Surf Dads share their wisdom

Dane Grace

Lessons from the surf became lessons in life, as youngsters at

Newport Heights Elementary School were reminded Friday that drugs are

not good for them.

The students, adorned in red Hawaiian leis and sunglasses,

participated in Red Ribbon Week, which was capped off at the school

Friday with a visit from Surf Dads Against Drugs, who drove home the

anti-drug message.

Tyler Collin, 10, of Newport Beach, seemed to get the message.

“It was cool,” Collin said. “You shouldn’t do drugs.”

Red Ribbon Week is a national event in which schools promote

healthy, drug-free lifestyles. The week honors Enrique “Kiki”

Camarena, a Drug Enforcement Administration special agent killed in

1985 by drug traffickers.

The message Friday was conveyed using unlikely tools.

Bill Sharp, Big Wave Contest director for Billabong XXL, talked

about his experiences with the successful surfers he’s met.

“Everyone, to do what they do, to keep their minds sharp, to stay

in top physical condition, has to stay away from drugs,” Sharp said.

In his experiences with big-wave surfing, Sharp said he’s seen

surfers team up with jet skiers to help pull them out into waves that

a lone surfer couldn’t navigate.

Surfing had become about partnership and teamwork. For him, it

isn’t a lone sport anymore, both in and out of the water.

“If some of your friends mess around with drugs, you are their

lifeguard,” Sharp said.

Fourteen men from Surf Dad’s Against Drugs stood dressed in red

wetsuit tops and swimming trunks and held surfboards. With their

theme “Too Cool for Drugs,” the dads offered slogans like “get stoked

on surfing and not on drugs” and “surfing is about doing the right

thing.” Even Newport Heights Principal Kurt Suhr, who is also one of

the Surf Dads, added his message.

“I wanted to talk about being passionate,” Suhr said to the

children. “There are a lot of things that are easy to do. It’s all

about finding things that are positive and that you’re passionate

about.”

Sharp later took the microphone and held up a four-inch fin from

the underside of a surfboard.

“This is called a fin and this is how you maintain control,” Sharp

said. “If you’re on drugs, you have no fin, and there is no way to

maintain control.”

The dads then turned their surfboards over to reveal a single

letter on each that turned into a message: “Say no to drugs!”

“You guys look awesome in your glasses and red leis,” said Terry

Torres, Newport Heights PTA president. “This week is the week that we

celebrate putting good things in your body as opposed to putting bad

things in your body.”