Friday, June 29, 2012

The Bronze Savage, by Randy DeGregori



The Bronze Savage

This is the story of the Bronze Savage.  The centerpiece for the Memorial to Lifeguards who have passed on to Neptune's lair.

About 1990, I started attending the Lifeguard Alumni luncheon with Chief Don Rohrer.  We were aways from retirement but it was good to mingle with the former watermen and have a chance to talk with them about current events.  At the time the annual event was held at the Hermosa Kiwanis lodge.  Wally Millican, Dick ”Pappy” Garrett and others did the cooking and many others assisted in both the preparation and clean up afterwards.

Dick Garrett, a Recurrent and later Permanent Lifeguard, was an art professor at Cuesta College in San Luis Obispo.  He created a mural on butcher paper that depicted the “red knights” who had gone down to sea for the last time.  The names of guards who has passed were added in the order that the information was received.  I noticed that all the retirees would stop and look to reflect on their friends and fellow guards who had passed on.

The mural was stored in the phone/photocopy room at the old Hermosa Headquarters between gatherings.  One year it went missing.

A few years down the road Bill Poole, the semi retired wood shop teacher at Malibu Park High School began talking with me about a permanent replacement for the mural.  I stopped by the school shop several times to talk with Bill who insisted he had saved some good oak and he really wanted to take on the project.  A three panel concept was developed, some sketches drawn and the work was begun.  My son, Derek was a student of Bill's so he assisted to some measure.

The Memorial was completed, and the result was First Class, I say.  We had to figure out how to affix the names and what order they should be in.  Gary Crum offered to print the names on parchment, the font could be changed as names were added and they would be alphabetical as we were unsure of the date of passing or the date of service of each lifeguard.  Steve Saylors came up with the idea of protecting the parchment under cut glass.  I went to Malibu Glass and Mirror, they graciously helped us out.

With the project finished it still looked incomplete with an open space in the center of the three panels.  Joe Reinisch was working in the Division Office at the time so I asked him to look for a bronze medallion with a King Neptune figure on it.  Joe made trophies on the side and had access to catalogs and other sources for that kind of device.  Joe kept coming up empty though.

One night at a fund raiser for Supervisor Don Knabe in Manhattan Beach I found myself talking with Norton Wisdom, the renowned Lifeguard/Artist.  He told me he wanted to cast a bronze and had never done one.

Norton was very enthusiastic that evening but as often happens I just went back to work and put the project temporarily aside. It was the next day I think, Norton called me and asked me to stop by his place in Topanga on my way home from work.  Norton had produced a mural for the San Clemente  Ocean Festival.  It was a King Neptune figure holding a trident.  Just a few days later Norton had a clay figure completed.  We had to tweak it to reflect a mature figure unlike the youth depicted in the mural.  We added a child and some sea creatures to reflect King Neptune as the protector of humans and the ocean environment.  LACOLA stepped up and payed for the original casting.

Close up of Norton Wisdom Bronze Casting

The Memorial is displayed every year at the Alumni Luncheon and housed at the Manhattan Training Facility the rest of the year.  At some future date additional panels will have to be created as long as the tradition is maintained.  Credit and thanks belong to Dick Garrett who conceived the idea of a Memorial and all those who helped create what we have today.

Today, LACOLA gives a modified casting of the Bronze Savage to retirees usually at their retirement event.   A fine tribute for those who have served as Los Angeles County Lifeguards.
OLS-Paramedic, Joel Gitelson, holding up his (retirement) Bronze Savage, June 28, 2012

Joel's "Bronze Savage", close up. Photo by Nick Steers.

LACo Veteran Recurrent, Bruce Morgan, at right, with his Bronze Savage

Veteran LACo Recurrent, Harold Dunnigan's Bronze Savage

Respectfully,

Randy DeGregori,
Chief Lifeguard, Retired

------

("The Bronze Savage" by & Copyright Randy DeGregori 2012. All Rights Reserved. Used here with permission.  All photos by and courtesy of Will Maguire, except where otherwise indicated.)

