Surfing Santa brings smiles with surf to the beach cities
Video by Jefferson Graham Special thanks to Derek Levy, Body Glove, Pat Ryan/ET Surf, Jefferson Graham Hermosa Beach Surfer Walk of Fame inductee Derek Levy said he first aspired to be Surfing Santa over four decades ago, when he was on the Mira Costa High surf team, and saw Surfing Santa on Easy Reader’s cover. The opportunity finally presented itself two years ago when surf instructor Vince Ray formally retired his Surfing Santa wetsuit after having worn it on Easy Reader’s holiday covers for over two decades. Ray was just the second Easy Reader Surfing Santa. The first was Los Angeles County Lifeguard Paul Matthies. Despite being a Lifeguard Ironman Champion, Matthies almost drowned during the first Easy Reader Surfing Santa photo shoot at the Hermosa Beach in 1978. He was wearing a wool Santa Suit. The following year Matthies ordered a neoprene Santa suit from Redondo Beach-based wetsuit manufacturer Body Glove. Matthies and Ray rode red, traditional longboards in their Surfing Santa photos. Levy rides a custom designed, mid-size, high performance board, airbrushed red and white to resemble a candy cane. The new board was donated by Eddie Talbot, of ET Surfboards and shaped by…
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