[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 68 (Friday, May 26, 2006)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E976]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   IN HONOR OF THE 20TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE SANTA CRUZ SURFING MUSEUM

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. SAM FARR

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 25, 2006

  Mr. FARR. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the great role that 
the Santa Cruz County coastline and its surfers have played in the 
history of the great sport of surfing.
  In 1885, three Hawaiian princes visited the city of Santa Cruz and 
rode the waves at the mouth of the San Lorenzo River on redwood 
surfboards shaped at a nearby lumber yard.
  This was the first recorded instance of surfing on the U.S. mainland 
in modern history. By 1936, Santa Cruz had its own surfing club, one of 
the first outside of Hawaii. With the development of new surfboard 
technologies in the 1950s and 1960s and the wetsuit by Santa Cruz's own 
Jack O'Neill, the sport spread across the U.S. and the globe. Surfing 
is now deeply embedded in American popular culture.
  Enjoyed by millions of people around the world, surfing is perhaps 
the most widespread American sporting export. Surfing is hugely popular 
in such far flung places as Australia, Brazil, Europe, and even Israel. 
While the birthplace of surfing is Hawaii, the spread of the sport 
began through its popularity in Santa Cruz. Outside of Hawaii, no place 
on earth has a deeper history in the modern revival of surfing than our 
little coastal community of Santa Cruz.
  Due to this rich history, Santa Cruz established the world's first 
surfing museum in May of 1986. Over the past 20 years, the museum has 
become a symbol of the local and the worldwide surfing community. Just 
as the Monterey Peninsula is home to the Steamer Lane of Golf, Pebble 
Beach, so Santa Cruz is home to the Pebble Beach of surfing, Steamer 
Lane. Though it should be noted that the only `greens fees' at Steamer 
Lane are cold water and heavy crowds.
  Though another California town recently secured the trademark rights 
to ``Surf City'', the long history of surfing in Santa Cruz is proof 
enough that Santa Cruz is the heart and soul of surfing, and the 
foundation upon which it continues to ride.

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