*** Many Thanks to Randy for sharing the history of the Bronze Savage with all of us.  We really appreciate it.






10-4

Until next time.....



"County Recurrent" News

http://CountyRecurrent.blogspot.com

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

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

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Thursday, June 28, 2012

Joel Gitelson Retires! Lomita Beach on Lock Down!




Veteran LACo OLS/Paramedic, Joel Gitelson, retires !  Lomita Beach has been placed on *"lock down" status as residents and businesses decide how to go forward...

This *twelve time "Medal of Valor" recipient leaves the Baywatch Rescue Boat Operation in disarray with pundits suggesting that no replacement is possible. 

L2R: LACo OL (Ret.), Harold "Hal" Dunnigan and LACo OLS - Paramedic, Joel Gitelson

And if you think things are uncertain in Lomita Beach, we understand that *residents of Avalon on Catalina Island are picketing the Lifeguard Substation demanding that Joel reconsider his decision to retire.  And *at the Isthmus, we have been advised that all boats have left their moorings and returned to their home ports because of the uncertainty of the future of boating with Joel's departure.

And to put things in perspective, realistically speaking, we were provided with the following thoughtful remarks about Joel's prowess as an ocean surf lifesaving competitor.  Many Thanks to Media/PR Consultant/Paddler/Beach Lifeguard (and County Recurrent Freelance Reporter), Adam Sandler, who stated as follows this morning in an email to the editor here at County Recurrent:

"Joel has undoubtedly saved many lives while out on the Island and his exit is a loss. But, let's also recognize Gitelson as a formidable competitor who keeps the LACoLA team in the points. Among the 60-64 crowd (along with OL Eldin Onsgard) he is feared and revered. Here's a pic of Joel at Nationals in 2010 explaining to the media the critical nuances of surf boat racing after winning a race."
Joel Gitelson, shown above. Photo courtesy of Adam Sandler.


We are also informed that colleagues and family will gather to celebrate Joel's career at an undisclosed (to the public) Southern Section location this evening.

Congratulations to Joel for his many years of service and the many lives he has saved.

10-4


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

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* = just kidding...

Monday, June 25, 2012

"30,000 Youths Rock Zuma Beach": The Zuma "Radio Station" Riot of 1961

(Source:  Evening Outlook, June 6, 1961; Courtesy of the Santa Monica Library Archives)
Dateline: Zuma Beach, Malibu, Calif.  Sat., June 3, 1961.

Introduction/Overview:


“KRLA deejays hyped a "beachcomber's ball and grunion hunt" at Zuma Beach, set for June 3, 1961, with pop stars like Fabian set to sing and other local pop acts providing dance music for the teens who were expected to attend. KRLA had estimated a crowd of 2,000 people, at most 10,000. Instead, 25,000 people showed up at Zuma Beach, not all teens, not all well-behaved. Newspapers referred to it as a fully-fledged riot. Local constabulary and lifeguards were attacked with sand-packed beer cans. Restrooms were trashed, lifeguard stands dismantled, and illegal fireworks tossed into the crowd with mad abandon.” (source: http://krlabeat.sakionline.net/blog.html)

and

"Teen Riots" cite/link:

    http://ionamiller.weebly.com/sunset-strip.html

Scroll down to the third headlined story entitled:

WILD IN THE STREETS

Warming Up for the 'Summer of Love'

LA TEENAGE REBELLION: In the spring of 1961, Southern California suddenly erupted from the valleys to the beaches in angry generational conflict. There were 11 so called 'teen riots' in six months--three of them, including Griffith Park in May, Zuma Beach in June and Alhambra in October, involved thousands of youth.

excerpt:

Yet while chief Parker was still fuming over 'Negro hoodlums', Gidget and 25,000 of her beach blanket friends were pelting sheriff's deputies and highway patrolmen with sand-packed beer cans. The weekend after the Griffith Park battle, Los Angeles' most popular rock and roll station invited listeners to a 'grunion derby' at Zuma Beach, near Malibu. KRLA expected about 2,000 to arrive on Saturday night--'instead 25,000, a conservative estimate, showed up'.  23 County Parks and Recreation officials prevented the sponsors from erecting a planned dance floor and bandstand, so the huge crowd was left to organise its own amusements. At midnight, the official beach closing time, sheriffs ordered the revellers to leave. The response was a fierce fusillade of beer cans and bottles. Fifty additional patrol cars had to be called in before the crowd dispersed.24 Although KRLA disputed the hair raising accounts of mayhem and near rape promulgated by county officials, the general perception was that the deputies had narrowly prevented 'an uncontrolled riot of frightening proportions'. 'Only by great good fortune,' claimed the Los Angeles Examiner, 'the fracas did not result in fatalities'.


-------------


"County Recurrent" first learned of this riot when LACo Veteran Recurrent (Ret.), Baby Dave Rochlen mentioned it in passing in an earlier story he wrote for our blog entitled, "The Zuma Beach Lifeguard of the 60's"

    http://countyrecurrent.blogspot.com/2011/06/zuma-beach-lifeguard-of-60s-by-dave.html

wherein Baby Dave concluded his remarks with the following rhetorical question and philosophical riff:

"How many guys got to experience the Radio Station Riots with just a skeleton crew of guards waiting for the motorcycle cops to arrive from town? Because squad cars could not reach Zuma since 101 was totally jammed with traffic all the way back to the Malibu Mayfair Market? How many guys got to witness Bob Hughes calming down a crowd of ho daddy’s with his calm, cool and collected manner? And that Brazilian guard who defended against a crowd of guys rushing a tower he was in? (Planted his foot into the chest of the lead guy rushing up the ramp knocking him backward into the close packed followers who then fell backward, ripping the rails off of the Guard tower ramp?"

In any event, with respect to the Riot of 1961, we have researched articles from both the Santa Monica Newspaper of the period, namely, the "Evening Outlook", as well as  the L.A. Times.  We've also received written remarks from the likes of Chief Bob Burnside, who was on duty and in charge that late afternoon of the riot, as well as the recollections and comments of Baby Dave, a rookie Zuma guard that spring/summer.  We are hoping to add additional remarks in the future but what we've been able to gather to date is both illuminating and entertaining.  So here goes:

Per Bob Burnside:

"For a month , KRLA had been broadcasting a grunion run and beach concert to be held a Zuma.  At that time, few people other than the Valley folks frequented Zuma.  Now all of Los Angeles was informed about the BIG BEACH PARTY… at Zuma.

Permits were obtained and the Department was notified.  At that time we were under the Parks and Recreation Dept. of LACO. Captain Kirby Temple (aka, Kirby) was the Area’s Captain, Lt. Goldie Fields the Lt.  Extra lifeguards were assigned to cover any water activity.

Crowds started to arrive early that day. Luckily the surf was small and at 5 pm Lt. Fields went off duty and I assumed his responsibilities for the remainder of that day.

As the crowds built , Captain Temple, having recently just married and his wife was alone in the county house on Westward beach, was concerned about the crowd and felt it best to go home. He left me in charge, having no idea that this might become a nightmare.

As the evening progressed...the crowds grew and grew.  We notified the LACO Sheriffs Dept. who dispatched additional cars to the area.  As the sun dropped down in the hprizon, the crowd became irritated awaiting the concert to start.. Unknown to all…was that the entire group of entertainers were stuck in a massive traffic jam...caused by thousands of Los Angeles residents who also had decided to see the concert on the beach.

The crowd got really rowdy and stated chanting and rocking Tower 4… I called Captain Temple and Lt Fields, but the highway and traffic was so congested, they felt it near impossible to return to Headquarters... and still didn't feel that anything unusual would occur…WRONG!

