Yearly Archives: 2022

Aloha to Tony – May 28, 2022

Posted on by under Environment, Surfrider

The Surfrider Tribe Gathers

Written by SurfWriter Girls Sunny Magdaug and Patti Kishel

Surfrider’s Huntington/Seal Beach tribe gathered above the sea at the River’s End in Seal Beach on May 28th to say good-bye to Tony Soriano, the chapter’s longtime chair and advisor.

When the conch shell sounded everyone came together to honor and celebrate Tony’s life (1947-2022) and to share stories about the dedicated and fearless leader who loved surfing, the environment, and the people around him.

Wearing Surfrider Ts, Hawaiian shirts, flower leis and leaf crowns, Tony’s ohana (friends and family) remembered his boundless energy and enthusiasm and countless acts of kindness.

Surfrider CEO Chad Nelsen said Tony helped chapters across the nation protect the oceans, waves and beaches. H/SB Chapter co-chair KC Fockler talked about how Tony’s generous heart and tireless work for the chapter inspired everyone.

Jeff Coffman remembered the way Tony got everyone involved and made them want to do more to protect the beach and environment. Joe (Samoa) McMullin said that Tony drew him into Surfrider when they met at the beach, remembering they both had been stung – many times! – by the stingrays at the River’s End.

Norma and Alex Sellers told SurfWriter Girls Sunny and Patti how much they would miss Tony’s smile and all the fun they had together at beach cleanups. We agreed that Tony had a smile as bright as the sun and a sense of endless possibilities.

A hula dancer performed in Tony’s honor. Guests looked at his photos and signed the memory book.

The trunk of Tony’s car was filled with mementos of his adventures and accomplishments. Many of Tony’s prized surfboards were lined up, as if waiting to go out again.

Alex Soriano, Tony’s son, thanked everyone for being there and talked about how his father made people feel connected. He said that whenever Tony saw trash on the beach, he picked it up. He knew that his father would want all of us to do the same. Then he and Rocky McKinnon led the tribe to the water’s edge.

The tribe gathered the flowers that had been donated by Surfrider sponsor Albertson’s and headed out into the ocean for the paddle out…

and one last aloha to Tony.

Thanks to those whose photos were included in this story. Mahalo! – Sunny and Patti

Surf’n Beach Scene Magazine

SurfWriter Girls

Sunny Magdaug and Patti Kishel hold the exclusive rights to this copyrighted material. Publications wishing to reprint it may contact them at surfwriter.girls@gmail.com Individuals and non-profit groups are welcome to post it on social media sites as long as credit is given.

Matson Lines Sailed to Exotic South Seas

Posted on by under Environment

Advertising Posters Lured Travelers to Adventure

Hawaii steamship

Written by SurfWriter Girls Sunny Magdaug and Patti Kishel

Now that spring’s balmy breezes are here, we’re reminded that there are adventures awaiting and a world to explore. For decades the legendary Matson Shipping Lines turned people’s travel dreams into reality.

 

couple-in-moonlight

1963 Matson Lines Ocean Liner Cruise Ship Pacific

Paradise on beach

From the early to mid-1900s, long before we lived in a 24/7 global, connected world, the Matson Shipping Lines sailed to exotic places that most people only dreamed about.

tahiti

 

 

 

 

 

 

Its world-class luxury liners provided the fastest, finest and most elegant service available to the Hawaiian Islands, Polynesia, New Zealand and Australia.

girl with yellow floweraustralia

new-zealand

Offering the promise of South Seas adventures and tropical paradises, the cruise line commissioned top artists and photographers to create advertising posters that would lure travelers to book passage on its ships traversing the Pacific Ocean.

 

Artists Frank Macintosh, John Kelly, Eldridge Logan, Louis Macouillaird, Richard Moore and Eugene Savage all painted iconic island scenes for Matson.

luau

Even famed photographers Edward Steichen and Anton Breuhl got on board to celebrate the Matson dream.

