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