Tower 4 called in with a serious eye incident, a fire cracker had blown up and injured a girl.  I dispatched Bob Hughes and John Phillips in unit 5 to Tower 4.  On their arrival, the crowd now seeing our red lights and the Sheriffs red light and sirens, went crazy and started throwing everything at the units and tearing into the tower.  Hughes and Phillps were big dudes...and held of the crowd and closed up the tower... Prior to that, the Sheriffs seeing the possibility called for the riot squad.. Because of the traffic, most of them were on motorcycles.

We sent Unit 4, the beach unit to Tower 1 and loaded up as many Sheriffs as possible. After all the deputies were in place at the water line below Tower 4, the Sheriff’s gave a whistle and load speaker warning, "CLEAR THE BEACH AREA!" The deputies then started moving toward the parking lot.  Anyone that refused to move "GOT CLOBBERED" and handcuffed.

It only took around 15 minutes for the Sheriffs to clear the sand..The crowd then dispersed without further incidents...leaving behind a thrashed beach and facilities damaged. At the end of that evening, I recall we had administered first aid to over two dozen injured… six of them seriously and two were transported via ambulance to Santa Monica.

The next morning the L.A. TIMES and other reporters interview Captain Temple about the riot.  He made a mistake in commenting "They all should be put into the Coliseum, given baseball bats and let them riot there while we watch from the stadium seats."

That didn't settle too well with the many church bus loads of kids... as their parishes screamed to the LA Board of Supervisors about Captains Temple’s racially slanted comments. We were now in for a witch hunt.

The bottom line after many weeks of investigation, Captain Temple was disciplined for, as they put it, neglecting to assume command under an emergency and for improper remarks.  Kirby got suspended without pay for 30 days and on his return was so bitter over the issue, he started his plans to retire.. doing so near a year later to that riot date."


Per Baby Dave Rochlen:

"Let me just say, I was frightened for MY LIFE and was totally busy doing first aid and protecting myself, locked in my tower.....didn't give a thought to taking photos of anything or anybody.

That article you included was in correct in its statement about 50 additional police cars called in to finish off the night. It was absolutely impossible for ANY four wheeled vehicle to travel up Pacific Coast Highway since people had abandoned their vehicles as far back as Malibu Mayfair Market (7 miles away from Zuma) and tried to walk into the event. These grid locked vehicles included empty cars parked on the shoulder of the road. CHP Motorcycle Division was called and were the only additional personnel who made it up to Zuma. And, there were about 50 of those guys.  Pretty Big Guys, those solo bike officers. They weaved in and out and all about and made it up to Zuma. Once there, they proceeded to muster at the north end of the beach, way up by Trancas.They parked their bikes, formed a line from the parking lot to the ocean and slowly made their way towards Point Dume, forcing all in their path to start heading South.  That took awhile but finally worked.

Also, in the article there was a reference to physical assaults.  Some of these occurred back by the restrooms, pretty far away from the security of my tower. My first and only two attempts to try and intervene were met by a hail of those sand filled beer cans and cursing threats and "weapons waving" directed at me. I called HQT for  direction and was instructed to stay in my tower with the doors locked. The appearance of Bob Hughes, calmly stepping out of the Rescue Truck near my tower to DIRECTLY confront the crowd, calmed everything down around me, in Tower Four.

I will not comment on the response or lack of response to the phone call HQT made to Captain Temples home at Westward Beach early in the evening. Anyone wearing a white hat that evening was at such a disadvantage simply because 12-15 Lifeguards, 10 or so Sheriff's on hand vs. 25,000 to 30,000 drunk and rowdy non beach people from the Valley and inland LA just didn't work out for keeping a lid on anything.

Aloha
Dave Rochlen

Also, from Dave:

I don't think that anyone really wants me to describe the physical assaults that I witnessed or the brutal beatings I observed or the details of the first aid service I provided to the guys who were beaten and wounded - the same guys who shortly before were throwing stuff at me, cursing me and trying to draw me out of my tower by trying to tip my tower over.

