Main Beach Legendary Icon: George

As a young boy growing up in Laguna Beach, the Main Beach at the center of town, is where I hung out during the summers. The Boys Club was there. It had pool tables and basketball courts. Nearby, several hamburger stands where along the boardwalk. Tourist girls my age were always in bikinis by the dozens. And there was George’s Rafts.

George was a WWII Navy veteran who rented a large closet along the boardwalk during the summers. He rented umbrellas, beach mats and firm rubber rafts to ride waves. He treated the local kids well. He never asked us to pay to use his rafts as long as we helped him set up, tear down and keep everything clean.

I was never any good; but, a lot of the other kids could ride these rubber rafts like surfboards. They would crouch down and hide in the barrel of a wave, and then shoot out, just as it broke and crashed. They were amazing! And now that I think back, George was pretty smart to let us use his rafts for free. Every out-of-towner who saw us was certain that they could do it too. George always rented every raft that we were not already using. He made enough every summer to pay his living expenses for the rest of the year!  That dear memory from my boyhood was the kernel, planted in my brain that sprouted as I sought to find an answer to my dilemma. 

From my new book: "The Patriotic Business Plan: Strategies for Sensational Success," in book stores in August. 

Mark Baird