Spending the summer surfing, learning, and bonding

Three summers ago, a trio of families from the Shadowlawn neighborhood gathered to surf near

the First Street jetty.

“We thought it would be really cool to get the kids together,” said Ginny Cohen, who was among that group.

Boy, was she right.

This summer, as many as 50 children a week trudge swim trunks and surfboards to the sand at the resort strip’s south end. They call themselves the Shadowlawn Surf Club, but formality ends with the name. This club is about bonding – for youngsters, adults, an entire neighborhood.

“It’s just a nice community feeling,” said Tim Phelps, one of the club’s leaders. “Brought down to the Beach.”

Every Wednesday from the week after school lets out to the week before Labor Day, children and their parents show up at the beach with coolers and chairs. They squat between the rocks and the trash can near the first lifeguard stand. Parents catch up on gossip . Children sprint to the water. Everyone has a smile.

Then, in a moment of civic pride, they all gather on the sand just past where the tide washes up.

A few weeks ago, the children listened to a lifeguard talk about water safety and riptides. Another night, parents chatted about Surfers Healing, an annual rite of the beach where children and adults with autism are taught to ride the waves.

On this night, though, everyone gathered to listen to Councilman John Uhrin talk about how Virginia Beach became the East Coast’s birthplace of surfing. He told a story about a California man who mailed a surfboard to a nephew in Virginia Beach and how that boy launched it in the waters off the Boardwalk.

Somehow, the crowd didn’t seem interested in all of that.

“Who’s the mayor?” asked Tanner Phelps, Tim’s 9-year-old son.

“Do you surf?” wondered Bonita Dupre, a 32-year-old mother.

“What’s that smell?” Ryder Spiers whispered in the hushed tones of a nervous 3-year-old.

Then, they surfed.

“I saw all those surfers stand up on a wave,” said Tessa Phelps, 7. “And they all screamed, 'Party wave!’”

Parents have taught children who want to learn.

Children have taught parents, too. Even Councilman Uhrin strapped on a board and ventured out.

Some used long boards, while Jerry Willoughby used a stand-up paddle-board to entertain his 5-year-old son, Foster.

“That’s all he talks about,” Willoughby said. “'Dad, can we go paddle-boarding?’ … It beats video games.”

Fun notwithstanding, Willoughby proves another point about the club: It’s open to all. Willoughby lives near the Lesner Bridge but joined the club through a friend in Shadowlawn. Everyone is welcome.

Of course, considering that Shadowlawn is the place that used to host a neighborhood

bar-crawl-slash-exercise-run, a cavalierly communal attitude is to be expected.

Still, Tim Phelps emphasized, the club is about teaching the next generation the value of taking pride in one’s home, whether that be a house, a beach or an ocean.

“It’s about them first, the parents second,” he said. “If you bring a cocktail – that’s an added plus.”

Richard Quinn, (757) 222-5119, richard.quinn@pilotonline.com