Surfers paddled out, joined arms and chanted “Tony” nine times in a circle of love and remembrance for their fallen mate.

The surfers’ farewell at Lyall Bay on Saturday was in calm water, contrasting with the rough conditions five days earlier when musician and surfer Tony Costa died after a collision in the water.

Mr Costa, 33, is survived by his wife of nine years, Sam, and their daughters Jah’min, 9, and Unity, 6.

More than 100 people watched from the shore as surfers paddled into the formation.

Mr Costa’s casket was driven to Lyall Bay after his funeral service at Celebration Fellowship Church in Thorndon Quay. A surfboard was signed with tributes to Mr Costa and messages of support for his family.

“It was the perfect sendoff for the bro,” friend Fiso “Flowz” Siloata said.

“There were so many people. The side of the beach was packed. A DJ played Tony’s music out live while we went out into the ocean.”

Mr Siloata’s son, Star, who was taught to surf and skateboard by Mr Costa, paddled into the middle of the circle to lay a wreath in the water.

Earlier in the week, family members told The Dominion Post about Mr Costa’s love for his daughters he called them his queens his devotion to his music and his passion for living life on the edge. He had travelled to Wellington from his home in Palmerston North to work on an Illyspillaz album with music friends.

Mr Siloata, from hip-hop group Foot Souljahs, shared Mr Costa’s love of music rather than surfing, but entered the circle to pay tribute to his friend of 15 years.

“I just went out there because the bro was trying to get us into the water for so long. We all held hands and chanted Tony’s name. Then all the surfers went out and caught a wave.” It was what “Tony would have wanted”.

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Opening Round of Arnette Queensland Junior Surfing Titles Completed On Gold Coast

(Sunday 7th June, 2009): NOT even a wild storm could slow down the state’s next wave of surfing champions, as the opening round of the Arnette Queensland Junior Surfing Titles was finalised on the Gold Coast today.

A freak storm lashed the region mid-morning, with gale force winds and heavy rain causing contest organisers to place day two of competition on hold until conditions cleared.

When surfing resumed, Queensland’s junior top guns went head-to-head in the race for an early ratings lead, busting out an entertaining, high performance spectacle in clean 2-3ft beach break peaks at Main Beach.

Coolangatta ace Jack Freestone drew first blood in the U/18 boy’s state title race, using plenty of style, flair and class to beat fellow Coolangatta surfer Thomas Woods, North Stradbroke’s Tim MacDonald and Dicky Beach ripper Josh Menger.

After demolishing his opponents in his earlier semi final, Freestone was on the front foot early in the 20-minute final, locking in an 8.00 in the opening seconds before sealing the win with a near perfect 9.67 late in the exchange.

17-year-old Freestone recording a 17.67 combined two-wave total to Wood’s 11.16. MacDonald finishing in third on 9.16, with Menger in fourth on 7.26.

Post final, Freestone says he was stoked to get a jumpstart on his fellow finalists heading into round two of the three-event titles.

“The win gives me plenty of confidence for the rest of the series,” he said.

“I was able to jag a good wave straight after the opening siren and everything kept getting better from that. The win felt good.”

The competition was just as fierce in the U/18 girl’s final with Sunrise Beach star Naomi Stevic getting the better of Coolangatta gidget Amiya Doyle and Chiana Ireland to claim a win.

She notched up a 24.33 accumulative total across two finals to bag the title and leave her opponents to scrap it out for minor placings.

The U/16 boys didn’t disappoint either, lifting the performance bar in a tight, high-scoring final.

Coolangatta ripper and reigning U/16 champion Noa Deane is one step closer to back-to-back Queensland crowns, dominating the last final of the day against Wurtulla’s Eli Steele, Currumbin’s Hayden Welch and Sunshine Beach up-and-comer Harry Bryant.

Deane, who is the son of Gold Coast surfing legend Wayne Deane, notching up a 9.17 and 8.33 on his way to victory in the final.

Deane’s two wave scoring total of 17.50 was enough to secure the win by 4 points over Steele (13.5), with Welch (10.33) in third and Bryant (8.73) in fourth.

