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| James Straus Sunday, March 7, 2010 |
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| Elwell and Bro, two of the most horribly wonderful guards working the S.C. beat, one night took on the P.D. beach patrol unit. I had pulled a number of stunts on the 'guardos' as we called them. Little things, like locking the train gate so they couldn't get their cars out. Little stuff like that. On the fateful evening I pulled the Bronco into the H.Q. parking lot. Elwell walked out and engaged me in conversation through the open window of my unit. From nowhere Bro came out, stuck the nozzle of a foam fire extinguisher into the car and squeezed the handle. The entire interior of the Bronco filled with the awful gunk. Elwell and Bro ran. I didn't see the humor of it until I looked over at my partner, who had not idea of course, about the pranks I'd been pulling on the guardos. He was as white as Casper the Ghost. He blinked once. The look. I am laughing again, hard, right now, as I remember his shocked agonized expression, transmitted only through the mask of his foam by his enlarged enraged eyes. | |||
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| Jerry Bennette Saturday, February 13, 2010 |
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San Clemente Lifeguard from 1964 to 1967. |
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| Pat Williams Friday, January 2, 2009 |
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| I liked your site. | |||
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| Allan Seymour Monday, July 31, 2006 |
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| In the short time Bill Humphries has been in charge of the San Clemente Lifeguard Department, in my opinion, he personally has been responsible for restoring the pride, history, and respect for the department. Creating a major attitude/ policy change he has reached out to all former lifeguards and welcomed them back to share the rich heritage of the San Clemente Lifeguard Department. | |||
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| Sandy Groos Saturday, July 29, 2006 |
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| So here is to all old and young guardoz. And to Gary Fredrichs who handed me my first beer at 16 years of age and put me on the path to fine wine, the worlds best lifestyle, and better friends that are are and will be always there. Thanks. See you all tonight. Keep that keg cold! Did I hear "pier jump" this evening :-) ? We'll label plenty of attendees of 10-10, for a 906 if needed. | |||
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| Tom Haight 4617 beach patrol Saturday, July 29, 2006 |
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| looking forward to seeing old friends and Binos' stunts | |||
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| Dede Milosch Saturday, July 29, 2006 |
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| Looking forward to sharing old stories. Best fun I've ever had at work and off. Went to the State as a Perm Lifeguard. Switched to "green" a few years back in order to stay by the ocean. It's true, Paul and I met lifeguarding at the City. He actually recruited me from San Diego City where I was lifeguarding, he enticed me with higher pay ($1.00/hr... a lot back then) and better parties. The rest is history. | |||
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| Paul Milosch Saturday, July 29, 2006 |
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| Fellow Guardoz, I'm now Lifeguarding at Crystal Cove State Beach in North Laguna after 18 years driving Surfwatch (State Lifeguard Rescue Boat) at Huntington State Beach. Even though I have worked with hundreds of guards and made hundreds ++ Q's over the years nothing will ever compare to the guards and rescues at San Clemente. The 10 years at St. 56 were the best years of my career and life. Best of all I met my wife Dede at work there and we are still married 20 years later. My son, Trevor, plans to tryout next year. He.s a pureblood lifeguard. I think he is tired of hearing our stories and would like to create his own. I could tell some great stories here, but i'll save that for the party. If I only had a dime for every time I had to sweep the sidewalks a HQ I could have retired by now. "It's a great day to be a Lifeguard!" | |||
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| Eric Burke Wednesday, July 26, 2006 |
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| I really wanted to be there with all of the Guardoz at the reunion. I miss all of my bros/gals down at ol' Sta 56. 14 years of fun in the sun with lots of great memories. Have a great time and carry on the traditions i.e. naked pier jumps, fire in the/at the hole, La Siesta, kamakazies at the Fishermans, speedway, Padre games etc, blazing blenders, rookie initiations..... Ahhh the memories too many to even remember. Talk at you later. E- | |||
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| Jane Divel Nichols Monday, July 24, 2006 |
