If you’re in the San Diego area tomorrow, May 2nd, head down to Mission Bay to check out StayClassy.org’s Elemental Experience Music & Art Festival.

The lineup is pretty insane, including killer performances by: 

Matisyahu (8:20 – 9:45 PM)
Bassnectar (6:50 – 7:50 PM)
Pinback (5:20 – 6:20 PM)
Mason Jennings (4:00 – 4:50 PM)
Dirty Sweet (2:45 – 3:30 PM)
Pete & J (1:45 – 2:30 PM)
Jay Nash (12:45 – 1:30 PM)
The Kneehighs (12:00 – 12:30 PM)
DJ Scooter (7:50 – 8:20 PM)
DJ Craig Smooth (6:20 – 6:50 PM)
DJ Ayla (4:50 – 5:20 PM)
… and more in between all acts.

To top it all off, this is a fundraiser for San Diego Youth Services; (SDYS) and Stay Classy Foundation have partnered to bring a much-needed shelter to homeless 18-24 year-olds in San Diego.

I’m going… what better way to spend your Saturday than to see some killer music by the beach in America’s Finest City?

AT THE BAREBACK GRILL GASLAMP
624 E St (between 6th Ave & 7th Ave)
San Diego, CA 92101 (619) 237-9990

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 2008

South Coast Surf Shops has teamed up with SurfShot Media in a fund-raiser for SurfAid International. The fundraiser will be held at Bareback Grill, in the heart of downtown San Diego’s Gaslamp Quarter on Thursday, September 4. The fund-raising party has been timed in conjunction with ASR, the surf industry’s biggest convention of the year, held at San Diego’s Convention Center September 4-6.

According to SouthCoast.com co-owner Heather Shields, the partnership between SurfShot and South Coast for an ASR event is a perfect match.

“South Coast has been serving the San Diego surfing community since 1974, and SurfShot magazine has grown to be one of our most supportive partners for local advertising. When they came to us with the idea for a SurfAid fund-raiser, we jumped on it.”

Said John Cocozza, account executive and staff photographer for SurfShot, “We wanted to do something for all the ASR people to let loose after the first day of the convention, and maybe conduct a little business over a burger and beer with colleagues. The entertainment will be top-notch. It’s an event that everybody will be talking about the next day.”

Schedule for the evening includes DJs and live acoustic music from artists Justin James and Carbine, a fashion show courtesy of South Coast Surf Shops (with women’s fashion from Reef, Billabong, Hurley and Volcom) and premier showings of four San Diego Film Festival action sports videos. In addition, SurfShot TV will be premiering its first television episode, and Planet X will be covering the event for a future showing on Planet X TV.

Bareback Grill is offering a burger, fries and beer special for $8 from 6 to 8 p.m., with drink specials from Steinlager, Veev Acai liquor and Jet Set Energy provided in a hosted bar from 8 to 9 p.m.

Donations from surf-industry sponsors such as O’Neill, Volcom, Simple, FCS, Billabong, Arbor, Angel, Anarchy, Hurley and South Coast will be raffled off throughout the night.

All door cover and raffle funds will go directly to SurfAid International, a non-profit humanitarian organization whose goal is to improve the health and well-being of people living in isolated regions of the surfing world.

“With ASR at the convention center just down the street, you can bet that most people attending have traveled to surf. People can feel good about donating to such a good cause. It just makes sense to include SurfAid as our chosen charity for the event,” said Cocozza.

SurfAid representatives will be present to collect the funds, and patrons are encouraged to educate themselves on worldwide health programs that SurfAid is involved with while at the event.

For more information, contact Bareback Grill in the Gaslamp Quarter at (619) 237-9990.

by Kimmy Lamb

On Wednesday, May 28th, anyone strolling past RT Longboard’s in Pacific Beach may have just thought the bar was having a good night, but those on the inside knew that this night was more special than most. On this particular evening, the family and friends of Matt “Big Worm” Joyce came together to honor his memory, as well as raise money to support his cause, BIG Worm’s CF Life Foundation.

When Worm decided to start a foundation for kids with Cystic Fibrosis (CF), he set out a plan with his uncle to make it successful. Worm had a hand in every aspect of creating a foundation that continues to improve the quality of life for CF patients during their treatment plans. The Big Give was a fund raiser in memory of Worm and his work.

Worm had a lot of friends, but the amount of people who showed up to support the Big Give was way beyond our expectations. The bar was packed, with standing room only.

It was tough to weave through the crowd, but as I did, I could overhear people sharing stories about how they met Worm or how he had touched their lives…

While live music from Arroyo, The Blonde Brothers and Alpha Channel kept the mood festive, the attendees patiently waited on the silent auction items that would raise money for Worm’s Foundation. Every kid dreams of what Christmas morning looks like, but this was over and above if you surf: hundreds of donations from surf shops, clothing companies and other local businesses, wrapped in gift baskets around the stage. Big ticket art pieces and surfboards lined the walls, which were to be live auctioned later in the night.