And we would be remiss if we did not share an amusing recent conversation between Burnside and Rochlen about this 1961 Riot, as follows:

From: David Rochlen
Date: 6/19/2012
To: bburnside@earthlink.net
Subject: Re: Radio Station Riots - Zuma Beach, June 1961

Uncle-
I thought I was in tower 4 earlier in the day.  Bob Hughes was sent down in the truck to "save" me and John Phillips is the guy who planted his foot in the guys chest rushing his tower knocking him back and into the rest of the guys who were behind him.  They all fell back grabbing the hand rails which ended up being ripped off of the tower ramp.

Dave


From: bburnside@earthlink.net
Date: 6/19/2012
To: David Rochlen
Subject: Re: Radio Station Riots - Zuma Beach, June 1961

Yes... I remember sticking your ugly face in tower 4... hoping they would kick your ass...   Bob


And finally, after I sent Dave the following photos from Zuma that I took this past weekend (June 23, 2012) at the Tower #4 area, he had the following additional remarks:




"I noticed the date of this event and realized that I was a Brand New Guard, having just recently graduated from Santa Monica High School the week before. So, this was my introduction to lifeguarding and did I need some guidance and support dealing with the Riot and related activities.  Even though the tower was close to the bathroom, that area was a no mans land.  Shoot, anywhere off of your tower was a no mans land. In the photos you sent (above), the tower is alot closer to the water than back in the day when it was positioned closer to the wall separating the food stand and the tower."

Aloha
Dave

-----

Newspaper Articles:

The Evening Outlook, Monday, June 6, 1961:
"30,000 Youth Rock Zuma Beach"
Police, Deputies Quell 30,000 Zuma Revelers
excerpt:
"A beach party attended by some 30,000 teenagers and young adults, many of them intoxicated on beer and wine, got out of hand at Zuma Beach County Park Saturday nitght and almost erupted into a major riot.  Only the arrival of heavy sheriff's department and California Highway Patrol reinforcements prevented an outfight mob attack on police trying to quiet the rampaging crowd, officers said...  The thousands upon thousands of young people, mostly attired in T-shirts and shorts and barefooted had gathered at the beach for a combination "rock n' roll" and "grunion hunting" party sponsored by radio station KRLA of Pasadena."

Los Angeles Times, June 6, 1961:
"Near-Riot at Zuma Beach Blamed on Failure to Meet Regulations"
excerpt: 
"Capt. Kirby Temple of the county lifeguard service, who was present at the melee, declared: "When you get that many kids together, there's bound to be trouble --- especially when they're predominantly male", he said, adding, "I've hard that a lot of the kids knew exactly how many Sheriff's deputies were going to be there.  Those kids were crammed shoulder-to-shoulder.  If an officer had gone in there, he probably wouldn't have come out."

The Evening Outlook, Monday, June 6, 1961:
"Police Rout 30,000 Revelers At Zuma Beach"

The Evening Outlook, Monday, June 6, 1961:
"Stiff Riot Law Sought By County"
Zuma Outbreak Sparks Study
excerpt:
"Supervisor Burton W. Chace today demanded tough new county laws to
prevent a recurrence of the near-riot of teenagers and young adults at Zuma Beach
Saturday night."

The Evening Outlook, June 7, 1961
Opinion by J.D. Funk, GM, The Evening Outlook
"About The Trouble At Zuma Beach"
excerpt:
"Society in general and youth in particular got a black eye Saturday night at Zuma Beach County Park.  No amount of statistical beefsteak or "We're sorry about the whole thing" will reduce the swelling.... What really happened is still vague.  But liquor, emotions that teenagers can't handle and supervisorial laxity on the part of adults all contributed to an ugly incident... The radio station apparently abetted curfew violations, since grunion hunting wasn't due to start until 2:30 a.m."

and one of our favorite lines from this Opinion, "Maybe there would be fewer ugly blots against teenagers if commercial enterprise stopped exploiting the and inflating the sense of their own importance."

--------

Wow!  What a miracle that none of our guards got seriously injured that afternoon and evening of this riot.  Many Thanks to Bob Burnside and Baby Dave for their exceptional contributions to this article.  We are hopeful of adding new material in the coming days and months from other guards and other resource material as they become available.

