Monday, October 31, 2011

How John Baker and Mike Stevenson Saved A Young Kip Jerger at Rincon


(Image Source: http://www.flyaboveall.com/pacon.jpg)

Trick or treat?

Well how about a Treat! Check this out! The readership may recall a recent interview of LACo Veteran Recurrent, Kip Jerger, by Adam Sandler (see below).

x-ref:

"Q&A With Kip Jerger", by Adam Sandler

http://countyrecurrent.blogspot.com/2011/09/q-with-kip-jerger-by-adam-sandler.html

In this interview Kip mentions being rescued at Rincon by a couple other total stud veteran LACo recurrents and life long surfers and paddlers, namely, Mike Stevenson and John Baker.

Well get this!?!!! Adam just heard back from Baker about that day and what he recalled. So here you have it, Folks! Here's your Halloween Treat! We are going to simply copy and paste Adam's email here for consistency and attribution's sake. And please be advised that Kip encouraged us to speak with John and Mike about this rescue of theirs in order to give us all a greater appreciation of the dangers inherent to surfing in large surf and exiting over man made rock walls.

From: Adam Sandler
Subject: How John Baker Saved A Young Kip Jerger at Rincon
Date: October 31, 2011 5:27:16 PM PDT
To: Will Maguire

Will:

Recall that in Kip Jerger's Q&A, Kip credited John Baker and Mike Stevenson with rescuing him at Rincon during a day with huge waves? Well, I asked John Baker to recall the incident:

"Yes, the story is true," says retired OLS John Baker. "It's been a long time now, maybe 35-40 years ago, so in trying to remember it is a little fuzzy. Mike and I were at Rincon and the surf was huge -- solid 6-8 foot backs with a few bigger sets. Back then, you parked on the highway and could watch the surfing from your car. I remember it being pretty crowded. As we watched these huge sets pouring through the point, one of us happened to notice a surfer attempting to exit the water by climbing over the rocks/seawall that protected the highway. This was about a quarter of a mile south of the point. Well, the tide was very high, and together with these giant waves, there was a huge backwash off the rocks. We watched this guy make several attempts to get out, and we could tell he was in serious trouble. It was just suicide trying to get over the rocks. Being the lifeguards that we were, we both knew we had to help this guy if we could. We had no idea who it was; it was just someone in distress. Mike said to jump in and he drove my van. As we got down to where this surfer was, we could see the current was moving like a river along the seawall. This was making any rescue attempt that much harder. I could see his board had already been broken in half. I climbed down the rocks and yelled to him to watch for my signal to come in. Luckily, there was a pretty long lull and I waved for him to hurry in. He was pretty exhausted when I grabbed his hand and we scampered up the rocks. We drove him back to Rincon, and only then we realized it was a bloody and bruised Kip Jerger."

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Source material; Re: Rincon Photo:

FLY ABOVE ALL

"From Bates to Ventura"

http://www.flyaboveall.com/psbates.htm

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Wow! Thanks very much to both John Baker and Adam Sandler for sharing their remarks with all of us!

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Until next time.....


"County Recurrent" News

http://CountyRecurrent.blogspot.com

Service • Training • Commitment

*** Keeping the County Recurrent "in the loop"..... whether he/she likes it or NOT ! ***

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Sunday, October 30, 2011

Conrad Liberty Memorial Service & Reception: Oct. 30, 2011

What a turn-out! 200 plus friends and family of Conrad Liberty. A wonderful reflection of the affinity and respect with which Conrad was held by so many. We hope those of you who were not able to make it will get a sense of what took place yesterday as we all gathered to celebrate the amazing life of Conrad Liberty.

And just in from Marla Liberty and her family: "Thank you to everyone who worked so hard to put this even together. Our family thought it was very well done, and exceeded our expectations. Thanks for a great turn-out and a job well done."

And from veteran LACo OLS (Ret.), John Thomas: "I HAVE TO SAY, IT WAS THE MOST TOUCHING AND INSPIRING SEND OFF I'VE ATTENDED. THE FLY-OVER, PLUS TAPS PLAYED BY THE LONG BUGLER FOLLOWED BY AMAZING GRACE WITH THE BAYWATCH UNITS FLARING OUT TO THE OPEN SEA IN THE MISSING MAN FORMATION WAS A HOME RUN.... A TOUCHING AND FITTING SEND OFF FOR OUR OLD FRIEND AND COMRADE..... IT WAS THE BEST EVER......"





















































Friday, October 28, 2011

Conrad Liberty: Rest In Peace



*** Please see our October 18, 2011 memorial blog post for our full coverage at: ***

http://countyrecurrent.blogspot.com/2011/10/conrad-liberty-rest-in-peace.html



Respectfully,



"County Recurrent" News
http://CountyRecurrent.blogspot.com

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Saturday, October 22, 2011

"Ben Stein: Ocean Park Plunge Life Guard", by Barry Stein


Just in from Palisades resident and photographer (and childhood resident of Ocean Park beach, aka, Santa Monica South), Barry Stein (aka, The Mayor). Ben Stein was Barry's dad and before he became a Santa Monica policeman he was a life guard at the Ocean Park Plunge and the Venice Plunge in the 1930's where he and his colleagues also made rescues in the ocean. The enclosure above features some undated newspaper clippings from this time period when Ben was a life guard and features stories of some rescues in the ocean during high surf and rip currents. Here are excerpts from two of these articles:

Excerpt from "4 ARE SAVED FROM SEA BY LIFE GUARDS".

