Charlie either knew you or you didn’t get hired.

Norm Anderson

By Dale Ghere

2004

Norm started guarding in Laguna in 1948. He had not planned on being a beach lifeguard that summer. He had a good job digging ditches in the canyon. Everything was going well for him until a union boss showed up on the work site one day and asked him why he wasn’t paying union dues. When he found that he would have to pay $50 a month in union fees he just step out of the ditch and started walking towards the ocean. When he arrived at the beach he saw Charlie Plummer and told him that he had just lost his job. Charlie then asked him if he would like to be a lifeguard for the rest of the summer. He could start immediately because they needed another guard.

There was no test to pass. Charlie either knew you or you didn’t get hired. Plummer was looking for locals to hire who knew how to handle big surf and was aware of the specific dangers inherent to each beach. He hired local guys that were known to be surfers or body surfers who were unafraid of big surf, good divers and people who were trustworthy. Plummer was a good waterman himself so he knew what to look for when he hired a new guard.

Surfing Doho, Dana and Sano were the favorite spots for most of the guards. They would go surfing and then stop at Dana Point or some other favorite dive spot to collect abs before returning to Laguna. They would then clean the abs and have a beach party in the evening. In the years between 1948 – 1950 while Norm was guarding, Abs were easy to find. The modern technology of WWII had not reached the general public yet so few peopled were good divers. There were no wetsuits or SCUBA equipment available at every sporting-good store in those days. A faceplate and an ab iron made out of an old leafspring was all that was needed to make a well-equipped diver. It was not uncommon to bring home twenty or thirty abs. Those were the days before the commercial divers striped the local waters of the large beds of abalone. All of the guards were good divers and collected abs, lobster and scallops on a regular basis. Spear fishing was nothing unusual. All beach parties were supplied with abundant amounts of food from the ocean.

Not so many years ago Norm was fly-fishing on the Kings River when he saw a woman floating down stream. She was trying to swim, but her head was under water more than it was up. It was evident from the start that she was in dire trouble. Norm threw his fishing gear on the bank and dove into the icy water to save her. The river was carrying her swiftly down stream. Before he could reach her she washed into another fisherman standing in the river. He managed to get her safely to shore before Norm could catch up and make the rescue. Norm was disappointed that he was too slow to be able to make a quick and dramatic rescue, we all slow down with time, but he was happy that he still had the spirit.

Today Norm lives in Three Arch Bay. He is 77 years old and still has many fond memories of spending days on the beach in Laguna as a lifeguard. For him lifeguarding influenced the development of many life-long friendships and led him to attend USC where he roomed with Hevs and several other Laguna guards.

He still remembers the day when he had to pull Miss America out of the water. Not once, but twice in the same day.

He also remembers a time when he was going home in South Laguna and Hevs came roaring up and yelled, “Jump in, there is a big rescue at 3rd Street” in South Laguna. They drove to the edge of the cliff to look for the victim. Once he was spotted Hevs decided to jump off of a 60-foot cliff rather than to take the time to run around to the stairs to gain access to the beach. The surf was huge and the water was shallow so he had to time the jump well to keep from being injured. Just as Hevs jumped a very large wave caught the victim and rolled him into the surf line. All was well in the end.

When guards went to their beaches during the 40’s they were expected to pick up all of the trash and rake up all of the kelp. The guards dove, surfed, fished and had parties together throughout the summer. As he would say, “Those were the best of days.”