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.

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

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Friday, June 22, 2012

Skip Keith, R.I.P.

Skip, in the bow, above


Skip, with his wife, Bea
Alexander (Skip) Keith
September 26 , 1935 - May 30, 2012

In 1953, Skip became an Ocean Beach Lifeguard for the City of Los Angeles.  His duties began at the beaches of Venice and later at Playa Del Rey.  During this time his athletic prowess was focused, after his Lifeguard hours, on two man beach volleyball, where he and his partner took on "all comers."  He participated in the Taplin games and at one time paddled to Catalina.

Not to let the sand or grass grow between his toes he found the time to import foreign automobiles, assisting many Lifeguards in the purchasing of Porsche cars. And, with his vast knowledge of Real Estate he put together several properties and, in particular the undeveloped land on the hill behind Castle Rock, and again several Lifeguards benefited by their early investments with Skip.

After leaving the Lifeguards, Skip began his pursuit of Teaching Credentials and thereafter taught and coached at Los Angeles City College inspiring his students with his "You can do it" attitude and his mentoring skills. During this time he continued his Real Estate endeavors;  according to well known sources, "The Keith's" were always on the move and always to better accommodations. "They established a great working relationship with the Moving Company." Skip played a role in the very early development of the Skateboard industry working with Larry Stevenson on the Makaha concept and publishing "Surf Guide" magazine.

------

Our thoughts and prayers go out to Skip's wife, Bea, and their extended family and friends.  Many Thanks to Harold Dunnigan and to Bea for allowing us this opportunity to pay our respects to Skip, our fellow beach lifeguard who has gone on to the next assignment above.

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.

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

*****   *****   *****   *****   *****






Wednesday, June 20, 2012

"A LIFEGUARD, TO BE OR NOT TO BE", by Cal Porter


                                A LIFEGUARD, TO BE OR NOT TO BE

Ah, summer is here.  That means it’s time for all lifeguards to be on the beach, in full force, in every tower, and ready for business, ready for whatever action comes their way. 

But how did it happen that we all become beach lifeguards in the first place?  Well the answers, of course, are numerous and of great variety.  Many of us might have had a background similar to mine.  I have always been on the beach; I was born and grew up on the beach, swimming, diving, surfing.  Being eighty-eight years old now, I was there before there were any lifeguards on the beach, except in the salt water plunges and a few occasional summer volunteers on the more populated beaches (In the late 1920’s I saw the first professional beach lifeguards appear on the beach).  Almost all of us eventual lifeguards first ended up on high school and college swim teams and competed in the sport we loved, and then a natural progression to lifeguarding ensued.  But was there anything else; was there someone you admired and looked up to who influenced you, maybe a great coach or lifeguard?  I can certainly think of some, all lifeguards in my case; probably you can too, someone who made you want to be a lifeguard.  So going way back a lot of years here are just a few of mine.                                                                                                       
George Freeth  - 1910



I guess the best place to start would be with George Freeth.   I knew little about him when I was a kid but I knew the name and that his accomplishments were legendary.  I learned much more about him later when I was a teenager.  He died in 1919, a bit before my time, but I knew people who had known him and had worked with him in those early 1900’s, and they told me all about him.  Both George McManus and Christy Miller, who became County Lifeguards when the County was first formed, swam, played water polo and lifeguarded in the salt water plunges with Freeth.  On July 3, 1907 Freeth had left his home in Hawaii for new opportunities and adventures on the beaches of Southern California.  He was one of Hawaii’s best swimmers and surfers, and later in that month of July he became one of the first surfers in the United States when he rode the waves alongside the rock breakwater in front of the Venice Plunge.  In the newspapers he became known as “The Man Who Could Walk on Water”, since most of the spectators had never seen or heard of anything like this before.  He became a lifeguard at the plunges in Redondo and Venice, and he accomplished something never done before.  Freeth organized and was captain of the first ever volunteer lifeguard force on the beach; there were no paid beach lifeguards then or any others at that time.  In addition, he invented a great many lifesaving devices, forerunners of many used today.  Among his numerous rescues, he received the United States Congressional Gold Medal of Honor for single-handedly rescuing seven fishermen from three overturned boats far from shore on a cold, stormy December day. He made many trips and was in the icy water for two and a half hours.  This was a man to admire.  Who wouldn’t want to be a lifeguard like George Freeth.
                                           
