THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, June 8, 1994 TAG: 9406070134
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 07 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY SCOTT McCASKEY, CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: 940608 LENGTH: Medium
Local legends who have a history of answering the call of the wind and the wave performed a different kind of ritual last week.
{REST} Rather than assembling along the shoreline at the First Street Jetty to catch the perfect wave, they met at the Sand 'N Surf a few blocks inland on Laskin Road to catch an adventurous flick.
Bill Frierson, Pete Smith, the Holland family, Les Shaw and Paul West were among the many Virginia Beach surfing notables on hand for an invitation-only, advance screening of ``Endless Summer II.'' It was all part of a fund-raiser to benefit Operation Smile, a non-profit program in which surgeons from all over the United States travel to Third World countries to perform operations on the under-privileged.
``We thought this would be a great way of raising money for a good cause,'' said Virginia Beach lawyer Robert Morecock, a founding member of the Virginia Association of Surfing Attorneys, which sponsored the special showing.
About 150 members of the local surfing community forked out $25 each to see the film and attend the private party and raffle afterward.
The affair generated several thousand dollars for Operation Smile, which was started in Norfolk more than a decade ago by Dr. William Magee and his wife, Kathy. The program has since been adopted by cities throughout the country.
Jeffrey Breit, a Virginia Beach lawyer and former chairman of the board for Operation Smile, noted the evening's success.
``We raised some money and brought a good group of people together for a philanthropic event. I think everyone had a great time,'' he said.
While everyone was happy to contribute to the charity, they were also anxious to see the long-awaited sequel to Bruce Brown's 1964 classic, ``Endless Summer.'' Following a few humorous surf stories by the evening's master of ceremonies, Pete Smith, it was on with the show.
Though impossible to match the impact and novelty of the original movie, the sequel followed suit in nearly every other aspect. Like the first, Brown fuses stunning surfing photography in a travelogue/adventure format that is not only entertaining to surfers, but to just about anyone. For those on hand, Brown's narrative, along with soundtrack bites and flashbacks from the original film, made the picture akin to a reunion with a long-lost friend.
``It was great just hearing Bruce Brown's voice again,'' said Bill Frierson, co-owner of Wave Riding Vehicles with Les Shaw.
Brown also displays that he hasn't lost his flair for finding the unusual. In one scene, two Alaskan surfers ride frigid waves while a crowd of grizzly bears watch from the shoreline. Besides facing challenging surf around the globe, stars Pat O'Connell and Robert ``Wingnut'' Weaver also brave encounters with African lions, deadly Indonesian sea snakes, and Australian crocodiles in their trek for the perfect wave.
``I thought it was fantastic,'' said Smith, an East Coast surfing legend and now 55. ``The first movie was such a hall-of-famer and this compares well. Everyone will enjoy it, whether they surf or not.''
``This film is going to do a lot for surfing,'' said Paul West, director for the Virginia chapter of the Eastern Surfing Association.
The enjoyment, however, didn't stop with curtain call. Nearly every person in the theater headed to nearby Croc's Restaurant for a private party and raffle. The mix of guests, ranging in age from mid-20s to mid-60s, shared a generational camaraderie reflective of the film and the maturing nature of the sport. Though the movie's stars are in their 20s, part of their journey is spent sharing waves with past greats Shaun Tomson, Nat Young and Gerry Lopez.
``The movie shows that surfing has become a sport for all ages,'' noted Frierson, 47, and Senior Men's East Coast champion in 1985.
by CNB