Meanwhile, Currumbin’s Eden Putland stamped her authority in the U/16 girl’s division final, demonstrating a mature approach to overcome Coolangatta carver Brodie Doyle, Noosa’s Sophie Callister and Moffat Beach surfer Laura Poncini.

Final scores: Putland (14.33) Doyle (6.64), Callister (6.57) and Poncini (5.27).

In the Arnette Expression Session, the state’s best juniors traded blows across one, 30-minute final.

Coolangatta’s Mitch Duggan won ‘best move’, Noosa’s Hayden Cervi claimed the ‘best air’, while Sunshine Beach top gun Harry surfed away with the best ‘novelty move’.

Round two of the Arnette Queensland Junior Surfing Titles will be held on North Stradbroke Island on June 30 – July 2.

Series winners will join a who’s who of the Queensland surfing scene that have netted state junior titles including reigning world champion Mick Fanning (Coolangatta), world no.2 Joel Parkinson (Coolangatta), world no.3 Bede Durbidge (Currumbin) and world tour competitor Dean Morrison (Coolangatta).

Top seeds from events 1 and 2 will be eligible to compete in the final event on the Sunshine Coast on August 8-9. The top 24 rated – U/16 and U/18 year old boy surfers and the top 8 – U/16 and U/18 year old girl surfers will be invited to contest the final event.

2009 champions will be decided from a surfer’s best three results from the three event series.

Please note: Surfers must meet eligibility requirements as per Surfing Queensland’s ‘Eligibility for selection’ document found on www.surfingqueensland.com in the documents link.

The Arnette Queensland Junior Surfing Titles are proudly supported by WAECO, Australia’s Surfing Life (ASL) Magazine and Surfing Queensland.

The dates and locations for the three-event titles are:

1. Gold Coast June 6-8
2. North Stradbroke Island June 30 -July 2
3. Sunshine Coast August 8-9

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Harry Mayo, an original member of the Santa Cruz Surfing Club of 1936, has been working hard to keep the doors open at the Santa Cruz Surfing Museum. Ian McRae, owner of Hula’s restaurant on Cathcart Street in downtown Santa Cruz, handed Harry a check for $860 for the museum from a Sunday brunch fundraiser back in March.

“Ian serves great food and a nice check to many worthy causes in and around town,” says Boots McGhee.

Boys & Girls Club gets $1,000

The Boys & Girls Club of Santa Cruz recently received a check for $1,000 from Wells Fargo Foundation. Michelle Bassi with Wells Fargo Bank presented the check to the club recently.

The funds given to the Boys & Girls Club will be used to help with the updating their Education and Technology Department. The Boys & Girls Club currently has two sites serving over 1,400 youth in Santa Cruz County.

LIFE in New York

“LIFE: A Journey Through Time,” multimedia production by Frans Lanting and Chris Eckstrom, set to the music of Philip Glass, will receive its New York premiere at the Lincoln Center June 10 under the baton of Marin Alsop. The occasion is a gala to launch the World Science Festival, and to honor the distinguished biologist Dr. E.O. Wilson, who will be celebrating his 80th birthday that evening.

Cleanup at Camp Harmon

Last month, five members of the Surf City Kiwanis Club of Santa Cruz: Darwin Hoogenson, Lou Schlumbrecht, Don O’Brien, Jim Riss and Paul Crawford, along with Doug Patrick of the county Commission on Disabilities, spent more than 50 hours on improvements to Easter Seals’ Camp Harmon in Boulder Creek.The crew painted bookcases and storage units in the various camper cabins and enclosed the camp’s stage area and disabled access ramps with plywood sheeting to improve accessibility to the stage.

Over the years, the Kiwanis Club of Surf City, Santa Cruz has sponsored numerous work parties at Camp Harmon, supplying not only all the materials and paint, but more importantly the labor, all as part of Kiwanis’ goal of making the children of our community “Priority one.” As part of its Youth Services programs, Surf City Kiwanis Club also sponsors Boy Scout Pack 633, Cub Scout Pack 616, the Soquel High Key Club, and a number of Little League, Gals Softball and other youth programs.

