One of a kind surfboards auctioned off to benefit Surfrider.
By Vicki Godal/Special to The Malibu Times
The Surfrider Foundation celebrated 20 years, Southern California style, with a gala and surfboard auction at Sony Pictures Studios in Culver City Thursday night. More than 800 supporters attended the event, which featured music performed by surfer Tom Curren, Peter DiStefano and DJ Ethan Browne while ocean, wildlife and surf images were projected onto the stage backdrop and building walls surrounding the gala.
During the evening, the Surfrider Foundation presented its first inaugural “Keeper of the Coast” Awards to longtime supporters-Perry Farrell, lead singer of Jane’s Addiction and founder of Lollapalooza, and director and musician Jack Johnson.
This award, to be given once every five years, recognizes athletes, entertainers, politicians and other high-profile figures who have, through their positions of prominence, demonstrated support for the Surfrider Foundation’s mission of protecting and preserving the world’s oceans and beaches. Both men were honored for their unwavering commitment to Surfrider. Farrell’s work for the Surfrider Foundation spans nearly a decade. Farrell recorded the “Music for Our Mother Ocean” CD and is currently involved with Surfrider’s public service announcements. Johnson uses his concert tours as a means of introducing the mission and goals of the Surfrider Foundation to concertgoers as well as to recruit new members for the foundation.
World champion surfer and Surfrider Board Advisor Shaun Tomson helped assemble the unique collection of surfboards representing the evolution of the surfboard. Nearly 30 of these one-of-a-kind surfboards were sold in an auction conducted by the world famous Sotheby’s auction house, with all proceeds benefiting the Surfrider Foundation Shapers; the artisans and craftsmen that design surfboards created replicas of their most famous surfboards in surfing history for the event. Each surfboard was signed by the shaper and marked with the Surfrider Foundation’s 20th Anniversary logo. Legendary in the surfing world, contributing shapers included Dale Velzy, George Downing, Gerry Lopez, Greg Noll, Hobie Alter, Matt Kivlin and Robert August.
“The collection is unreal,” Tomson said. “It evokes images of almost every phase of the sport in the last 60 years.”
World class surfers, athletes and actors attending the gala in a show of support for the Surfrider Foundation included actors Colin Hanks, Kelly Hu of “X-Men,” Kip Pardue of “Driven,” world champion skateboarder Tony Hawk, world class surfers Shaun Tomson, Rob Machado, Veronica Kay and Sanoe Lake of “Blue Crush.”
The Surfrider Foundation is a nonprofit grassroots organization dedicated to the protection and preservation of the world’s oceans, waves and beaches. Founded in 1984 by a handful of surfers, the Surfrider Foundation now maintains more than 37,000 members and 60 chapters across the United States and Puerto Rico, with international affiliates in Australia, Europe, Japan and Brazil.
For more information about the Surfrider Foundation or to view the auction surfboards, go to www.surfrider.org.