Cecil and Glenn Cameron

For a short post and followup: I was lucky to find and locate this photo from the Bud Higgins collection. Better yet was to share with Keith Cameron who found his father Cecil and uncle Glenn on page 17 in the book. Click on the image for a larger view....nice beach clothes on the small kid and bearly visible in the distance are the HB oil rigs.

The Beach Gang, circa 1926

I found many references of the "Beach Gang" during research for the book and really liked the photo on page 17 with Pete DiFabio, Glenn ?, teenaged Bud Higgins, Bub ?, and Angelo Molica. Somewhere is a great story about how that white stuff (zink?) got on their noses....I just need to look harder and find it again. However, this photo from the Higins collection missed a few last names.



I often wondered: Who were Glenn and "Bub" and were they lifeguards?



It turns out Keith Cameron found this photo in the book, never saw the photo before and was excited to identify his father and uncle! By email, Keith (Hollywood High class of 1950) wrote briefly about Cecil 'Bub' Cameron and Glenn Cameron:



"I spent a good deal of my early years (30's - 40's) at Huntington Beach with my father and mother. My father went to Huntington Beach High School. To me it was paradise (and then I think it was). While brousing your book, "Huntington Beach Lifeguards", I came across page 17 a photo of the "Beach Gang". I would like to fill in the question marks. Second from the right is my father, Cecil 'Bub' Cameron and second from the left is his brother, my uncle, Glenn Cameron. They often talked to me about Bud Higgins, Gene Belshe and Pete DiFabio. This was a very revered group of individuals. Glenn later visited Honolulu (stowed away on a Japanese tramp steamer), surfed with the best of them with the 'big' boards (he was an excellent athlete, swimming, diving, surfing). My father stayed mainly with swimming races, around the pier, etc. I was overjoyed to see such an early photograph of my father and uncle and wanted to make sure their 'question-mark' identities were known."



Wow, that was a kewl inbox find!! I called Keith and enjoyed his conversation. I was able to share another photo of his father and uncle together which again Keith saw for the first time. Thanks again Keith. Mahalo!!

1967 Junior Lifeguard Nationals

A good friend William Maguire emailed this just yesterday from his personal archives. Will is a transactional trademark, copyright and licensing attorney and active recurrent Los Angeles County Lifeguard. We met in New Zealand in Feb 1986 and again a month later for the Australian National Lifeguard Championships in Moana Beach, South Australia and have been friends ever since.

Funny thing, Will also blogs Los Angeles County lifeguard history and current events at http://countyrecurrent.blogspot.com/

On the certificate of participation you can find a lot of HB names (good trivia) and even the old HB City Seal. Notice the City of Huntington Beach and HB Surf Life Saving Association certificate signed by the then current Mayor Dr. Donald D Shipley, Vincent G Moorhouse and Raymond Bray.

What a great event back then for the junior lifeguards and I venture to say, historically, Huntington Beach hosted the first National Junior Lifeguard Competition. Will was stoked to send this and reminded me in 1967 he was an LA County Junior Lifeguard hailing from Will Rogers State Beach in Pacific Palisades.

Nice legs...

I understood the Arcadia ladies really liked the strong tan lifeguard legs in this photo when they helped design the cover. Of all the photos to choose from, this 1938 crew photo was better suited for adding the book title banner and wrap around the book spine, splitting the Life Guard sign in the middle. Lifeguard chief Bud Higgins stands center with white pants and...nope, I am not in this photo. More than one person has asked including my kids... Ha!

Look, I have my first blog follower already. Thanks Karen! My intention is to post once or twice a week and develop more links to this page. My next post will touch on that very topic.

The book

OK, here is my first post as a blogger newbie.......The book was released in April 2007 and dedicated to Raymond Bray, a lifeguard and junior lifeguard mentor and swimming and water polo coach. Included in the book are more than 200 photos, 127 pages and chapters:

The Early Years: 1904 - 1949
Changing of the Guard: 1950-1966
The Coastal Playground: 1967-1999
California State Park Huntington Beach: 1950-2007
The Junior Lifeguard Program: 1964-2007
Surf City USA and Beyond: 2000-2007.

The retail price is $19.99 and can be purchased online with the publisher at arcadiapublishing.com, Amazon.com, Huntington Beach City Hall, and with several merchants downtown Huntington Beach. Signed copies may be available direct from the author.