"... Three visitors, two men and a woman, were swept among the piling(s) of Lick pier yesterday afternoon and were rescued by Municipal Guard Sumner and Ocean Park Plunge Guard Stein."

Excerpt from "Girl Rescued In High Seas Here".

"Rescued from a high tide in the surf in a totally exhausted condition, Miss Mildred Scerber, 17 years old, living at 1440 Second street, Santa Monica, had a narrow escape from death here yesterday due to the prompt and valorous action of Municipal Life Guard Staines, assisted by Municipal Guard Carroll and Venice Plunge Guard Stein.

Per Barry: "I have no idea the date of the articles. As noted to Will, these were the ones that did not fall apart, dates might have been on other articles. My dad was born 1910, my sister was born 1934. I just don't know if he was a life guard early in (my parent's) marriage. I just remember him as being a policeman.

(These articles feature) my Dad, Ben Stein. I'm getting stuff for my nieces and just touching the old print a dozen or so just fell apart. I'm sure the articles are from the 30's. He was raised in Ocean Park and I knew he did some lifeguarding, but also a policeman in Santa Monica 1935-1945. As a little boy I remember meeting Myron Cox, Pete Peterson, Fred Wadley, Bob Butts [these are the names I remember today] on a regular basis. I used to get rides on a lifeguard boat. It was probably Tommy Zahn running it. I met Tommy in 1986, I never thought of asking him if he knew my father. Others [names] are long forgotten.

Going to the movies, and especially if there were any water stunts, I knew most by name because at that time the industry used lifeguards.

We moved from 121 1/2 Surf St. [one of the streets that was eliminated with the development of the towers] in the late 40's to the city. But I spent many a summer with my grandparents who lived on Raymond and with the Lakin family who lived on Hart. (Some of) you might know or remember Marty Lakin. Tommy Zahn lifeguarded with him... poor guy would have to take me to the beach. We'd go to State Beach/Tower 18, only rules were come back in four hours.

I sure didn't know that it was something special, but I did have fun."

---

Many thanks to Barry Stein for sharing these great news clippings with all of us!

Note: Barry Stein's remarks are Copyright H. Barry Stein 2011. All Right Reserved. Used here with permission.

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Until next time.....


"County Recurrent" News
http://CountyRecurrent.blogspot.com

Service • Training • Commitment

*** Keeping the County Recurrent "in the loop"..... whether he/she likes it or NOT ! ***

DISCLAIMER:
County Recurrent is not affiliated with nor sponsored by LACOLA or LACoFD.

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Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Conrad Liberty, Rest In Peace


("Conrad Liberty 1942-2011". Copyright Norton Wisdom 2011. All Rights Reserved. Used here with permission.)


Conrad Liberty: May 17, 1942 - October 17, 2011


WE lost one of our generations' most extraordinary lifeguards yesterday afternoon at approximately 5 pm (Monday, Oct. 17, 2011). Conrad is up there on our Mt. Rushmore in terms of his leadership and the respect that his colleagues had for him as a beach lifeguard. Conrad is one of the "good guys". In fact, he heads the list.

The date of the memorial service for Conrad will be Sunday, October 30, 2011 at 10 a.m. The location of the memorial service will be at "Venice North" at the Breakwater which was Conrad's favorite place to work and which he told us in our interview with him this past month.

(Official Conrad Liberty Memorial Service Announcement. Produced by Richard Mark. Courtesy of the Liberty Family.)

Heads up, Lifeguards! Please note the following addendum regarding our encouragement that you B.Y.O. Beach Chair as we will be establishing a "beach chair section" at the memorial service.

Additionally, all guests are invited to show up early at 9:30 a.m. to join us for "Coffee & Donuts", a Conrad Liberty tradition and tribute.



Our thoughts and prayers go out to Conrad's family and to our lifeguard family. We've lost a mountain of a man, yet one who will always be with us in spirit. We are all blessed for having known him and shared in his friendship.

Conrad is now out of pain and no longer suffering and has taken, as stated by Harold Dunnigan, "the big body surf to the beyond". We shall miss him dearly.

God bless you, Conrad Liberty.

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Photo Tribute To Conrad Follows:



















(All Photos by Will Maguire, unless otherwise indicated. Please do not reproduce without consent).

We encourage Conrad's friends and colleagues to send us a story about Conrad or post same as a "Comment" to this blog post for those who care to do so.

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"County Recurrent" News

http://CountyRecurrent.blogspot.com

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Sunday, October 16, 2011

PLF15: October 15, 2011



The Professional Lifeguard Assn. celebrated its 15th Anniversary last nite at "The Hideout" in Santa Monica Canyon and awarded its "Life Achievement Award" to Veteran LACo Recurrent, Michael O'Donnell, Phd. What an incredible and inclusive event hosted by its Co-Founder, Paul Silka, MD. Southern Section Recurrents turned out in force to celebrate to witness and acknowledge Dr. Mike.

Here are some of the photos, plus a video (see below) of this memorable event hosted, produced and sponsored by LACo Recurrents. Many Thanks as well to LACo Recurrent (Ret.), Mark Verge, the owner of "The Hideout".

Enjoy!







*** PLF15: The Video ***


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Nq3i5foVXc

































































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10-4


Until next time.....


"County Recurrent" News

http://CountyRecurrent.blogspot.com

Service • Training • Commitment

*** Keeping the County Recurrent "in the loop"..... whether he/she likes it or NOT ! ***

DISCLAIMER: County Recurrent is not affiliated with nor sponsored by LACOLA or LACoFD or the PLF.

*** PLEASE forward to other Recurrents, past and present, so that we can add them to our mailing list. ***

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