Don Pileggi (left) talks about the history of surfing in Ocean City as John Loeper and Andrew Montagna listen.
Public asked to Contribute Artifacts
A dedicated group of local surfers, historians and Ocean City boosters are working to tell the story of surfing in Ocean City…and they are asking for your help.
Jeffrey McGranahan, Executive Director of the Ocean City Historical Museum convened the group Thursday night with the purpose of organizing an extensive exhibit to open by Memorial Day. The ultimate hope is to build enough interest and collect enough artifacts and photos to create an entire Ocean City Surfing Museum.
“There is so much interesting stuff tucked away in attics and garages all over this island,” said Andrew Montagna who has surfed here most of his life and whose family history in Ocean City dates back to 1935. “The (challenge) is getting people to part with it.”
Old wooden longboards, some of the first-ever fiberglass boards, local news articles and vintage surf clothing and equipment are just a few of the sought-after items.
McGranahan said the West Coast and Hawaii claim much of the surfer history in U.S. pop culture, but that Ocean City should not take a back seat to any surf town. Reports of surfing here date back to the 1930s and when wave riding surged in popularity in the late 50s and early 60s, Ocean City had its own small but vibrant “scene”.
Winter surfing flourished even before wetsuits became widely available. “You basically got under a dead cold shower, looked at your watch and determined how long you could stand it,” John Loeper said. “That gave you an idea of how long you could stay in the water before you ran the risk of hypothermia setting in.”
The sport’s popularity took off from there and spiked locally in 1962 when the late George Gerlach opened Surfers Supply, the town’s first surf shop, still operating at 31
st street and Asbury Ave. under the ownership of Greg Beck and Andrew Funk.
Around this time, Don Pileggi Superintendant of the City’s Rec Department helped launch some of the first surf contests in town. The winter Polar Bear contest sparked the interest of legendary sports reporter Heywod Hale Broun, who did a piece on the CBS Evening News. “We had this small group of guys paddling out there in the middle of winter, and here we were, popping up on the national news,” Pileggi said.
Doug Otto, a former seasonal visitor from Haddonfield who now lives here year-round, tells of surfing up and down the Jersey coast in the late 60s on his Dewey Weber longboard. He surfed most of the resort towns from Seaside Heights all the way down to Cape May Point. But he always returned to Ocean City. “Now I mostly watch from my beach chair as members of (the current generation) paddle to catch new incarnations of the waves I once rode,” Otto said in a Press of Atlantic City article.
Laura Matera, who runs the Fellowship of Christian Athletes Surf and skate camps, sees big possibilities for a surfing museum. “Probably 75 percent of the kids who attend my camps are from outside the area. Surfing has become a community and a culture. On a cloudy day they are going to want something to do. I would like a Surfers Museum to be one of the go-to attractions in town.”
Ken Cooper, a member of the Museum’s Board or Directors echoed the sentiments. “I’m not even a surfer and I’m wearing Vans (a sneaker brand favored by surfers). We want to tell the story of surfing, but first we have to collect the story.”
That is where the public comes in. Anyone who would like to loan or donate artifacts or photos for inclusion in the museum is asked to contact McGranahan at
[email protected] or call him at 399-1801.
And stay tuned to OCNJDaily.com as this exciting chapter in local history takes shape.
