SANTA CRUZ — Hundreds of disabled people made their way to Cowell Beach Saturday alongside friends and family to enjoy the sun and the sand and participate in ocean activities such as kayaking, floating, scuba diving and outrigger canoeing for the 30th annual Day on the Beach event. The event is organized by local nonprofit Shared Adventures and welcomes hundreds of participants who may have never been to the beach or spent time in or on the ocean, and some who come back to the unique event year after year, such as 37-year-old Santa Cruz resident and dog walker Jennifer Lopez, who had just returned from a ride on an outrigger canoe. “I saw some sea otters out there today,” said Lopez.
“I am here every year for the ocean activities and to hang out on the beach.” The all-ages event was created 30 years ago by Shared Adventures founder Foster Andersen, who was injured in a motorcycle accident as a teenager and paralyzed but was determined to keep participating in adventurous activities such as skiing and surfing, which was the only activity at the first Day on the Beach in 1994, according to Andersen. “I kind of pinch myself sometimes,” said Andersen.
“Year 1 was just one beach chair and a handful of volunteers and lots of pallets that we brought down. And I had this band called Two Forests, an acoustic band, and we played into the wee hours of the night. We only had surfing that day and the next year we added kayaking.
Things were a lot different back then.” Now with a menu of activities in the water and on the sand, not to mention free lunch, a foundation of wooden pathways and platforms and a lineup of bands such as the China Cats, the Day on the Beach event has grown into a community affair. Shared Adventures Board Chair and Day on the Beach coordinator Steve Miller explained that it takes a convergence of organizations and volunteers to make the event a reality each year.
“The registration people know registration, and the kayak people know kayaks and the outrigger people bring their canoes,” said Miller. “It’s like making a cake where you put in all the ingredients, and it turns into this amazing event.” Miller said that although coordinating the event is challenging, seeing so many people pitch in to make Day in the Beach happen makes it all worth the effort — whether it’s staff from the city of Santa Cruz Parks and Recreation Department or the army of carpenters from Carpenters Union Local 505, and around the Bay Area, who spend hours setting up and tearing down the walkways and platforms for the event each year.
“We started helping out with the event about 18 years ago and I started about 14 years ago,” said retired carpenter Ned Van Valkenburgh. “We get a lot of support from San Lorenzo Lumber. They store all of our lumber for us all year long, and each year, they also donate 50 two-by-fours so that we can get rid of the old stuff that’s wearing out.
Their contribution is pretty wonderful.” Dennis Speer is part of a local men’s organization called Legacy Men’s Division, which provides mentoring and provides a number of volunteers for the Day on the Beach event. “I started volunteering at this event about 12 years ago,” said Speer.
“There’s the joy and the experience of being at the beach and this is one of the only ways on the West Coast that people who are disabled have an opportunity to get in the ocean.” Keaton Port Gaarn with Habitat for Humanity Monterey Bay was also volunteering at the event, helping with the setup and tear down and keeping the sand off the walkways in-between. “I came in yesterday to help build all of the platforms,” said Port Gaarn.
“Seeing the joy in people’s faces is amazing. The beach is such a therapeutic place. And you see so many volunteers coming out from different places for the same cause.
It’s a beautiful thing.” Santa Cruz City Councilmember Scott Newsome had also made it down to Cowell Beach to present a proclamation honoring Shared Adventures and the 30th annual Day on the Beach. “This is a really wonderful event where the community comes together and provides true access to the coast,” said Newsome.
“This proclamation expresses thanks to Shared Adventures for putting on this great event, which has grown now to have about 200 to 300 participants and 300 to 400 community volunteers.” The event draws people from all over the Bay Area such as Tim and Teresa Nold of Livermore, who were attending their very first Day on the Beach with their 26-year-old son Isaac, who was stoked he was able to head out to sea on a kayak and hang out at the water’s edge with the aid of a beach wheelchair. “I like that he’s able to do these activities safely,” said Teresa Nold.
“And he is very happy and excited he went on a kayak.”.
