Seal Beach will begin celebrating the city’s 98th Anniversary with a “Surf, Sand and Song” themed Concert by the Sea in honor of Rich Harbour of Harbour Surfboards on Sunday, Oct. 6.
The Seal Beach Founder’s Day Committee concert, which will be held from 12:30 to 2:30 p.m. in Eisenhower Park at the Seal Beach Pier, will have music by “Mr. Hank” Barto, Solo Trio, Los Alamitos Marching Band (Director, Tom Plunkett) and Oak Middle School Chorus (Director, Rachelle Randeen.)
The event will also include a 98th Birthday Lunch served by the Seal Beach Lions Club. Participants are encouraged to bring their lawn chairs.
Rich Harbour is an iconic pioneer of the surfboard industry with contributions that include his successful business that has been in operation since 1959.
Born and raised in Seal Beach, Harbour’s supportive parents encouraged him to follow his interests. His mother loved the sea herself and encouraged him to try surfing, as she was a body boarder and enjoyed watching the surfers.
It was an idyllic era in the small town by the sea in which a boy with a big idea could have his dream come true. The dream grew out of Harbour’s love of surfing. It began with one of the surf mats he discovered at “G” Stangeland’s Umbrella Stand on the beach. He had a job there starting at age 14, renting umbrellas and the surf mats to the beachgoers.
When a local man decided to sell his board, Harbour was told he could borrow it for a day.
“I paddled out and sat there waiting for just the right wave,” Harbour said, recalling his introduction to the sport. “When it finally came, all that body and mat surfing experience kicked in and I caught that wave surprisingly easily. I stood up and made it straight to the beach without falling off. Was I stoked? There is no measurement of that much stoke. I was hooked beyond any imagination.”
He returned the borrowed board, but the owner decided not to sell it. He was devastated.
“It was 1959 and within days, (the late) Jack Haley, Captain of the Seal Beach Lifeguards (and founder of Captain Jack’s Restaurant in Sunset Beach) who later that year won the West Coast Surfing Championship, found me a foam surfboard for sale. It was a welcome replacement to the heavier balsa board that was tedious to manufacture.”
Soon, this board was stolen.
“By this time I had turned 16 and like any good 16 year old, I began to relentlessly work on my parents to get another one,” Harbour said. “At first I tried for a new board but I could see that this was out of the question. My father helped me gather materials to make my first board.”
Rich Harbour has been inducted into the International Surfboard Builders Hall of Fame and the Huntington Beach Surfing Walk of Fame with a star on the sidewalk.
A display of his life’s work in surfboard making was exhibited at the Frank M. Doyle Arts Center at Orange Coast College along with a 144 page hard-bound book titled “Harbour Chronicles.” This is a real tribute to a surfboard legend.
He has a new book out, “Harbour Chronicles—Uncensored.” He said his first book was not what he thought was the best, because the photos were not big enough and certain photos of surfing history were censored.
Harbour Surfboards was established more than 50 years ago and remains as the world’s oldest surfboard manufacturing shop at the same location and a driving force within the surfing industry.
In addition to the concert, the Founder’s Day Committee will also present an “Early History of Seal Beach” event. It will feature Michael Dobkins, giving a slideshow at 7 p.m., Sunday, Oct. 27 (the actual day of the month of the city of Seal Beach’s incorporation) at the Seal Beach Community Center, 151 Marina Drive.
The photographic tour will take guests through the early history of Seal Beach and includes rare and seldom seen photos from the city’s past, featuring long gone Seal Beach landmarks. There will be refreshments and a mixer afterwards. An announcement of two exciting centennial projects will be made after the show, which is all part of a countdown to the city’s Centennial in 2015.
Anyone who is interested in volunteering to help plan the Seal Beach Centennial in 2015, should contact the Seal Beach Community Services Department at (562) 431-2527 ext. 1306. The committee is hoping to involve all service groups in town, including students throughout the Los Alamitos School Unified School District.
For more information, visit the Seal Beach Founders Day Blog at: sbfoundersday.wordpress.com.
