OCEAN BEACH AREA – Only Footprints

OCEAN BEACH AREA – Only FootprintsBy Patrick and Theresa MacriWell it’s the home stretch for us. As a popular Grateful Dead song lyric states, “Summer flies and August dies,” we find ourselves here at our second to the last article.We have a couple of notable events coming up that we didn’t want you to miss and then we will go deep on two stories we hope you will find enlightening and enjoyable.On Friday, Aug. 28, at Maguire’s Bayfront Restaurant, please welcome New Orleans’ musical artist Big Sam’s Funky Nation. The show starts around 9 p.m. and tickets are $60 each, available at Maguire’s, with a portion of the show’s proceeds going to support the OB Fire Department.Then Saturday, Aug. 29, the OB Community Fund’s final dock concert of the summer will feature a Woodstock Tribute by the band Retro69. The band will be performing two sets, from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. and then 9:30 to 10:30 p.m.Speaking of retro, as the didactic history purports, Lou Hess, Mel Brooks and Sammy Frost established The Ocean Beach Fishing Club, Inc. in 1946, making it the oldest club in our community. It was created as a men’s only group for the purpose of fostering good sportsmanship and mutual helpfulness by exchanging ideas, increasing the general knowledge of saltwater angling methods and to promote and encourage conservation of saltwater fish in order to perpetuate saltwater fishing.But as all things tend to do, the club slowly faded away and ran out of steam over the next 60 years, until Woody Salvin decided to resurrect it in 2008, this time as a club just for kids.“I wanted to bring back the meaningful parts of the original club, said Woody. “The guys back in 1946 were ahead of their time as no one was thinking about conservation back then, and sportsmanship is a lesson always worth reinforcing. And I felt the best audience to bring this message to were the young people of our community.”And so, The Kids Only, Catch and Release Fishing Contest was created to help Woody spread this message. The yearly competition is for boys and girls under the age of 14 and for $20, each entrant receives a homemade snapper rod and bobber, bait, T-shirt and membership in the OB Fishing Club.“Prizes given out to those who catch the most fish as well as for the most sportsmanlike and helpful contestant throughout the event,” Woody emphasized.What they also receive is invaluable angling information, as well as what sportsmanship means, learning from the local adults who give their time to support this event and Woody’s vision.“I can’t thank the people who come out each year to help this effort. Molle Young, Kevin Lowry, David Shaver and Artie Rideout, are just a few of the many that have donated their time on contest day,” noted Woody.This year’s event is scheduled for Saturday, Aug. 29, from 9 a.m. to noon, on the west side of the Village dock. There is a chance for last minute sign ups and, of course, you can just come out and enjoy the event.Over the last several issues we have spotlighted many games and activities that have become traditions in and around Ocean Beach. In this issue, we bring you our final installment.In early spring of 2013, Mary and Rick Tafuro literally started to pick up the pieces of their life, after Sandy nearly ripped the couple’s oceanfront home, “Looney Dunes,” in half. As Rick was clearing out under his house, he found two old different sized tires that had been previously attached to the house’s support posts, probably placed by the previous owner to protect it from water-borne rubble akin to what ultimately smashed into their home during this storm.Rick tossed each tire into a sandy stretch of his reclaimed yard and then turned his attention to the numerous rocks also beneath the structure. He started to throw the smaller rocks first, backhand, without noticing where they were landing. After a few tosses, he turned around to see several of them resting neatly within the previously strewn tires. And then the Aha moment struck—this could become a fun new game, Tafuro thought, and with that, Rockin’ the Tire was born.Rick laid the tires out on a long but narrow part of his property that resembled a bowling alley lane. He then placed the bigger of the two tires in front of the smaller one and then added old boat tie-line about 20 feet in front of the tires to create the foul line for the players to stand behind to throw. He picked out eight potato shaped rocks of similar size and painted four of them silver. Next he created a scoring system—three points for landing in the front tire and five points for landing in the back one—and added a chalkboard for keeping track of the score. Each player or team gets to toss four rocks with each turn and the first to reach 21 wins the match.“The game is actually a lot like beach bocce, but the tires give it an added level of difficulty,” Rick noted. “Over the past two years the game has evolved, with real bocce balls replacing the original rocks.”So if you have any old tires laying around, go grab some rocks and try this game for yourself. Who knows, it just might become a hit with your family and friends too and just maybe, the start of a new summer tradition.Finally as we end this article, OBFD Chief Ian Levine wanted everyone to remember that the end of the summer is not complete without attending the annual Labor Day Pancake Breakfast, on Monday, Sept. 7. The event will be held as usual from 9 a.m. to noon at the OB Firehouse.That’s it for now, so until next time, come out, have fun and leave behind… Only Footprints.Write to Patrick and Theresa if you have anything you wish included in this column for the final edition of 2015 at oceanbeach@fireisland-new.com.