From: Lynn Whitlock <
Date: Thu, Mar 3, 2016 at 9:04 PM
Subject: RE: Tryout photos
To: Dale and Marilyn Ghere <dmghere@gmail.com>
Ok, Scott gave his stamp of approval and the attached is for you, ok to distribute if you want. I passed on your message to Scott for him to write his own story, I hope he will do so. He has told me wonderful stories.
To get the history/story correct review rights are perfectly acceptable. You would not believe how many stories come with a variations. Different people just remember different parts of the story.
On Feb 29, 2016, at 7:58 PM, Dale and Marilyn Ghere <dmghere@gmail.com> wrote:
Hello Lynn,
Now that you have two generations with the lifeguards how about writing a story for me. I keep trying to collect the history of our department that can only be provided by the people who are part of the community of guards. No one can record the story for us. We must write and record our own history. How about writing something?
What is your son's name. How old is he?
Here is a story written by another mother. I hope this might inspire you to write a story. Enjoy.
Dale Ghere
guarded 1960 to 1974
A Mother's Perspective
By Susan Campbell
2005
Lifeguards
When I was pregnant with my son, one of my favorite things to do was walk barefoot on the beach. The little life growing inside of me was as real and alive as the Sea. The movements I felt inside of me seemed to be in sink with the movements of the tide and the currents beside me. In me and beside me were life and beauty. One could not in a lifetime, experience the elation of those feelings, an expecting mother has.
Just after Davie was born, I'd try to work off those extra pounds by swimming in the ocean. My husband would sit on the beach with Davie, while I'd go for a swim. I'll never forget one afternoon when I came back to out little spot on the beach. I asked Don, "Where's Davie?" (He was only 6 days old) Don replied, "He's right here…can't you see him?" "No!" I said, "I can't see him!" Then Don pointed to the lifeguard tower and sure enough, there was my 6 day old son, wrapped up like a cocoon and resting at the bottom of a little Mexican bag and hanging from the lifeguard tower. The wind was rocking him to sleep and he was perfectly content. That's where Davie took his afternoon naps, until he out grew the little Mexican bag.
Only living two blocks from Rock Pile in North Laguna, made it easy for us to develop a pattern of walking along the beach. Part of our daily routine was to walk along the boardwalk, to the playground on the south side of Main Beach. As Davie grew older, we'd go for treasure hunts; looking for sea glass and then cashing the glass in for ice - cream cones.
Davie grew up saying hello to lifeguards. They became his friends at a very early age. One of the things I love most about Laguna is that you develop these casual "Friendships" over time. It's those little daily encounters with people that enrich our lives. How little those lifeguards knew, how impressionable they were to my little boy.
Davie eventually grew more interested in the ocean. The ocean was his backyard. On our way to El Morrow Elementary School, we'd have to stop first at Divers Cove to skim board. I'd sit on the beach with my coffee, while Davie and his buddy Tanner would burn off some energy. I figured I was doing his teachers a service, by giving him this opportunity.
I gave him his first swimming lessons at the pool down the street from our home. He eventually took lessons locally and then joined the swim team and water polo team at the High School level.
I'll never forget the day he tried out for his first job as a lifeguard. The tryouts were on his 16th birthday; you had to be 16 to try out. The day before tryouts, he and his Dad decided to do a practice swim. Don went out in the kayak with a stop watch and paddled alongside Davie. He completed the practice swim in the required time. This gave him the confidence he needed, for the tryouts the next day. On the day of tryouts, the swells were huge! As all the boys started coming in from their swim, my anticipation grew. Where is he? Then I spotted him…he was on the backside of a huge set a waves! Would he be able to ride in on those waves? Did he know what he was doing? He could swim but could he get in safely in surf like that? He timed his run in perfectly and somehow seemed to dodge the dangerous swells. I realized then how perfectly in sink he was with the sounds and rhythms of the sea. He had an understanding of the ocean, which I had not realized until that day.
I still take my walks along the boardwalk, but not with my son. He's the guy I say hello to up in the Lifeguard tower. He's the guy that now encourages and inspires other little boys to one day pursue the job as a Laguna Beach Lifeguard. He's the guy that can now give back, what was once given to him as a child.
The training he received helped develop him into a responsible young man. I will forever be grateful for the Laguna Beach Lifeguard Department and the Jr. Lifeguard programs.
Sincerely,
Susan Campbell
Davie Campbell lifeguarded from 2003 to 2007
My Mom Made Me Do It
By Charlie Ware
Guarded 1968-78
When my folks decided to move to Laguna Beach in early June of 1965 with 5 children( 4 boys and an older sister), my mother knew we would sprint to the water as soon as we pulled into our new rental on lower Bluebird. No sooner than she dug out our swim suits we were running down the hill to hit the sand and surf. No towel, no sunscreen (Sunscreen? Wasn't even invented yet) no hat, sunglasses, fins, snack money. Not a thing. Just bare white skins and a bucket of energy and no clue. For the first few days of that first Summer it was all beach and water from early morning until hunger drove us home before sunset. If we didn't get home before the sun went down then dinner was given to the dogs my Mom would warn. " I'm no short order cook" she would demand. We would eagerly tell her what we did that day at the beach while we woofed down piles of family size meals. And with each tail, she got more and more alarmed. Needless to say, four young adventurous boys and a few friends could come up with stunts both in and out of the water that would make any mother shriek with horror. My mom was a American Red Cross swim instructor when we lived in Tustin and gave free swim and lifesaving lessons to the neighborhood kids. All she asked was a towel as a registration fee. Seemed we lost a lot of towels as we hopped from one neighborhood pool to the next. So, she quickly recognized the need for some real ocean training if we were going to survive our new playground. Back yard pool savvy wasn't going to cut it.
Then one morning she loaded us in the car and gave us each a towel and one check made out to LBLG Jr. Guard Program and dropped us off at Main Tower and said, "This is what you four boys will be doing until you come back with better respect for the ocean." "I'm not going to worry any more". We had no idea what this twice a week summer camp meant, but took to it instantly. Dale Ghere, Jim Heardman, John Cunningham and others drilled into us all the subjects necessary to enjoy the ocean environment and learn basic lifeguarding skills as well. Fantastic fun and adventure too!!
The long and the short of it is, My Mom Made Me Do It. She introduced us to the world of lifeguarding without really knowing it and set in motion an envious lifestyle and indelible memories, that both enriched our lives as well as keep us safe and happy.
Thanks Mom,
Charlie