Wally O’Connor  -  1924


I got to know Wally O’Connor quite well when I was a teenager.  In 1943 he and I were the last to ever swim in the Venice Plunge that he had known all his life.  The plunge was condemned, boarded up and slated for demolition.  We sneaked in a nailed up entrance just to be able to say that we were the last to swim in the pool that had been there since 1906, and where we both had been lifeguards.  Wally was also an outstanding Los Angeles City Beach Lifeguard and former Venice High School swimmer where I went.  He had accomplished something no other athlete had ever done at that time, he qualified and participated in five consecutive Olympic Games as a swimmer and water polo player; 1924, 1928, 1932, 1936 and 1940, the last of which was cancelled for World War II.  He was the captain of each of these water polo teams and was the flag bearer in the 1936 Berlin Games, refusing to dip the American Flag toward Adolph Hitler.  In 1924 his Olympic swimming medal was gold.  He is rated as the greatest water polo player of all time.  He also won several national championships as a Stanford University swimmer, and led the water polo team to four straight Pac 8 titles.  He is in the Hall of Fame as the number 1 water polo player.  He was quite an influence on this teenager.

George Wolf  -  1925
                                         

George Wolf holds a unique record in the history of lifeguarding.  He was an outstanding swimmer, and in 1925 he became the first and only paid, professional lifeguard on the Los Angeles Beaches in all of Santa Monica Bay.  Before this time any lifesaving that was done was by volunteers who were not always available or well trained, resulting in many drownings.  That first year George by himself covered an area of several miles from Ocean Park all the way to El Segundo Beach.  He was the first of a team of lifeguards to follow that today comprise the Los Angeles County Lifeguard Service, the largest, best equipped, and best trained lifeguard force in the world with more than 700 lifeguards and a dozen Baywatch Rescue Boats protecting seventy miles of beaches.  As a teenager I knew George and his brother Paul, a lifeguard, and Olympic swimmer, and I loved to hear their stories of those very early days of lifeguarding.
 
George McManus                                           
                                           
                                               
                               1920’s, George at bottom, O’Connor next

Mac, as he was called, lived in Venice, California all of his life.  I first met him in the late 1930’s when I was a lifeguard in the Venice Plunge and he would come there to work out after his shift on the beach as a Los Angeles County Lifeguard at Will Rogers State Beach.  He encouraged me to be a beach guard, and later I worked with him for many years when I was a County Guard myself.  In 1909 he was working as a lifeguard at the Plunge when the Venice Water Polo Team was formed with Mac as a member.  On that team and also lifeguarding there was George Freeth.  Freeth was his friend.  For me, just knowing somebody who actually had known George Freeth and could talk about him and those old days was an inspiration to me.  Mac also knew and swam with Johnny Weissmuller (movie Tarzan, and arguably the greatest swimmer of all time) and Duke Kahanamoku.  Mac was in on some hair raising inland river rescues and also doubled as a fire fighter along the waterfront.  Another colorful part of George McManus’s life was as a gondolier.  On his time off from lifeguarding he would row the tourists along the many Venice canal waterways that existed at that time right through Venice town and are now gone.  Mac joined the Los Angeles County Lifeguards the year it was formed, and retired from the force during his last assignment at Zuma Beach after working as a lifeguard since 1908, nearly fifty years. 

