Seventy-five years of saving lives

Andrew Edwards

Flashback to 1937: A black and white photograph on Main Beach shows a

line of Laguna’s lifeguards in trunks and jackets. One of the young

men, Paul Schilling, has an almost cocky expression on his face as he

stands with his fellow lifeguards.

On Sept. 2, Schilling returned to Laguna. Decades older his

youthful swagger was exchanged for a more grandfatherly bearing --

though his sandals seemed like a throwback to his days on the beach.

Now 85-years-old, Schilling is the oldest living lifeguard to have

ever served on Laguna’s Marine Safety Department. Lifeguarding was

his first job after he graduated from Laguna Beach High School in

1937 and he still remembers his days watching the beach.

“It was a pleasure, nice hours, out in the sun, lots of pretty

girls,” Schilling said.

His most vivid memory, he said, was anything but fun when he

pulled a girl out of the water who had suffered a nasty gash on her

ankle.

Schilling was one of many past lifeguards who came back to Laguna

for the 75th anniversary of Professional Lifesaving dinner. Held on

Sept. 2 at Tivoli Terrace, the evening was a time for lifeguards from

the past seven decades to reunite and share memories of warm summers

over glasses of cold beer.

The lifeguards’ memories all reflected a different part of

Laguna’s history. Some remembered working in a town much different

from today’s sophisticated destination point for tourism and the

arts.

One of the lifeguards, Jim Herdman, worked at the beaches from

1960 to 1971, keeping his job during the summers after he became a

teacher in 1967. Laguna’s beach scene has evolved significantly since

his days as a guard, he said.

“In the ‘60s, it was all small town Laguna, we had a boardwalk,

there were businesses on the boardwalk, there were 14 gas stations, town houses cost $14,000,” he said. “It was a nice beach community

without the tourists and without the glitter.”

Herdman was a vice principal at Thurston Middle School while Andy

Shannon was a student. Shannon, a lifeguard from 1980 to 1996,

remembered the beaches being bigger and sandier during the 1980s,

though beachgoers had already become what he called a “vacation

crowd.”

What he remembered best though, was the excitement of the job.

“It’s a great combo, it’s challenging, but it’s so fun, it’s

exhilarating,” Shannon said. “The red flag, Fourth of July days,

those are the most fun days.”

Lifeguarding was a life-changing experience, Francis Toribiong

said. A lifeguard in 1971 and 1972, Toribiong was an exchange student

from Palau at Cal State Long Beach when he was looking for a job.

“I didn’t know anything about Laguna Beach, they told me, ‘If you

want to be a lifeguard go to Laguna Beach, they’re looking for

lifeguards,’” Toribiong said.

Toribiong beat 200 other applicants to secure a job and befriended

Dean Westgaard, who became the namesake for the lifeguards’ Main

Beach headquarters. Westgaard encouraged Toribiong to open a dive

shop on his home island, and Toribiong named his son after his

friend.

Laguna Beach became a city in 1927, and the Marine Safety

Department was established two years later. While Laguna has changed

a great deal in the past 75 years, lifeguards’ work to keep the

beaches safe have stayed basically the same, Marine Safety Chief Mark

Klosterman said.

“Their primary duties and responsibilities in 1929 are the same

duties and responsibilities that we have today,” he said.