Matson horizontal ship

samoa menu

Ladies with fruit basket

Steichen photo ad in VogueThe advertising posters were showcased in adventure and travel magazines ranging from National Geographic to Holiday and in glossy fashion magazines like Harper’s Bazaar and Vogue.

1949-matson-cruise-line-lurine-captains-table

That era of glamorous adventures on the high seas may have come to an end, but the posters and the dreams live on.

honemooners A

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Flamingos Add Color to Life!

Posted on by under Lifestyle

Birds are In the Pink

Caribbean_flamingo

Written by SurfWriter Girls Sunny Magdaug and Patti Kishel

Lightmatter_flamingo

The word “flamingo” comes from Spanish, meaning flame – an apt choice for the brightly-hued birds. Whether wading in the water or in flight, flamingos are a sight to see.

Flamingo_flying

The long-legged animals themselves are native to parts of Africa, South America, the Caribbean, Mexico and other temperate-to-tropical locales.

flamingos wading in water

But their plastic namesakes – the garden décor variety – are likely to pop up anywhere, especially in beach communities. In fact, there are probably more of the hot-pink plastic flamingos than the natural ones.

plastic flamingos in yard

Don Featherstone

A garden accessory as popular – and some would say as essential – as the garden gnome and tiki torch, pink flamingos came to take up roost on our lawns and patios because of one person – Massachusetts artist and inventor Donald Featherstone, who developed them in 1957 as a product for his employer Union Products, a plastics manufacturer.

plastic flamingo

What better way to showcase the company’s plastics than to mold them into the eye-catching birds?

Plastic-pink-flamingos garden box

Both praised and put down by art critics and everyday people alike, pink flamingos have stood the test of time and become iconic symbols of a fun-loving lifestyle that isn’t afraid to be flamboyant (another word that means flame).

flamingo-fun-plastic surfing

SurfWriter Girls Sunny Magdaug and Patti Kishel have caught sight of the pink birds at the beach and throughout the OC. In fact, Patti even has a pink flamingo in her own back yard.

DSC05502

Plastic flamingo at beach

Patti’s husband Greg likes the colorful birds, too, even if he finds them puzzling.

Inspired by a wildlife photo in National Geographic magazine, Featherstone’s neon pink flamingo creation is now a bird for the ages, inviting us to look at the lighter side of life and to add a splash of color.

flamingo and palm tree postcard

Surf’n Beach Scene Magazine

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Puerto Rican Parrots Rebound!

Posted on by under Environment

Recovering After Hurricane Maria’s Devastation

Written by SurfWriter Girls Sunny Magdaug and Patti Kishel

When SurfWriter Girls first wrote about the parrots of Puerto Rico scientists were working hard to save the iconic Puerto Rican Parrots after Hurricane Maria decimated most of their jungle habitat in the tropical forest of El Yunque.

Only two out of 56 wild parrots survived the massive hurricane that struck the US island territory in September 2017.

In the 1800s there were more than 1 million wild parrots in Puerto Rico. But, over a century of forest clearing and development virtually extinguished them, leaving only 13 birds in the wild in the 1970s until a breeding program increased the population to 56. Then came the hurricane.

It became more important than ever for the island’s breeding program to save the bird population. Birds in captivity were waiting to be released into the wild in the El Yunque and Rio Abajo forests, but before that could happen scientists needed to make sure that there was sufficient habitat and food to support them.

With many of the tall trees where the parrots would nest gone and the protective forest canopy of leaves and branches still thinned, it was a challenge to find safe places for the parrots.

Marisel ­Lopez, who’s in charge of Puerto Rico’s parrot recovery program, said at the time that “the priority now is to start releasing them” and hoped that in 2019 the first group of 20 parrots would be able to venture out. The birds were released and since then, due to the success of the program, other groups have followed.

Now more than 200 parrots are in the wild and the jungle is alive with the unique sounds that they make.

Parrot Love Haiku

by SurfWriter Girls Sunny and Patti

Vibrant wild parrots

of Puerto Rico still sing.

Two against the storm.