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| What a beautiful website. Nice job! I was reading the long list of lifeguards and got teary-eyed when I saw my father, Don Divel's name there. I think he was San Clemente's 4th lifeguard hired. Sadly, Dad passed away in March at the age of 83. His memorial in May was fittingly right there at Casa Romantica overlooking the beautiful pier. He would have loved to attend your 75th anniversary celebration. I am neither a former lifeguard nor guard spouse, so I won't be attending your party like I used to in the late 70s!! Those were some great times: Volleyball at Second Spot, the Angel games, cheering at the dory races, parties at Barney's in Laguna, Presidential Heights Jacuzzis, (I won't mention any names, but let's just say the girls behaved--it's was the guys who got in trouble), parties at my parent's Gable Road house and enjoying glorious days at the beach. I want to say hello to the wonderful friends I knew and still know in the lifeguard community: Brian Covert, Mike Brennan, Larry Moore, (can you still dominate at musical flags?), Greg "Shelley's Moondoggie" Hulsizer, Andy Reich, (abalone bbqs, UCSB visits), Rich Chew, (always nice to see you're still a familiar face in Tower 0), Steve Lashbrook, (enjoy Hawaii with Sue), Mike Samson (whom we lost at such a young age), Al Lavayen, Kent Lewis, Lynn Hughes, Scott McCarter, Bill Blackwill, Malcolm (prom date) and Duncan Wilson, Doug Percival, Karen Tantalo, Steve Barrett, Steve Diamond, Dave Vick, (who's 25th birthday party we hosted), Mike Larsen, (a roommate), Gary Friedrich, Scott Lund, Eric Gross and anyone I may have overlooked. Those were golden days and you were great friends to know. I’m a wife and mother living in San Luis Obispo now, but my family still lives in San Clemente, and always will. Have a wonderful anniversary party. I hope you don't party like you used to. That would be difficult at our ages! Post after pictures so I can see what I will be missing. Thanks for all the long hours in the sun you put in to keep our gorgeous beaches of San Clemente safe. I'd love to hear back from you. Cheers, Jane Divel Nichols | |||
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| Dwight Hand Saturday, July 22, 2006 |
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| Andy Reich had just finished certifying a group of us for SCUBA in the mid ‘70s at San Clemente Island. After our final checkout dive in shallow water, we anchored over the USS Butler sunk at a depth of 100 feet. My dive buddy, Doug Morgan, and I descended to survey the ship and found a large hole in the side. I penetrated the wreck and found a compartment with 3 feet of silt on the bottom and satchels piled high in one corner. Thinking that we had struck it rich, I passed three of them out to Doug before the water became so dirty I could barely see my way out. As I swam toward the hole, I ran out of air. No problem I thought, as I reached back to pull the J-valve on the regulator to get my emergency supply. There still was no air. Now I’m more than a little concerned, as these were the days of horse-collar BCs, no Spare-Air, and no octopus rigs. I exit the wreck as I really need a breath of air and contemplate ditching my equipment for an emergency ascent. I see Doug, draw my finger across my throat like Andy taught us, and we buddy-breathed sharing the mouthpiece of his regulator as we ascended safely to the surface. I found out that when I rented the gear from Black Bart’s, they hadn’t filled the J-valve’s air reserve. (They didn’t even give me a frickin near-death discount when I went back to buy all my own stuff!). Oh . . .what was in the satchels? Doug went back down and picked them up off the bottom. Inside their canvas covers were two pillows full of soggy stuffing, and an old Mae West style life vest. Hardly worth risking my life over! | |||
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| Allan Seymour Saturday, July 22, 2006 |
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| Allan Seymour The lifeguard test during Easter week of 1960 was cold and windy. A blown out 6 ft NW swell seemed to be the only local advantage. Growing up in San Clemente I knew the sand bar on the South side of the pier just might be my ace in the hole. Chief Lifeguard, Dick Hazard growled, “Men, the first test is the around the pier swim. Any way you can do it is o.k. as long as you go all the way around the pier.” I looked around at my competition. From Newport Beach famous surfer Boscoe Burns, from La Puente, Steve Chorak, who’s dad owned the movie theater. The rest were all locals. This was one of the last years that local kids who were surfers, skin divers, and all around good watermen had a chance of getting the best paying job for a young man in town. The other alternative was being a bus boy. Soon after, the department hired out of town bun hugger wearing pool swimmers. At the sound of the starter’s gun we all ran for the water. I jumped over the inshore hole gaining valuable distance on most of the field. Leaping like some sort of wounded animal I managed to make it out though the surfline close to the lead. The ice cream headache from the 54 degree water was hardly a factor as I gave my all. Rounding the pier I was in third place behind Chorak and Burns. Boscoe really turned it on once we were on the south side of the pier distancing himself from Chorak, me and the rest of the pack. Right about the time I started to fade, two light