Surfers in Fresno

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bill

Surfers in Fresno

Post by bill » Wed Jun 30, 2010 3:44 am

Anybody remember the surfers that hung out a Bob`s Big Boy on the south east corner of Shaw and Blackstone? Never could figure where they went to surf. They had surfboards on the roof of their cars I guess they`re like these off road trucks they build now that have never seen a dirt road.What a laugh ,they even talked like surfers narly and hang ten just like the Frankie Avalon movies at the time. the waitresses with roller skates were cool though

Guest

Re: surfers in fresno

Post by Guest » Fri Aug 06, 2010 11:35 am

My older brothers were avid surfers when we lived in Fresno back in the 60s. They would spend about every other weekend year round -- and about half of each summer -- camped out at Santa Cruz, Davenport, Morro Bay, Cayucos, Avila, or Pismo. They owned both store-bought and homemade boards and they had a competition yellow '58 Chevy wagon with a hurst on the floor. I was an adolescent -- too young to go on every trip. I learned to surf but never really well. My bros, on the other hand, were dedicated to the sport and got mighty good at it.

And yes, they hung out at Bob's -- in the back where the car-hop waitresses brought burgers, fries and cokes on trays that they would hang on your car's window sill. Ah, the smells of the fries, the chicks, the pre-smog dual exhausts, the asphalt semi-melted by the summer heat. Whew! One of my bros got arrested there one night for driving off with a couple of their glass root beer mugs. By the way, does anybody remember a short-lived tradition called the "leg roll" that was sometimes practiced in that parking lot? Or, was that just one of those urban legends?

kid1955
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Re: surfers in fresno

Post by kid1955 » Mon Aug 23, 2010 3:00 pm

Interesting thread, when I was in Jr. High School, the surfer craze was peaking and the Beach Boys were hot on KYNO. I used to see the magazine racks full of surfer mags and I bought my share. Seems like everybody wanted to be a surfer but we lived in F-R-E-S-N-O, what were we suppose to do, ride the wave on the Friant Dam spillway?

One day Mom made me wash my hair right before school and I had no time to put in the standard glob of Brill Cream. My hair was the opposite of the wet look and it appeared twice as big as usual plus my pompadour wave had fallen down and covered my entire forehead. As soon as I entered the school grounds, classmates started giving me weird looks as all the boys wore their hair slicked down. Once I entered the main hallway where tons of kids were, they started yelling: SURFER! SURFER! SURFER! and pointing their fingers and an accusatory fashion. I was mortified. On that particular day in 1966, it seemed like it was a crime to have surfer hair in Fresno.

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