The 2014 Surfrider Foundation Eastern U.S. Chapter Conference was held October 17th-19th in Ocean City, Maryland with good reason. Our brothers and sisters in Ocean City have a fight on their hands, as the Reflection Seismology and dredging involved to build a proposed off-shore wind farm would have serious impact on both marine life and the quality of surf.
"Surfrider Foundation's long-term success and growth are a tribute to its founder's vision of endless pressure, constantly applied," Chief Operating Officer Michelle Kremer said. "Taking on environmental battles may not be easy, but with enough pressure and commitment, they can and will be won."
Celebrating the 30th anniversary of Surfrider, over 70 attendees representing ten chapters were present for the keynote address by Dr. Chad Nelsen, the newly appointed Surfrider CEO. Vowing to boost membership while "putting the surf back in Surfrider," Nelsen is armed with degrees from Brown, Duke and UCLA along with 16 years of experience serving Surfrider as the Environmental Director. Other guest speakers included Julie Lawson of Trash Free Maryland, Lia Colabello of 5 Gyres and Surfrider founder, Glenn Hening narrating a slide presentation on the origin of the foundation live via a telephone from his home in California.
Chicago Chapter was ably represented by activist Glenn Princen. We hear that, beside the weighty topics covered, there was a beach fire, awesome seafood dinner, convivial companionship, new friends, and, of course, saucy little waves for surfing on this unseasonably warm October weekend. Ya gotta make the best of it, right?