posts beyond the kook house I felt a large push from the first wave of a large set. Both Burns and Chorak were in the wrong place to capitalize on this situation. The second wave came and with all the strength I could muster I caught this wonderful high tide peak and bodysurfed right past Chorak and up to the inshore hole where I could almost touch Boscoe Burns. He jumped out of the water and beat me by about a foot. My first weekend working was the last time San Clemente Lifeguards were not required to wear a uniform. Our headquarters was the maintenance room between the restrooms on the south side of the pier. Interestingly, my last weekend in 1967, was the last time we were not required to wear CPO hats. Two of the most unbelievable stories I like to tell about those days are the first time I rode in the jeep with Phil Stubbs. We were on the cliff behind the old Hobie Surf Shop on PCH in Dana Point overlooking Fishermen’s cove before the harbor was built. We looked down at about 40 nuns in their black and white habits dipping their feet in the tide pools. They looked like penguins, or something out of an Italian Fellini art film. But my favorite story is about two marines who decided one late August day that it was a splendid idea to go out on their inflatable sleeping mats. They entered the water at Trafalgar Canyon. The current towards the pier was running like the Kern River after a record snow melt. The tide was really low, and the 8’ south swell came like clock work every 20 minutes. These guy were actually almost outside when the first guy panics. He sees that, A. he is going to go through the pier, and B. there is a huge set coming and C. he starts yelling for help. At this point in time I have been lifeguarding for about 2 years and am very used to this sceanerio. Our point of view was from the open bucket #0 tower. The second guy, sunburnt, with a white sidewall haircut, is so close to the pier I can see his new snake tattoo. He does not yell for help. Instead he wraps his white legs around the green mat and starts doing what I later called the “Camp Pendleton Crawl” right up the face of this huge wave. You can actually see the holes in the face of the wave he is making. At the very last second when we think he is going to make it he gets pitched backwards over the falls with the lip. It is so shallow that the wave pushes him under and back out the other side. He came up like nothing had happened with a death grip on the mat and continued outside the surf line and slowly went through the pier. We were laughing so hard we mistimed the jump to save his screaming buddy. We landed about five feet in front of him and all we could do between fits of laughter was guide him verbally throught the pilings. For two full seasons I was the “King of T Street”, with 9 year old kids like Fred Swegles sitting on the steps of my tower. I used to have an annual Easter week event where eighth grade girls would compete to make my lunches for the summer. Also, I started the Junior Lifeguard program with kids like Tom Metzger. But those are other stories. KFG592 | |||
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| ed marsh Thursday, July 20, 2006 |
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| it was a cold dreary foggy June morning in 1962 at the depot. there was only 1 person on the beach and the surf was flat. as she approached the tower I could see she was hot. she had blond hair that was stacked a foot high in a bee hive. her name was Tanya and she was of Russian stock and she lived in east LA. things were looking up. I invited her into the tower,an open bucket at the time, and we began to snuggle. about 5 minutes later I could hear a siren approaching in the distance. as I gaze to my left i see 5610 blasting through the soft sand code 3 red lights and siren. what's going on? I then notice that I had inadvertently knocked the phone off the hook. ugh oh ! as they got closer I could see that it's stubbs driving and hazard rideing shotgun. I also notice they are dragging 2 fishing polls with the line tangled in the radio antenna and in the distance 2 fishermen are running in our direction. I sense trouble is about to descend on the occupants of tower 6. as the jeep roars to a stop the chief jumps out, his face is red as a beet and steam is coming out of both ears. stubbs has an all knowing smirk on his face. before anyone can say anything I grab Tanya hand, hold it up for all to see and utter the only thing I can think of "FIRST AID". this seems to defuse the situation and I only suffer a slight reprimand. I am instructed not to treat future first aid victims in my tower. from the memoirs of ed marsh AKA superguard | |||
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| Charles Sommer Friday, July 14, 2006 |
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| Some of the best memories one could enjoy. Requals, Tower 1 on a heavy swell, 4th of July, Guardoz Parties, Big "Q" days, Liofeguard Competitions, Blazing Blenders, Naked Pier Jumps, Ocean Fest, Hot CHicks, Hot days, Slow days, Water Polo vs. State, Hot showers after cold swims, Resessa Annie and the best group of guys who enjoy helping others and enjoying life. See you there! | |||
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| Kent Sanders Thursday, July 13, 2006 |
