Waves Span Generations At Ore. Surfing Reunion

LINCOLN CITY, Ore. - As long as 53-year-old Fred Sickler can hang 10, life will be an endless summer - even if bad weather attempted to break up an Oregon surfers' reunion last weekend.

"Surfing is more than just riding," said Sickler, whose '60s-vintage, 9-foot, 7-inch, ivory-colored long board hangs over the front exit of the Oregon Surf Shop. "It's an appreciation for the environment. It's a spiritual thing."

For 16-year-old Gary Michelson, the appeal was demonstrated in the unruly waves that were tough enough to snap his board in two.

"I like to go for it, the thrill," said Michelson of Gleneden Beach, who stood proud and uninjured in the rain, displaying the remnants of his battered board to impressed onlookers.

After the morning's rough encounter with 15-foot waves, Michelson said, "I'll go surfing again, but not this week."

That devotion becomes such a part of them, Sickler said.

The intergenerational crowd of surfers - including many 40-somethings who had hung 10 in the '60s, and their teen-aged surfer kids - gathered to watch surf movies, swap stories, check out the latest equipment, and revel in their common bond.

"Only a surfer knows the feeling about surfing," said Ali Benhammou, a native of Morocco who now teaches surfing in Lincoln City.

"I do it because I feel good, I feel free. When you are in the ocean, you are close to nature, my heart next to God."

Betty McMullen of Lake Oswego remembered that when she was growing up, surfers weren't exactly admired for the spiritual manner. The 42-year-old woman, now mother of a teen surfer, was told to keep away from surfer hangouts.

"That's where all the druggies and hippies were - that's what I was taught," she said. "But it's definitely changed. Your character lies within you. The beach is for everyone."

After a while, all the talk of surfing had some surfers eyeing the waves, wondering whether the weather was really that bad after all.

Denver Richardson, fresh from a Memorial Day-weekend long board surfing contest in Santa Cruz, Calif., said he hoped to catch a wave before the weekend was over to capture the feeling that would make the reunion complete.

"Once you've got it, you've always got it. It's better than sex. It's my life."