Pete Peterson

There were so many other watermen that I could mention that were inspirational to us young aquatic hopefuls back in those days and Pete Peterson was definitely one.  He was a Santa Monica Lifeguard from the day the group was formed.  He worked out in the Venice Plunge when I was a high school lifeguard there, and where I first knew him and looked up to him.  He was the greatest all-around waterman of his era.  He could do it all.  He was the best surfer, a great swimmer and free diver, and an aquatic stunt man better than any.  Repairing my surfboards for me didn’t hurt either.
                                  
                           Pete, reshaping a board like my 1930’s balsa redwood.

There are many others that could be mentioned, but just those that I knew and described above would be enough to inspire and convince any kid that he wanted to follow in their aquatic footsteps; we wanted to be just like them.  My two brothers and I all became Los Angeles County Beach Lifeguards.                     cp

------

Copyright Cal Porter 2012.  All Rights Reserved.  Photos courtesy of Cal Porter.

---

*** Thanks Cal ! ***

10-4

Until next time.....


"County Recurrent" News
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Service • Training • Commitment

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

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Tuesday, June 19, 2012

"Rescues, Prevents & Paint Brushes..."

LACo Recurrent Lifeguards DO IT ALL!

Shown below, the LACo Recurrent Painting Contractor Crew, CCGS, adds a fresh coat of "County Holland Blue" to Santa Monica South Tower #16 on the afternoon of Monday, June 18, 2012.






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LACo Recurrents Rock!

Legend:

CCGS = Carvin, Czer, Guiterrez, Smith

(All Photos by & Copyright Will Maguire 2012. All Rights Reserved.)

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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.

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

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Sunday, June 17, 2012

"Pangas-r'us", by John Thomas

Just in from retired LACo OLS, John Thomas, yesterday (Sat., June 16, 2012) from Carpinteria, Calif...

 "I WAS WALKING THE HOUNDS ON SUMMERLAND BEACH AT SUNSET LAST THURSDAY WHEN I CAME ACROSS FIVE OF THESE 50 LITER FUEL JUGS , CAPS OFF, WITH RESIDUAL GASOLINE IN THE BOTTOMS THAT HAD JUST BEEN WASHED UP ON THE BEACH AT HIGH TIDE IN THE SPACE OF LESS THAN A HALF MILE. HUMMMMMMMMMMMMMM... THEY WERE STAMPED, HECHO EN MEXICO...


IT LOOKED LIKE THE PANGA BOYS WERE ABOUT. I TOOK ONE OF THE JUGS  TO THE COAST GUARD OFFICE AT S.B. HARBOR AND TOLD THEM OF MY FIND. THEY DUTIFULLY TOOK DOWN THE INTEL AND THANKED ME.  I  OPENED THIS MORNING'S PAPER AND SHAZAMMMM !!!!  THESE GRUELERS WERE OVERHAULED BY THE LOCAL SHERIFF'S AND THE  STATE RANGERS FROM EL CAPITAN BEACH AS THEY WERE UNLOADING 1400 LBS OF POT FROM THE PANGA  PULLED UP ON THE BEACH SOUTH OF EL CAP.



THE HARBOR PATROL DOCK IN SANTA BARBARA IS GETTING CROWDED WITH THESE PANGAS. SO A WORD TO THE EAGLE EYED TRUE HEARTS OF LACO FD LIFEGUARDS......... KEEP A WEATHER EYE WESTWARD NEAR SUNSET !   IT'S SUMMER AND THE PANGA BOYS ARE ON THE MOVE !!!

JT

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Thanks JT!  Good advice.

(Photo of gas can by John Thomas; Newspaper excerpts courtesy of JT).

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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.

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

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Saturday, June 16, 2012

"June so far..."

June 2012... so far anyways...








































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(All photos by & Copyright Will Maguire 2012.)

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.

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

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SMN Tower #8 Menanced By Giant Crab!!!

Friday Nite, June 15, 2012

In a striking resemblance to the Giant Crab in the classic film, Mysterious Island, based on the novel by Jules Verne, SMN Tower #8 was menaced by a Giant Crab Claw early in the evening last nite. 

Then again, it is always good to ask to see all the photographs taken just in case someone is pulling your leg, as it were...





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"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.

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

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