Surf’n Beach Scene Magazine

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Hail to the Monarchs!

Posted on by under Environment

Majestic Butterflies Return to CA

Written by SurfWriter Girls Sunny Magdaug and Patti Kishel

“For everything there is a season.” – Ecclesiastes

Along California’s central coast the majestic orange-and-black Monarch Butterflies have made this the season to return after years of declining numbers during their fall/winter migrations.

In Pacific Grove, a key resting stop on the butterflies’ migration from the Pacific Northwest to Mexico (November to March), over 12,000 butterflies were counted in 2021. In 2020 fewer than 2,000 butterflies were counted. Some areas had none.

Looking at the butterflies’ arrivals at other spots so far – Pismo Beach counted over 22,000 thru December – it’s estimated that there will be at least 100,000 butterflies throughout the West this season. A cause for celebration.

Seeing the butterflies arriving has been good news for California after growing fears that they might not come back at all. Given the obstacles they face – from dwindling habitat due to farming and housing development to lack of water and food – the Monarchs have a difficult journey each year.

Scientists aren’t sure what’s caused the bounce-back in the butterflies. Ironically, some have speculated that it may be because the state’s drought has created warmer, dryer flying conditions. And environmental groups have been working to plant more milkweed and nectar plants – sources of food – at the butterflies’ roosting sites.

Whatever the case, the butterflies’ return this season is encouraging. And, while it’s far from the highs of the 1980’s when there were millions of Monarchs, still it’s a stunning sight to see them in flight again.

Hail to the Monarchs! Long may they reign.

Surf’n Beach Scene Magazine

SurfWriter Girls

Sunny Magdaug and Patti Kishel hold the exclusive rights to this copyrighted material. Publications wishing to reprint it may contact them at surfwriter.girls@gmail.com Individuals and non-profit groups are welcome to post it on social media sites as long as credit is given.

Pantone’s Color of the Year

Posted on by under Creative Energy

Very Peri Blooms in 2022

Written by SurfWriter Girls Sunny Magdaug and Patti Kishel

It’s that time again when the Pantone Color Institute chooses its Color of the Year – a choice that influences design, fashion, home furnishings, packaging, and much more.

For 2022, Pantone was inspired by the blue periwinkle flowers that bloom in so many gardens and created Very Peri, “a dynamic periwinkle blue with a vivifying violet red undertone” that the New Jersey-based color influencer says embodies “an empowering mix of trust, faith, energy and verve.”

In choosing its Color of the Year, Pantone relies on a panel of experts in the fashion and design fields, arts and entertainment, and social media.  Now, that it’s officially announced, Very Peri is already showing up in home decor and fashion.

A color that brings to mind the blue in Claude Monet’s impressionist painting Water Lilies, periwinkle has many associations and names, such as sorcerer’s violet and fairy’s paint brush. The color has a dreaminess to it and a sense of untold possibilities.

While Pantone has long been the arbiter of the new year’s dominant color since its first COTY selection in 1999, other rival companies have started making selections of their own, including paint manufacturers Sherwin-Williams (Evergreen Fog) and Benjamin Moore (October Mist) – both, coincidentally, shades of green.

But, if blue or green isn’t your cup of tea, there’s still coffee. When the Wall St. Journal asked readers to come up with their own COTYs, Eileen Ferris, SurfWriter Girl Patti’s sister, submitted this color featured by the WSJ: “Toffee Nut Latte – a warm pale beige reminiscent of the most dependable source of normality that I have relied on through the pandemic.”

Whatever colors brighten your year, each adds another dimension to the color palette. And, in the case of Pantone’s Very Peri, it symbolizes “transition and happiness” – things much in demand now.

So, let color bloom in 2022 and color your world beautiful.

Surf’n Beach Scene Magazine

SurfWriter Girls

Sunny Magdaug and Patti Kishel hold the exclusive rights to this copyrighted material. Publications wishing to reprint it may contact them at surfwriter.girls@gmail.com Individuals and non-profit groups are welcome to post it on social media sites as long as credit is given.