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Calling all twinzers,
bonzers, eggs, quads, keel fishes, single fins, and logs — your time to
shine arrives next Saturday, October 31st. Wear your Halloween costume, stumble
down to Paradise Beach at Howard E. Futch Memorial Park in Indialantic after
the raging Meg-O-Ween party the night before, and prepare for the heated late-afternoon
Florida-Georgia game by getting your fish on from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
Fish Fry organizers Alex Joy
and Adam Compton both believe the event comes at the perfect time for Central
Florida’s fertile surfing scene. “A couple of us from the local surf community
started talking about holding a Fish Fry,” Joy says. “We felt like it was
something that needed to happen. Everybody’s into different types of boards
around here, so we just decided to charge it.” Joy has served as the face of
the Fish Fry over the last few weeks, dropping off flyers to local surf shops
and restaurants while drumming up support on Internet forums, while Compton tackled
behind-the-scenes tasks like creating flyers and T-shirts for the grassroots
event.
In addition to local surfers
bringing their own diverse quivers to the beach, renowned Central Florida
shapers like Steve Forstall, Brian Tudor, Chris Birch, Tom Neilson, CT Taylor,
Ricky Carroll, Sammy Barker, and Rich Price will be on hand with demo models available
to test drive. Catalyst Surf Shop also plans on
showcasing several of …Lost’s quirkier offerings, but most importantly, the
shapers will be available to talk shop with anyone interested in their designs.
That provides everyday surfers with the golden opportunity to interact
one-on-one with the craftsmen who form the backbone of our surfing industry. “I
went to all the shapers and explained the idea, and since most of those guys
ride fishes at least some of the time, it didn’t take much convincing,” Joy
laughs. “They’re super stoked about coming down and educating the public and presenting
a kind of ‘meet the shaper’ experience. Several of them are also making boards specifically
for the event, so it’s really cool how everybody came together.”
If the far-ranging quivers
aren’t enough to bring you out to Paradise Beach on Halloween morning, the crew
from local eatery Long Doggers will fire up the grill and barbeque hot dogs to
keep everyone fed. “JC and the boys from Long Doggers aren’t doing it with a
tent or anything,” Joy says. “They’re keeping it low profile, but cooking dogs
starting at 10:00 a.m. until they run out.” Howard E. Futch Memorial Park also allows
alcohol so long as it’s not in a glass container, so Florida-Georgia fans eager
to get a head start on the game can combine their surfing, football, and
libation interests into one action-packed day in the sun. BYOB is the official
call, but Kona Brewing Company has also graciously offered to donate
a keg of Longboard Lager, along with T-shirts.
Joy believes that the 2009
Florida Fish Fry will be such a success that future events on a bigger and
better scale are already in the works. “We’re planning on extending it outside
of Central Florida,” he says. “This one was planned for Halloween and on short
notice, but we’re really hoping the next event is broader and draws from all of
Florida. We’ve definitely got plans to do more, no doubt about it — we just
don’t have dates yet. Doing four a year, one for each season, is the goal right
now.”
For more info, visit www.floridafishfry.com
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