Ohana Day 2017 – A Wave of Aloha Spirit!

Surfrider Foundation Celebrates Earth & Family

 Around the World!

Written by SurfWriter Girls Sunny Magdaug & Patti Kishel

Surfrider Foundation chapters around the world are combining Earth Day celebrations with Hawaiian-style Ohana Day festivities that celebrate the Earth and family.

Seal Beach, CA was filled with people and the sounds of Hawaiian music on Saturday, April 15^th as everyone came out for the annual Ohana (Family) Day event hosted by the Surfrider Foundation Huntington/Seal Beach Chapter and co-sponsor Kohl’s.

 
SurfWriter Girls Sunny Magdaug and Patti Kishel always love this fun-filled day that brings family and friends together to join in the Ohana festivities and help clean the beach.

 

Surfrider’s members organized beach cleanups…with 190 volunteers collecting 1,045 lbs. of trash.

 

and led the kids in environmental education activities that emphasized ways to keep our oceans pristine and healthy.

There were lots of hands-on activities and demonstrations. Surfing lessons, kayaking and paddle boarding.

Cotton candy to eat and games to play.

Orange County Coastkeeper and the Los Cerritos Wetlands Land Trust were on hand to talk about the importance of protecting the environment.

And Drains to Ocean explained the damage that inland water runoff from residential and commercial properties can do to our waterways and oceans.

Tony Soriano, Surfrider’s Huntington/Seal Beach Chapter Chair, was excited about getting the next generation on board to safeguard the environment. “It teaches them values,” he said, “and lets them know that they are vital to the future of our oceans and the sport of surfing.” 

LA Video Drone caught all the action.

There was so much to see… 

Even these mermaids came out to join in the fun.

  
By the end of the day everyone was enjoying the warmth of ohana – a sense of community and the feeling that we are “all connected to each other and to the Earth itself.”

  
The beauty of ohana is that it doesn’t just last for a day. It lasts a lifetime. This photo of SurfWriter Girl Patti and her childhood friends (which Judy Rumsey Bullard sent her recently) is definite proof of that! 

To see more highlights from Ohana Day, go to Surf’n Beach Scene Magazine, Just click on Surfrider

 Mahalo and Love to all

Sunny and Patti

SurfWriter Girls

Surf’n Beach Scene Magazine

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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.