by Lorraine Organ
Published on October 10, 2007
The sand is pure white, the water is a clear emerald color, and the sunlight is reflecting off of the crashing waves. That is enough to marvel at. Perhaps you would like to go for a swim. Suddenly, you come across a few surfers who are feeling the excitement of catching a wave. Maybe you will join them, or maybe not, because you do not know how to surf. However, regardless of which situation you are in, PJC has a Surf Club that invites everyone to join.
Over the past two years, attempts have been made in getting the club together, only really getting together in 2004. If it weren’t for Benny Johnson, sophomore, asking Charlie Schuler, sponsor, about meetings at the beginning of this semester, there might not have been a Surf Club.
“I was ready to give up on it this year,” Schuler said.
Because of Johnson’s inquiries, he received the presidency title. The first meeting held on Oct. 2 showed great promise with new members joining, most of which have never been on a surfboard.
Schuler encourages everyone to join, male or female.
“Yes, we want ladies to join,” Carlton Wiggins Jr., freshman, said.
You don’t need to know how to surf or even own a board. Experienced surfers, such as Schuler, who has been surfing all his life, and Micah Skinner, who has been surfing about five years now, don’t mind teaching interested candidates. You can even borrow a board from members if you don’t have one.
“I love getting in the water as much as I can,” Johnson said.
However, the club mostly surfs during Green and Yellow flags days, so the waves aren’t too high for beginners.
“I’m really excited about the Surf Club,” Skinner said at the Oct. 2 meeting.
Of course, surfing is the primary objective, but other activities are included as well. To help serve in the community, they participate in beach cleanups and Earth Day. Schuler’s goal for the spring is a trip to Cocoa Beach, where the club will visit the World’s Largest Surf Shop and factories where surf boards are made. They may even enter a few competitions later in the year, but the club is mostly about having fun.
“It’s more like a surfing mafia,” Patrick Mead, sophomore, said. At the meeting he was voted vice president and has been surfing for three years now.
Honors students are taking a turn on the waves too. On Sept. 30, the Surf Club and Honors Program got together at Pensacola Beach.
Schuler, also the sponsor of the Honors Program, takes students to St. Petersburg to visit a few museums, relax on the beach, and teach interested students such, as Cody Greene, how to surf.
Greene became more interested and decided to join the club, along with Sarah King. King surfed as a child, but hasn’t been on a board since. Recently she hit the waves at the beach party.
If you are interested in joining, please contact Charlie Schuler in Building 4 on the Pensacola Campus. The Surf Club meets once every three weeks on Wednesdays at 2 p.m. in room 447 on the Pensacola campus.