report, Rob McGowan summarized

events from the late spring and summer. Notable among

these events was the awarding of the Medal of Valor at

the Spring USLA meeting to CSLSA Executive Delegate

Mike Bartlett of Huntington Beach for a remarkable rescue

of three people that he made near the Huntington Pier in

2005. Also discussed was the successful “Big Wednesday”

fundraisers spearhead-

ed by Steve Reuter of

Huntington; the Long

Beach Lifeguards

Centennial Celebration;

the various lifeguard

and junior lifeguard

competitions; and the

selection of this year’s

California / New

Zealand Lifeguard

Exchange participants.

In the Vice

President’s report,

Charlotte Graham also

provided a brief sum-

mary that included the

“Lifeguards for

Louisiana” fundraiser event which was a 50 mile, multi-dis-

cipline relay from Dana Point to La Jolla to raise money for

the Kids Around the World charity. The event was led by

Jim Birdsell of the San Diego lifeguards.

Among the other Officer Reports were Recurrent

Representative Chris Graham’s salary survey; and Past

President / Advisor Bob Moore’s recognition of Bill

Richardson for his work on the Policies and Procedures and

his efforts on behalf of completing the Association’s 501

(c) 3 application.

Interesting among the Committee Reports was

Certification Committee’s Don Rohrer exploring the con-

cept of an additional, and higher, certification for some

agencies. The new level would be patterned after one in

use by many fire departments, and would possibly be

called a “Class One Lifeguard Service”. Exchange Chair

Chris Graham presented the two applicants chosen for this

year’s Exchange: Ryan Steele of Cal State Crystal Cove and

Doug Leach of Huntington City. He also presented an

email from Victor Zavala of the Ensenada volunteer life-

guards inviting some California lifeguards to an apprecia-

tion dinner celebrating their successful season on the

Lifeguard Exchange presentation from left Chris Graham, KaiWeiser, Doug Leach and Ryan Steele. Photo by Richard Godino

Junior Guard agency reps with JG Chair Reenie Boyer at left.Photo by Richard Godino to page 12...

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Fall Meeting Summary... from page 10

northwest coast of Baja. Bill Richardson turned the Heroic

Acts presentation over to Herb White of Cal State who

presented the plaque to Trent Popovich for his rescue of

two young girls near the Cayucos Beach Pier in February.

Reenie Boyer summarized the Junior Lifeguard activities

during the summer, including the four big competitions –

the Regionals, Cal State Games, Nationals, and Santa

Barbara Fiesta. Lastly, I presented a proposal to the Board

for the publication of the CalSurf News in color.

The second day of the meeting was convened at the

Museum of Natural History at Morro Bay State Park.

Committee Chairs reported from the previous day’s work-

shops. The revised CSLSA by laws were adopted, bringing

them in alignment with those of USLA. Additional items

of note: $1,000 was allocated to the Competition

Committee to help send a competition team to Australia

for the Wieland Shield competition; the Newsletter

Committee was allocated $7,300 for improvements to the

Newsletter; a $5,000 line item was added to the

Membership Committee budget for membership kits; and

the Articles of Incorporation were signed by President Rob

McGowan and Secretary Mike Beuerlein, finally resolving

the Association’s 501 (c) 3 status.

After clarifying subsequent meeting dates and loca-

tions, the meeting was adjourned in memory of Buzzy

Trent and Sean Murphy.

MARK YOUR CALENDARS:

• Spring 2007 Meeting – Hosted by LACOLA at Manhattan

Beach on April 12 and 13.

• CSLSA Junior Lifeguard Regional Championships – Santa

Barbara on July 20

• CSLSA Regional Lifeguard Championships – Huntington

City on July 28

• USLA National Lifeguard Championships – Myrtle Beach,

NC on August 9 - 11

• Fall 2007 Meeting – Newport Beach on October 11 and 12.

Check presentation for Big Wednesday at Dukes. Steve Reuter,Rob McGowan and Dukes representative.

Photo by Mike Bartlett

Signing Articles of Incorporation. Mike Beuerline and Rob McGowan. Photo by Bob Moore

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