SURFING SOAPBOX: Cleaning up Victoria beach

Surfing down at Pearl Street beach yesterday, the very beach I grew up on, I couldn’t help but relive so many of the great memories I have had there. A beach that became my best friend and a sport “” surfing “” that changed my life.

I’m not sure where I would be without the two.

But I can tell you it is the very reason that I fight every day to preserve our oceans and beaches. Because I want the next generations of surfers to have the same dreams and the same opportunity to live those dreams as I did growing up on the beaches of Laguna.

Many say they care about protecting our oceans and beaches (our current City Council included) but I have yet to see any of them pick up a shovel.

Two weeks ago in my column I wrote about Victoria Beach and the problems of continued pooling of wastewater that had become so bad it had turned into a black pond of waste. You would think that in a town that has some of nicest beaches in the entire world that it might raise some red flags within the city.

Two people responded to it “” one saying they could help if I could get a sample for them and the other simply wrote me in an e-mail, “I’ve got a shovel, if you need help digging.”

That last e-mail came from Verna Rollinger who met me two days later at Victoria Beach with a shovel. After a few minutes it was determined that we needed more than shovels to clean up the mess. A couple of phone calls to the city and a Vac-truck came down last Tuesday and cleaned up the mess.

It was a service well done and one that our city gladly provided for all who enjoy that beach. I think there’s a misconception that when people step up and voice their opinion it’s nothing more than a complaint.

No. People like Verna Rollinger just simply care about our town and our beaches. What really impresses me about her is that she isn’t afraid to pick up a shovel and start digging for a better Laguna.

Peace.

JAMES PRIBRAM is a Laguna Beach native, professional surfer and John Kelly Environmental Award winner. His websites include AlohaSchoolofSurfing and ECOWarrior Surf.com. He can be reached at Jamo@AlohaSchoolofSurfing. com