As the energy of the crowd slowly grew celebratory over beer specials and friendly faces, the people closest to Worm paused a little more frequently to reflect on life with him in it. Worm would have been at an event like this, but this time he was the one being celebrated. He passed just weeks earlier, but his work was already showing that his spirit remains live and well.

Matthew Joyce was diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis (CF) at a very young age, but was able to lead a fairly healthy life until his junior year of high school. After a case of the flu, his health began to deteriorate. His physician prescribed antibiotics; however, his lungs did not respond and it became quickly apparent that he would need a transplant. Time went by and hope was fading when a family friend stepped in to be tested as a potential donor. He was a match! After a public appeal to find a second donor proved successful, Matt received his transplant on November 2nd, 2000. The five-hour medical procedure involved the complete removal of Matt’s lungs, which were replaced with one lobe from each of the donors. The transplant was a success, but Matt’s constant maintenance needs kept him close to hospitals.

People living with CF often spend a great deal of time in the hospital for frequent “tune-ups” of IV antibiotics. Matt wanted to do something to help ease that time for kids with CF. He organized his efforts and BIG Worm’s Cystic Fibrosis Foundation was born. The foundation would provide tangible and age-appropriate gifts, such as video games, MP3 players, DVD players and various toys for little ones.

It was important to Matt to give back. Since he had been surrounded by a lot of love and support through his treatments, he wanted to share that with others. Starting the foundation gave him an outlet to do that. Knowing all that he went through during his hospital stays, he wanted to find ways to make it more bearable for others. Matt put his heart into this foundation and his friends and family intend to keep his efforts going, starting with the Big Give.

The idea for Big Worm’s Big Give came to friend Rebecca Straka, who vocalized her vision to a handful of close friends to Worm shortly after he passed. Terry Kraszewski, Heather Kraszewski, Rebecca and myself quickly realized that the event would be a huge success by contacting our collective friends who work in the surf industry. Surf shops across San Diego County jumped on the Worm train, donating silent auction items by the dozens, and soon other businesses followed suit. We received an overwhelming amount of donations–so many in fact, that there were many items that had to be fire auctioned near the end of the night.

Some of the donations came from people who knew and loved Matt, and some from people who were simply touched by his story. South Coast was one of the many companies donating to help Worm’s cause, giving a Fish surfboard for the crowd-favorite live auction.

“Big Worm” was a nickname Matt acquired while working at South Coast. He was a grom hanging with the older employees who, taking a cue from a movie, called each other “Big Worm”. He wanted to be a part of that and eventually the guys around the shop started to refer to him as “Little Worm”. Little Worm turned to “Big Worm” and finally, just “Worm”. It was a nickname that stuck with him even after his time working with the South Coast family. South Coast first met Matthew “Worm” Joyce the day after his 16th birthday.

His first day with us might have been his toughest too. As per tradition with all newbies, Matt was asked to do a bit of grunt work. He was told to get on his hands and knees to clean the perimeter of the store with the shop vacuum and hop into the dumpster to smash down the boxes. During these tasks he coughed quite a bit, which made Heather Lamb, who was managing at the time, ask him if he was a smoker. He replied no, but decided to wait a few weeks before letting management know he had Cystic Fibrosis.

It was about a year after he started working for us that he had to quit due to his health. When Rob Ard and Erich Tramonti, two of the owners of South Coast, got word Matt wasn’t doing well soon after, they decided to pay him a visit. Once there, they made him an offer he couldn’t refuse; they told him once he recovered they were going to give him a brand new South Coast board. About six months after he quit, he had his transplant. His good friend Amanda Fleming told me that while recovering he was unable to speak; however, he was able to write and more often than not he wrote notes to his dad about surfing.

All he wanted to do was surf again. He was 18 when he came back to work for South Coast. By the time he parted ways with South Coast for good he was managing our Longboard shop. He was always proud that he was a manger at 18, a fact that he mentioned proudly more than once.

Worm managed to touch many people in his life, and in doing so, left the small community of those he knew him with many wonderful memories. As the night of Wednesday, May 28th came to an end, a multitude of goodbyes and hugs were exchanged, auction prizes were picked up, and a sense of accomplishment was felt all around. With just about a month to plan, we never expected our little event to grow into something so wonderful. After all was said and done, we raised over $12,000 for the foundation.

There is a picture that was taken during the night that has been stuck in my head since I saw it. The picture is of the crowd watching The Blonde Brothers and on the television screen behind the band is a still frame of Matt. I think we made him proud. We will never be able to fully express our gratitude to those who donated. The fundraiser was held at RT Longboard’s was just the beginning, Matt’s friends and family plan to continue his efforts.

