Beyond the shore pound: Junior Lifeguards leads to a lifetime of ocean adventures
Jessie Mangiagli, Pono Barnes, unifentified and Bryce Miller compete in the Junior Lifeguard Taplin Bell relay race at Torrance Beach in August, 2006. Photo by Patrick Fallon (PatrickFallonPhoto.com) by Kevin Cody Lifeguard Captain Jeff Horn had just left La Playita on 14th Street in Hermosa Beach with a breakfast burrito when I ran into him on The Strand. We know each other from paddleboarding. Horn was head of the Junior Lifeguard program and was on his way to the Hermosa pier station for a JG meeting. I asked if he’d ever heard my junior lifeguard story. He said he hadn’t, and since we were walking the same direction, I told it to him. I grew up in a town like Palos Verdes, on a bluff overlooking the ocean. Our home had an ocean view, but was too far from the beach to walk or bike to. My family drove to the beach every weekend. I’d go in the water, but never past the shorepound, and watch kids riding surf mats. When we vacationed on Balboa Island, I watched the local kids dive off the docks. When we took the Great White Steamship to Avalon, I’d lean over the rail and marvel at the island kids diving for coins tossed overboard by the tourists. Once in San Diego, my older brother…
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