Awards and honors

• Laura Anne Mello has graduated with honors from Golden Gate University in San Francisco with a double master’s degree in psychology and industrial organization and a graduate certification in conflict resolution. She was awarded the Outstanding Student Award in psychology.

Laura is the daughter of Cindy Moore of Scotts Valley and David and Mary Mello of Scotts Valley. Laura is a graduate of Soquel High School and San Francisco State University.

• Scotts Valley Rotary recently honored the hard-working students of Scotts Valley MiIddle and High School at an awards dinner recently. Winners include: Dudley Mikesell Award for Community Service to Grace Berg; Outstanding Achievement Performing Arts to Arden Kilzer; Outstanding Achievement Visual Arts to Serena Chen; Outstanding Academic Achievement 12th Grade to Emilie Graham, Caroline Sayer, Abby Imboden, Antares Yee and Michael Benko; Outstanding Academic Achievement 11th Grade to Kayla Germany, Lauren Germany, Sharon Chiu, Julia Kernan and Kai Moncino; Outstanding Academic Achievement 10th Grade to Melissa Kumar, Morgan Andrews, Clara Yuh, Maiya Moncino and Catherine Haas; Outstanding Academic Achievement 9th Grade to Renate Mols, Lizzie Zweng, Jordan Rein, Miriam Arghavani and Jaemi Mansfield.

Scotts Valley Middle School Dudley Mikesell Award for Community Service to Sydney Andrews; Outstanding Achievement Performing Arts to Taylor Stone; Outstanding Achievement Visual Arts to Logan Thornley; Outstanding Academic Achievement 8th Grade to Marielle Fesmire, Jessica Granger-Jones, Melissa McGee, Austin Park and Brett Perry; Outstanding Academic Achievement 7th Grade to Mikayla Fish, Brett Klotz, Steve Lonhart, Jason Ritchey and Brett Turner; Outstanding Academic Achievement 6th Grade to Christa Boynton, Melissa Braun, Zoe Hur, Mitchell Pisciotta and Emily Todd.

Scholarship recipients include Samantha Steele, who will study medical technology/environmental science, at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo; Lindsay Walch, who will study architecture at Brigham Young University; Steven Haas, major to be determined, at UC Berkeley; Alyssa Stanger, who will study marine biology at UC Santa Cruz; Flor Monick Trujillo-Ramos, who will study business administration at Bethany University; and Clara Ricabal, who will study nursing at Cabrillo College.

Politicians gather for open house

On May 8, 110 people gathered at Mission Santa Cruz State Historic Park for Friends of Santa Cruz State Parks’ Spring Open House, “Chocolate & Chitchat.” The Open House showcased Friends of Santa Cruz State Parks’ upcoming summer campaign “Discover Our Backyard,” and provided guests an opportunity to mingle with Friends’ new Executive Director Bonny Hawley, former chief of staff to Assembly Budget Committee Chair John Laird and former Assemblyman Fred Keeley.

On hand at the event were emcee and county Treasurer Keeley, Assemblyman Bill Monning, county Supervisor Neal Coonerty, Mayor Cynthia Mathews, Santa Cruz City Council members Don Lane and Katherine Beiers, State Parks Superintendent Chet Bardo, Friends’ Board members and staff, and dozens of parks volunteers and supporters.

Silver Slug scholars

The UC Santa Cruz Silver Slugs retirees presented six student scholarships at their May Dessert Event at the Arboretum. Three of the six scholarships were awarded in memory of Bruce Lane, a respected architect who joined UCSC early in 1964, before the first buildings were constructed. Mr. Lane passed away last October and Lane family members were there to award the scholarships.

Recipients of the Bruce C. Lane Memorial Scholarship awards were Joseph Cresalia, business administration; Henry Mun Hong Dea, biochemistry; and Loc Van Do, health sciences. Silver Slug scholarships were presented to Ezekial Bennett, politics; Jay Roldan, computer engineering; and Lane Sharon, biology.

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