A busy summer is brewing for the Santa Monica High School Surf Club under direction of incoming President, senior long boarder Jason Abraham.
Current club members will join the members of the 1965 Samohi Surf Club at the 40th reunion of the Class of ’65. On Friday, August 26, at 7:30 p.m., the two clubs, their friends and the general public are all invited to Barnum Hall on the Samohi campus for the screening of surf videos and a general celebration for the latest generation of surfers and its pioneering predecessors.
The featured presentation will be “The HOSI Riders,” a film by ’65 alumnus Harrison Hine that combines classic surf footage and music from what many consider to be the golden era of California surfing.
The film was shown in Barnum Hall 40 years ago as a fundraiser for the ’65 surf team, and this ’05 screening will be a fundraiser for the 2005-2006 Viking surf team.
Viking ’65 alumni surfers from around the country are expected to attend.
The Samohi Surf Club was in remission for several decades and were it not for the extraordinary efforts of chemistry teacher Bill Pence, it would probably still be dormant.
Pence transferred to the Samohi campus in the fall of 2003 and immediately revived the club, raised funds and led it into battle with other coastal high schools in the ’03-’04 Interscholastic Surf Federation (ISF) campaign.
It was a good first year. The Vikings won at least one trophy in each of five ISF team competitions with short boarder Andrew McNabb and long boarder Ian Quick leading the way.
Following Pence’s departure to another school, the ’04-’05 campaign suffered a “sophomore slump” as the ISF calendar was disrupted by a series of winter storms and the Vikings were blanked in medal count at the four team competitions that were held.Prospects for the ’05-’06 Viking Surf Club are brighter. Jack Jacobs and Jason Abraham have returned to lead the long board squad, and Shane Kekin will lead the short boarders into competition.
