Howzit Skip, Right on for J.A. he turned out to be a really good shaper and Diff was his mentor. Wish you would have got in touch with me while you were here on Kauai, Proneman told me but by then you were most likely on the plane back to Ca… Do call next time.Aloha,Kokua
My kind of a board…
Can any soul help me to get the outiline and the rocker of this bioard???
Quote:
My kind of a board…
Can any soul help me to get the outiline and the rocker of this bioard???
buy one first. honor his life’s work.
then you can trace yours
…gotta love these shots…hope Pancho has some other work lined up…C.I. was advertisinfg for a glasser in Carp a few weeks ago…he’d be the man.
That shot by Severson just wreaks of classic…where the heck is Donna Reed or Fred MacMurray looking on in envy?
Growing old has never been so good.
Shape daily…it keeps you young! 
…even a dead guy like me.
panchos been working at a shop in ventura for a little while now
the Steve Brom looks sweet. Where would you order one from?
Good…less commute for him too.
Merry Xmas
There has been a fair amount stated and discussed, and debated about the term “American” as of late on Sways.
Then we get this ‘end of an era’ thread from Allan…which hits some nerves, and pulls some heartstrings as we sit feeling as though globalization, free market trade, entrepeneurship, the free enterprise system, and everything we knew as a given is now being called into question.
In retrospect, looking back at this year, and previous years, it is understandable why the ‘passing on’ of the Yater factory, then later Beatty Products, smarts from losing the familiarity that we once could count on.
There are similar incidents that have happened worldwide of course; Europe, OZ, NZ, South America…everyone has their own version of what this thread recounts.
As far as a statement debating the term “American”…we agreed that there are many “Americans” as technically it encompasses both South and North American continents. Yet the term is something we also realize is talking about those living in the “United States of America”.
…and perhaps rightly so. I saw something on the net citing that Al Queda’s doctrine was to ‘kill every American’…then it went on to define what an American is…well, being that the United States is ‘the melting pot’ of the entire world, you would have to kill every person on the planet due to the diverse ethnic mix that makes an Amercian.
Yeah, we are all mutts…and if you know anything about dogs, it is common knowledge that mixed breeds inherit the best traits of each breed they are composed of.
Americans make up a stew of every ethnicicity (sp.?) to be had in the world. That blend has produced generous, determined, creative, resourceful people that rise to the occasion when challenged.
History has shown this, time and time again; if you take a trip to Normandy, the French, particularly the older citizens, still treat Americans with respect and apprciation for what the G.I.'s did in WWII.
As a final shout of being a proud ‘Yank’. I want to note a segment of the “ABC News” last night. As I stood in front of my fireplace warming myself from a cold day in the shop, Charlie Gibson sent us to China where a correspondent reported the details of factories cutting back and laying off workers due to the global credit crunch. The cameraman caught a throng of people in the streets outside their factory with banners amid cries of dissention.
I thought; “welcome to the club”.
The young attractive Chinese reporter translated what the banners said for us, then she was surrounded by workers yelling things to her while policeman attempted to offer explanations and maintain order. She made it clear to the viewer that the police were reminding the workers that it is against the law to assemble and demonstrate with more than five people.
But there they were.
One man said, “we want back pay due us, we have no money to buy food”.
One stated “we want our jobs back…we want to work”!
The uproar continued.
A factory falls.
Welcome to the club.
Reduced to memories that either grow more dear or fade with time.
It’s natural for people to desire a better life. The yin and yang that we all face. Trying to find balance that equates to a happy life albeit transistory.
So I go along my day gleaning gems of wisdom from the likes of Jim Cramer, Warren Buffet, Suze Orman, and an assortment of financial gurus with various degrees of success and credentials…but a statement from one of them hit home in particular.
He said “no nation has ever maintained its greatness when it has given up its manufacturing prowess”.
Good job, well said
Sonny was there at the beginning, and there at the beginning of the next stage.
Al thanks for posting those , I have tears in my eyes, I love Sonny! and George! I swept those floors so many times, its not even funny. My Dad passed away when I was 12 yrs old ,(Rennys did also), those men were my Father figures. I learned so much from them. Sonny gave me a nickname that stuck for yrs around there EASYMONEY pronounced EEEEEEasymoney! … wow 35yrs gos by FAST! That storage area above the office used to have every board order from 1959 on each year in a cardboard box, I used to look thru them all the time, it was surfing history ,every well known surfer had a Yater at some point. A few years ago I ask Yater where he put those boxes, and when he moved over on Milpas he said he just threw them AWAY???.. got sick of moving them around.
Ahh! Pancho. The guy treated me like such crap when I started working there!! I HATED him! EVERYTHING that went wrong was blamed on the GRINGA! Now, of course, I love him to death, but he was a total pain-in-the-arse! He pretty much taught me Epoxy. His Dad was the best polisher and always cleaned out my resin buckets for me. Gotta pay your dues, especially in “The Big House”, which is what I refered to Beatty’s.
I used to start before anyone else in the morning. Used to work in the room with the roll up door when I wasn’t doing epoxies. That’s the room Toad used to inhabit. I used to toss in my Frank Sinatra and other old 40’s tunes and crank in the morning. Sonny and George would always come by and hang out at that crappy old table out in the lot and have coffee (Or Vodka?) and listen to old Frank. Pancho used to make fun of the music. All he listend to was “Radio Bronco” as Measly the sander would put it. Then, one morning, I saw him swinging his hips to “Take Five”. What a crew. A regular circus act. I really miss all the guys. It would have made a fantastic reality show. I miss the place and will always have fond memories of the place itself and all the personalities I met there. And what a sweetheart Clyde is for giving me a job in “The Big House”! I met Wayne Rich, Gene Cooper, Renny Yater, Kevin, Steve, Steve, Steve, Malcolm…everybody who was anybody really, along with some garage shapers and unknown geniuses.
I wonder if someone else will resurrect the place and continue the tradition?
I’m proud to have worked there.
Now I know why you are so good at what you do. Lowel
No. I’m only good when I’m not screwing things up and since I don’t have Pancho…I have to fix all my own screw-ups. And I work alone, so I can keep all the screw-ups secret! Hah!
you’re being modest (not that there’s anything wrong with that).
you do beautiful work.