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In some parts of Florida
during the 1960s, it was considered a small act of courage for a woman to set
foot on the beach with a surfboard. Those who did risked a barrage of puzzled
or condemning looks, and if they tried to seek refuge in the lineup, they might
be scoffed at or driven away. “Women don’t surf,” people would tell them over
and over again. But they refused to take no for an answer. And now, for those dedicated
women who made their mark on Florida’s surfing history, some long-overdue
recognition is finally on its way.
For the better part of a
year, the Cocoa Beach Surf Museum has been putting together a new exhibit
called Florida Women Of The Waves, which will share the stories of over 200 of
the most influential female surfers to grace Sunshine State waters since the ‘60s. The
exhibit is scheduled to open on Saturday, July 24th and will include photos,
biographies, boards, and a collection of other memorabilia like signed
competition jerseys.
Featured surfers will range
from competitive titans and ASP world champions like Frieda Zamba and Lisa
Andersen, to women who have influenced the sport in other ways, said Melody
DeCarlo, vice president of the Cocoa Beach Surf Museum and a regular fixture in
Brevard County lineups. DeCarlo helped to put the exhibit together and said she
hopes that her work will bring all women into the spotlight. “I want people to gain
respect for women surfers and to realize what they had to go through over the
years,” she said. “When we started surfing it was like the dark ages, and I
think it’s important for people to see that so they know who made the path for
them.”
But illustrating the history
of women’s surfing in Florida was no small task. Sharon Wolfe-Cranston, a 2010
East Coast Surfing Hall Of Fame inductee, assisted with the exhibit alongside
DeCarlo and co-curator Marie Hughes, and Wolfe-Cranston said she reached out to
women across the state in an effort to capture the whole story. “I’ve been
putting together the bios on everyone, and I’m just amazed by the things that
some of these women have done,” she said. “And it’s been pretty cool for me
because, through the process, I’ve been able to catch up with people that I
haven’t seen or surfed with in 30 years.”
And as Wolfe-Cranston and
DeCarlo reconnected with the far-flung members of the women’s surfing
community, they were further inspired by the strong positive reactions of all
the women involved. “I think the exhibit will provide the public with a rare
opportunity to experience the history of women’s surfing in person,” said
four-time ASP Women’s World Champion Frieda Zamba. “I am very honored to be a
part of the exhibit, and I take satisfaction in knowing that hopefully my
accomplishments went on to inspire the next generation of women surfers.”
Thanks to all the feedback,
it soon became clear that the Cocoa Beach Surf Museum had been presented with
more than just an opportunity to preserve history. The excitement generated by
the exhibit was also the perfect catalyst to bring about a rare convergence of several
generations of Florida’s female surfers. So the opening of the exhibit evolved into
what has now become an entire weekend of activities.
The fun is scheduled to kick
off at 7:00 p.m. on Friday, July 23rd with a free showing of 2009 women’s surf flick Dear & Yonder, shown at the Cocoa
Beach Public Library, and will continue the next morning with a women’s surfing
social from 9:00 a.m. until noon behind the International Palms Resort in Cocoa
Beach. After everyone’s had a chance to catch up over a morning surf, the grand
opening of the exhibit will take place at 7:00 p.m. on July 24th at the Cocoa
Beach Surf Museum, located inside the north annex of Ron Jon Surf Shop.
DeCarlo is sure that the
exhibit’s opening will be a weekend to remember for everyone involved, and
aside from renewed bonds and new friendships, she hopes that all the women who
visit will also walk away with something else — a greater appreciation
for their past and the will to keep pushing boundaries in the future.
“Women’s progress in surfing
was just like their progress in anything else throughout history,” DeCarlo finished.
“They tried to hold us down but we fought back. You can’t hold a woman down.”
For more information of the Florida Women Of The
Waves exhibit and weekend, visit www.cocoabeachsurfmuseum.org
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