Tony Soriano Shared the Stoke!
Written by SurfWriter Girls Sunny Magdaug and Patti Kishel
On Saturday, June 18th, Surfrider Foundation members and
supporters everywhere will be coming together for International Surfing Day,
a day dedicated to celebrating the sport of surfing.
It's also a day to recognize and thank all the organizations
and people who help to protect the world's oceans, waves and beaches and make
them a welcoming and enjoyable place for everyone.
No one did this more than Surfrider's Huntington/Seal Beach
Chapter coordinator Tony Soriano, who was always ready to share the
stoke – organizing beach cleanups, educating students about the environment,
participating in the community, and getting people onboard to experience the
pure joy of surfing.
On Memorial Day weekend the H/SB Chapter held a celebration of life and paddle out ceremony to honor Tony (1947-2022) in Seal Beach at his home surf break at The River's End Jetty. Close to a hundred people turned out to say good-bye to him.
Tony's warm smile, enthusiasm for life, and love of the ocean will be remembered by those lucky enough to have known him. “We lost a true Earth hero,” said Pamela Shader Conti.
“Tony gave so much of himself to care for the community and
the coastline he loved,” Nancy Estabrook Downes said. “To say we were all
blessed to have Tony protecting the beaches is an understatement,” chapter
co-chair KC Fockler added. “You will be missed, my friend.”
SurfWriter Girls Sunny Magdaug and Patti Kishel wouldn't
have started writing about the beach and environment if it weren't for Tony,
who helped us get started and was always giving us leads and story ideas. Sunny
and Tony were friends since childhood and called each other cousins because
their families were so close.
Tony told SurfWriter Girls that growing up "I was
always in the water. The ocean was my life." He went fishing with his
parents and brother and sister and learned to surf when he was 16. He
remembered how clear the water was then.
"When I first started surfing the water was blue and clear. There were mussels we could eat right off the rocks. We pulled crabs off the rocks and cooked clams on the beach. Now the ocean is green, and the clams are gone. I want to get the ocean back to that clean look from when I grew up."
That's why he joined the Surfrider Foundation and worked tirelessly to make surfing and the environment better for everyone. He believed in giving back and was so happy when the H/SB chapter won The Living Green Award. Tony told us, "Part of the beauty of International Surfing Day is that people everywhere can celebrate and give back. ISD is as big as you make it."
This year's ISD theme is The Beach Belongs to Everyone. Tony Soriano would be the first to agree with that. He wanted everyone to experience the wonders of the beach and ocean the way that he did...and he was always sharing the stoke.
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.
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