For more information about Matt and the BIG Worm’s CF Foundation visit the website: www.bigwormscff.com

By Robb Bailey

The Life Rolls On Foundation is more than just a non-profit organization. Jesse Billauer, the founder of Life Rolls On (LRO), has an amazing life story. If you haven’t heard of Jesse or LRO, view this short video to catch up. The video does more justice than a paragraph will.

Although Jesse’s cause is an extremely noble one (to raise awareness about spinal cord injuries), his cause is about more than just his life story. The organization is spreading holiday cheer without the excuse of a holiday. For a group of spinal cord-injured surfers, the They Will Surf Again event (TWSO) puts would-be spectators on waves, in the water, next to everyone else.

With as many as over 100 volunteers each session, this event is fueled by givers of all kinds. According to Kris Nakamura of LRO, the event is completely run by volunteers and the participants do their part to help the injured get stoked on some nice tasty waves.

Nakamura stressed that the event isn’t really about Jesse at all, but about allowing the spinal cord-injured community to come together and surf again. Although Jesse is an inspirational young man (to say the least), he encourages people to consider that there are over 250,000 people affected by spinal cord-related injuries in the U.S. alone. His mission is to find a cure.

He’s doing it by doing what he does best: surfing. Jesse recently entered the US Open of Surfing in Huntington Beach, which has inspired hundreds of other injured surfers to attend the TWSA events this summer, some from very far distances.

“It’s hard enough for paralyzed surfers getting down to the sand in a wheelchair, much less suit up for a surf,” mentioned Nakamura. Imagine changing into your wetsuit with two legs that are asleep the part before the pins and needles. Oh, and without full use of your arms. The process of getting into the water for spinal cord injured surfers requires a few pairs of extra hands with some muscle, a luxury most of the surfers don’t readily have on a day-to-day basis.

An estimated five to six volunteers are needed to suit up, carry in, and help navigate one paralyzed surfer into a wave. So the TWSA event depends on lots of help.

Lea Thomann, a local surfer out of OB, volunteered last year at a previous TWSA event. “Jesse spoke to students at USC’s Department of Physical Therapy to tell us his story and bring awareness of opportunities in the community affected by SCI.”

Thomann and a few friends were inspired to help out after hearing Jesse speak, so they went online and registered to volunteer for the event. A few weeks later they were driving to Bolsa Chica State Beach to help out.

“We showed up early, helped set up the beach, and started taking surfers down to the water in sand wheelchairs.” Among the modified equipment was a quiver of surfboards specially designed for the surfers that day. The boards have ‘reverse fins’, which are on the top deck of the surfboard, to keep the surfer’s legs from slipping side to side.

According to Thomann, the best part about the day was the people involved. “The hardest thing to describe was the atmosphere, there was such a positive vibe in the air. We saw the biggest grins on people faces: some of them haven’t been in the water in years.”

Thomann admitted that after the event was over she felt a high that helped put things in perspective in her own life. She only offered these words to sum the volunteer experience up, “If you’re thinking about joining in, I highly recommend it.”

To find out more about upcoming They Will Surf Again events, sign up here.

To view a video of past events, click here.

by Robb Bailey

Our friends over at the Ocean Institute, a non-profit organization in Dana Point dedicated to ocean education, recently kicked off their biggest fundraiser of the year.

For the third year in a row they are raffling off the chance to win a ton of prizes, including the Grand Prize of a home in Laguna Beach OR $1,000,000 cash. In addition, there are various other prizes including large cash amounts ($25,000), a new Lexus (hybrid of course), vacations, and a plasma television.

Greg Hermann, Program Director for The Ocean Institute remarked, “Last year a woman from Foothill Ranch bought one ticket and won the grand prize, choosing to take the $1,000,000.”

Details:

• Tickets are selling at $150, with a maximum of 18,000 tickets sold total.
• Incentives for early purchase and purchasing more than one ticket.
• Enter by August 15 and you qualify for 2 early bird drawings and the grand prize drawing in October
• For those that buy two or more tickets, a chance to win a 2008 Lexus Hybrid (RX400h), a Hawaiian vacation, a first class trip to Grand Cayman and more

Just sixty miles up the coast from San Diego, the Institute has become nationally known for its hands-on marine science, environmental education and maritime history programs. Every year, more than 78,000 K-12 students and 6,000 teachers participate in the Institute’s 61 award-winning, immersion style programs.

Their goal is simple: to be the world’s best experiential ocean education organization.

What does this mean in English? The Ocean Institute believes if people, particularly kids, are educated about the ocean, they will do their part to preserve it. Have a kid in school? Tell them to ask their teacher about a field trip to the Ocean Institute!

Cruise on over to their website for more details.