24th Annual Woodies on the Wharf

The 24th annual Woodies on the Wharf began early Thursday evening with our own Alan and Jule Hilton graciously hosting a meet and greet at their beautiful home on the cliff overlooking the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk.  A buffet dinner was served and everyone enjoyed the beautiful ocean views and enticing sights and sounds of the Boardwalk. 

On Friday morning for those who are early risers, surfers, or both, Jim and Patti Ferdinand hosted their annual WOW welcome open house breakfast and Pleasure Point paddle-out party. 

At the same time many of the women used the time to relax during a morning yoga session lead by Robin Carolan. 

Although the waves were minimal, a large group of SCWC members (both first and next generation) paddled out and held hands in a memorial circle to honor our friends and family members who have passed away.  It was a fitting tribute to our deceased Ohana.  Once everyone came in from the water we all enjoyed some great food and drink along with the companionship of wonderful friends.  

On Friday evening we gathered at the OP for pupu’s and drinks, and for our very 1st Annual SCWC Next Generation Small Boat Regatta (handmade cardboard boat competition). 

Winners included Kaden Koschik (1st place) and Max Morse (2nd place) in the age 11 and over category and Mia Ferdinand (1st place) and Josie Feeney (2nd place) in the age 10 and under category. 

Saturday morning the sun rose over the Santa Cruz Municipal Wharf with a light breeze blowing over the water and some low cloud cover that turned into warmer temperatures and beautiful weather in the mid-70’s throughout the day.  Many of us had driven our Woodies out at the crack of dawn to secure our favorite spots on the wharf, which this year was set up a little differently as we had switched the merchandise and raffle booths from right to left of member Jonathan Dufour’s Classified Sound DJ stand. 

As is customary, our friends at Stagnaro Brothers Restaurant & Seafood were serving freshly brewed coffee and donuts to all who braved the early hours to get their cars ready for the day’s events. 

After charging up our internal batteries with a little caffeine, many of our SCWC members went to work at the merchandise booth, the creatively designed entrance, or the stage where we prepared for the on-wharf raffles. 

Others went back to their cars to get in some pre-event cleaning and polishing, and to take advantage of those early morning before-the-crowds-get-there photo opportunities. 

It was a lot of fun watching all the cars roll onto the wharf including some very old and newly finished custom woodies.  As the morning progressed large crowds gathered; by 11 AM the day’s activities were in full swing with an abundance of woodie admirers. 

Floyd Smith, legendary Surfboard Hall of Fame Shaper, was again present on the wharf and drew a big crowd intrigued with his shaping of another beautiful wooden surfboard.  Floyd’s generosity to our club is matched only by his extraordinary surfboard shaping skills. It is rumored that this year will be Floyd’s last year shaping boards after a storied career that began in 1955.  As many of you know Floyd Smith became one of only a small group of individuals to pioneer the surf industry.  If you ever wanted a custom-made hand-shaped Floyd Smith wooden surfboard this would be the year to get one before they are no longer available.

In the commons area, another well-known surfboard shaper Bob Pearson (of Pearson-Arrow Surfboards) was displaying examples of legendary and modern boards used in the movie “Chasing Mavericks”.

In the stage area a Hula Show was presented by Mehana Thomas’ Hula Troop, Kuhai Halau O Mehana Pa ‘Olapa Kahiko. 

This year our partners at the City of Santa Cruz Parks and Recreation Department created a woodie cut-out where you could take your photo in a full-size mock woodie.

The SCW raffles are always a crowd favorite, and this year was no exception with winners taking home some great prizes including beach cruiser bikes from Family Cycling Center, and custom-made surfboards from Pearson-Arrow and Michael Junod Surfboards. 

Every year the club recognizes a few individuals/cars with unique awards produced by member and woodworker extraordinaire Ed Bowman.  The long distance award was won by Donn Pattinson who drove from Hailey, Idaho, 850 miles in his woodie to join in the fun.  Other award winners were Gary Hubback for the 6th Annual Dave Wilkerson Favorite Flathead Award (awarded in memory of our good friend, longtime member, and first man to Past President Toni Wilkerson), Gary Pettigrew (1950 Ford) from Carmichael, CA, for the Woodie Owners Choice Award and Mike Williams (1948 Packard) from Sacramento, CA, who won the People’s Choice Award.  By the club’s count we had a very strong showing of 171 wood-bodied cars in attendance. 

At 3:30 PM our friends and longtime supporters at the Santa Cruz Police Department assisted with traffic control and allowed us to parade our Woodies off the wharf to the delight of the many assembled on-lookers. 

Saturday evening found us all back at the OP for our annual post WOW dinner and tailgate party where this year we enjoyed an authentic Italian spaghetti dinner catered by local Santa Cruz eatery “Ristorante Italiano”. 

After dinner we handed out some more awards, raffled off more great prizes, and auctioned off some fantastic items including a neon woodie beer sign donated by member Joe Silva, a beautiful handmade wooden corn hole game created and donated by Ed Bowman and a beautiful custom shaped Redwood and Balsa short board provided by Floyd Smith.  SCW Past President Toni Wilkerson was so enamored with the corn hole game and surfboard that she outlasted all other bidders to take home these two very special auction items.  We then enjoyed a post dinner concert with SCW member and musician Bob Lopez on guitar.

Sunday morning’s weather was sunny and clear for the large number of cars that turned out for Sophia’s cruise along West Cliff Drive.  We ended up at Java Junction in the Santa Cruz Yacht Harbor where complimentary coffee and pastries were provided by SCWC for everyone to enjoy while we said our final alohas.

Mark your calendars for next year’s highly anticipated event which will be held Saturday June 22, 2019, when we will celebrate our Silver Anniversary at the 25th Annual Woodies on the Wharf.

25^th ANNUAL WOODIES ON THE WHARF

We will be pulling out all the stops for this very special occasion and plan on changing it up with some new and exciting anniversary activities plus some unique club merchandise.  We are also looking for donors and sponsors to help underwrite this event. If you know of anyone who is interested in working with us please have them contact Sponsor Chairman-Phil Iatomase.

We will be updating our web site periodically with new information about our 25th WOW anniversary so please check back often.