Meet and greet

Mike Sciacca

Over the past few years, several construction projects have

changed the view of the coastline that hugs Pacific Coast Highway in

the Downtown area of Huntington Beach.

Yet through all the upgrades, the constants that define Surf City

remain the same: its surf, the pier and the people who live here and

come to visit.

One other constant who hasn’t changed through years of

reconstruction is Audrey Pedersen, an ageless 83-year-old who can be

found daily spreading goodwill and compassion on this stretch of

coastline that has become accustomed to the rumbling sounds of

jackhammers and tractors.

It is here, on this grassy strip of land just south of Huntington

Street and stretching toward Beach Boulevard, where Pedersen sits.

A native Canadian who moved to Huntington Beach with her husband

and daughter in 1962, Pedersen has sat in nearly the same spot every

day for the past 40 years, giving a friendly smile or “hello” to any

and all who cross her path.

She has befriended local surfers and foreign visitors alike, her

warm smile and unselfish ways reminding others of the simplicity of

life in a very complicated world.

The fortunate ones, who actually stop to talk with Pedersen, soon

learn of her charms.

“I call her the ‘unofficial’ greeter of Huntington Beach because

she always takes the time to talk with people,” said Janice Hardy,

who first met Pedersen on a trip to the beach 10 years ago.

The two have remained friends ever since.

“One day we just started chatting,” Hardy recalls. “I found her to

be so sweet. She has become a second mother to me. We’ve had her over

for Thanksgiving dinner a few times, and she is just a part of our

family now.”

Pedersen, a widow the past 20 years, has come to this spot to

enjoy the sunshine, fresh air and to people watch, she said.

“I suppose you could say I’ve met about a thousand people since

I’ve sat down here at the beach,” she said. “I call these people

friends -- or, ‘passing friends.’ A lot them live locally and some

still stop by and visit.”

Many of these “passing friends” were concerned for Pedersen when

her usual sitting spot was closed down because of beach construction

a few years back. It forced her to relocate to a nearby area, fanning

the concern.

“I really missed my regular patch of grass, and some of those who

I’d see on a regular basis were coming up to me, saying that they

were worried about me because they had not seen me,” she said.

“At my age, if you don’t turn up for a few days, they figure you

might be dead,” she added with a chuckle.

Saying “hello” or striking up a conversation with a stranger did

not come easy, said Pedersen, who describes herself as a shy person.

But through her various interactions with others, she has blossomed.

“Maybe I’m just showing off at my age. I don’t know what else you

would call it at my age ... maybe senility?,” she said with a hearty

laugh.

Yet Pedersen knows well enough when someone might need more than

just a friendly “hello.”

“She has a knack for making everyone feel very welcome,” Hardy

said. “I think it’s her job to be there for others.”

Hardy told of a time two young men visiting Huntington Beach from

the Midwest came to the beach with no lunch. Pedersen, who had talked

with the young men, asked them to watch her things. She then drove

home and returned, having made them lunch.

She also revealed the time when a family from Perth, Australia,

visited Surf City. They had set up a picnic on the grassy area at the

beach. One of the couple’s sons had broken his leg. They were having

trouble getting their medical insurance to cover their son’s

treatment while in the states.

Pedersen, Hardy said, took the family to a local bank and gave

them a check that would cover the expenses.

Upon their return to Australia, the family wrote Pedersen a “thank

you” note for expressing her kindness to travelers. That family,

Hardy said, continued to send Pedersen Christmas cards throughout the

years.

They are just a few of several stories this colorful and

interesting woman has to share, she said.

One of the more colorful encounters, Pedersen recalled, was the

time she was mooned by a young man.

“He called out my name, then mooned me. I wanted nothing more than

to give him a swift paddle,” she said.

Through it all, nearly everyone who regularly travels this stretch

of beach knows something of Audrey Pedersen.

“She has become a one-woman community service and local treasure,”

Hardy said.

Pedersen’s acts of kindness, Hardy added, make her friend a model

ambassador of sound human relations.

“It’s nothing I plan. I don’t go out of my way to say “hello,” but

when somebody does come my way, and we make eye contact, I offer them

a “hello,” Petersen said. “Some of them stay and talk, others just

smile, return the “hello,” and go on their way.”

Pedersen says she will continue to visit her sitting spot, which

is about a mile from her home, on a daily basis. She drives to that

spot, but is worried about an upcoming driving test to renew her

license.

A battle with polio as a youngster has created back problems for

Pedersen, who cannot walk the distance from her home, let alone down

to the shoreline that she loves.

“I hope the good Lord will let me drive,” she said. “I love

sitting in that spot, enjoying God’s sunshine, the rain, whatever is

sent our way ... I love meeting people. If they want to stop and

talk, tell me their stories, then I just listen. I’m a sounding

board, that’s what I call myself. Maybe I should have been a

bartender.”

* MIKE SCIACCA covers sports and features. He can be reached at

(714) 965-7171 or by e-mail at michael.sciacca@latimes.com.