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| Can't wait 'till we toast to all who kept their eyes open staring into the sun for eight to ten hours and then stayed up all night at a guardo party only to get up the next morning and do it again. Ah, youth! Here's to the guys/gals who slept in their cars in the parking lot, the surf sessions after work, no breaks at Three Arch Bay, pier swims 53 degrees, great friendships, and ... Red Flags. Thanks to Sta. 56! | |||
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| Pagey Friday, June 30, 2006 |
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| I always hated putting out the Black Ball especially at T-Street on the good days but sure enjoyed bodysurfing out there before boogie boards were invented. | |||
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| Ken Casper Wednesday, June 14, 2006 |
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| While I was in the restroom, Chew put black axle grease all over the steering wheel and brake pedal of 5610. Then he yelled "906 at Tower One" over the speaker system. Halfway down the frontage road to the supposed rescue, I discovered I was covered in grease like the lube man at Lube Depot, then I hit the brake pedal and my foot slipped off and onto the accelerator, then the jeep veered right and I couldn't turn it and almost hit the picnic tables before I finally got the Jeep stopped...I looked in the rear view mirror and the guys out back of the station were on the ground rolling in hysterics! I got even with Chew though by putting a home made bomb in his locker...when he opened his locker door it went off ...the timing sucked however, the Chief was in his office. He went ballistic after hearing the blast, seeing the smoke, and smelling the gunpowder...Chief just shook his head in disbelief and walked away....never heard a word about it...those were the good old days... | |||
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| Ron Hamilton Tuesday, May 23, 2006 |
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| Chew and I set up about a 100 mouse traps as we were closing up for the night, just inside the office door, as Steve Barrett was out in the parking lot doing something...we shut and locked the door. We had some local beach chick dial the HQ number so the phone was ringing inside. We got Barrett to go in first: SNAP SNAP AHHHHHHHH! SNAP SNAP SNAP Then there was the time Barrett threw the dead pelican thru the roof vent of Caspers motorhome...onto Caspers wife! D'oh! And how come your car was painted the exact same color as 5610, 20 AND 30, Mr. Casper? Ron H | |||
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| Clifford "The Rescue Dog" Friday, April 7, 2006 |
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| Chew, Myers, and Lavien should by my ticket for all the free lunches I donated to them over the years. Always appreciated the breaks until I got back... Lifeguarding, I savor the memories and all the lifetime friends I made. See ya there... | |||
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| Jason Gardner Friday, April 7, 2006 |
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| I wish I could make the reunion but I will be on deployment. Have a great time! | |||
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| Jonathan Freeman Wednesday, April 5, 2006 |
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| Im writing in to offically declare that there should be a worst lifeguard award.......Bill Coffman often referred to me as " The Scarecrow". He said this was because I was about as useless of a lifeguard that has ever been seen. I though it was a compliment. I also think there should be an award for best advice given. Most of the older guards gave me some great advice over the years. The best was from John Sotter who said, " Just see a doctor and get it taken care of." Thanks for the advice. Look forward to seeing all of you guys. Rock on | |||
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| Eric Burke Tuesday, April 4, 2006 |
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| Wish I could make it but my brother is getting married in Yosemite that weekend. | |||
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| rich chew Saturday, April 1, 2006 |
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| Time flies when your having fun,especially for a great cause like saving lives ,rendering first aid and helping individuals who seek help in finding direction in their lives,and finally seeing the results of your efforts years later. | |||
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| Stephan Holland Saturday, April 1, 2006 |
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| How can you be reading this and watching the water at the same time, rook? | |||
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| Tanya McGarry-Porter Friday, March 31, 2006 |
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| Loved it~Miss it! Onward... | |||
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| John McMains Friday, March 31, 2006 |
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| Hey Guardoz, Looking forward to the 75th. | |||
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