Jersey Shore Magazine

J e r s e y s h o r e • S p r i n g 2 0 1 8 6 bolic of a friendship that started with a similar longboard, a friendship that has endured for more than a half century between two like-minded storytellers with a flair for riding waves and an affinity for nostalgia. Accomplished longboarder John Hale, CEO of Glendenning Mortgage Corporation in Toms River and co-principal of One Ocean Boulevard., LLC (with James P. Anzano), was twelve years old when his family relocated from Connecticut to Toms River. The Hale family's move to the shore in 1965 coincided with the growing popu- larity of surf culture in the main- stream, fueled in part by the music of such icons as Dick Dale and The Beach Boys and the film, The Endless Summer. The ocean called to Hale at a very early age, and after his very first surfing lesson at a family friend's Mantoloking home that summer, he was hooked. "I bodysurfed as a child, and before I had my first board, we had those inflatable canvas mats. You'd blow them up, they'd be rock hard, and that's what I learned the basics of surfing on," Hale explained. He bought his first custom surf- board in 1967 with money earned from his first paying job at The Big Wheel Arcade (today's Coin Castle) on the Seaside Heights boardwalk. It was an inspirational summer for Hale. "I remember that summer of '67... I worked as a change boy, and the Atlantic States Surfing Contest was held at the end of August. I had a birds-eye view of the entire contest because it was held at the beach right in front of the arcade I worked in," recalled Hale. "Nobody knew it at the time, but that was the end of the classic longboard hot-dogging era. The best surfers in the world all came to Seaside Heights that summer, and the waves showed up too." Watching the likes of longboard legends and champions Gary Propper, Claude Codgen, and Dewey Weber riding his home break left a lasting impression on Hale. Before long, he was gliding in the salt water moving his feet and cross-stepping on his own longboard. "That was an incredi- ble summer for me," Hale said, "After work, I'd get my gear and paddle out for the evening session and surf right up to dark every day." That same summer, seventeen- year-old Rich Luthringer was getting paid by Lavallette's Custom Surf Shop to ride surfboards with his close friends, brothers Chris and Greg "Grog" Mesanko, who have both been enshrined into the New Jersey Surfing Hall of Fame, and Doug "Toad" Nagel, who only learned to surf two years prior with his cousin in Sea Bright. "I was a boardwalk cleaner that summer. I'd show up at one o'clock in the morning with Chris. We'd clean the boardwalk up, see the sun rise, and we wouldn't even sleep because we'd go right to the beach A Solidarity Shaped by Surfing BEACHCOMBER " L et u s ta k e a j o u r ne y do w n t he S hore to see w h at w e can f i n d …" T here's an eleven foot-long custom surfboard hanging inside the beautiful atrium of the new One Ocean Boulevard condominium building in Seaside Heights. It's officially called a Luthringer 11' ¼" Reverse Rocker Custom Noserider Longboard. At first glance, it might seem to be a mere decoration, something hung by an interior designer to enhance the building's shore vibe and coastal ambiance. But this particular longboard is so much more than a hallway adorn- ment. There's no doubt it represents the laid-back attitude of surf culture, where the dream of the endless sum- mer and the never-ending pursuit of the perfect wave combine to create the iconic and unique Jersey Shore lifestyle. This custom-designed and crafted longboard is, more importantly, sym- Jill Ocone Rich Luthringer and John Hale.

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