Snake Gabrielson's Annual Luau & Surf Party
August 30th, 2003

A big crowd of surfers and other friends attended my annual luau Saturday, August 30th. There wasn't much of a swell predicted locally, plus the weather was hot and it was the end of summer on a 3 day holiday, a perfect time for my annual get together.

Everyone who attends my annual affair goes through a special ceremony upon arrival. As they walk in, either Kim or I place a lei around their neck. It is a solemn event when I porclaim that this is one of the very few parties I know of where everyone gets lei'd (pun intended).

The party started off at 6pm with a few of us sampling frozen margarettas at the bar on my deck. Kim and I decorated the bar with grass liners plus I have hung banboo curtains since last year. The curtains, roof, and grass on the railings nearly enclose the entire deck making for nice conditions even when it's raining outside. I bought one of those special blenders this year for smoothies and mixed drinks. It worked wonders with both the regular and pink margarettas I was serving. I also put out a selection of wines from all around the Pacific rim. Somehow a French wine got in the mix (which I think Jeff Marlow decided was his favorite). I liked the Australian and California wines.

Ex-Southern California surfer George Vermillion showed up about 7pm with his K-39 surf band (left). K-39 was the surf band that performed at the ESA Mid-Atlantic Regionals last spring and these guys are great. They did an excellent job of filling the night with Surf songs and other great tunes. After around 9pm virtually everyone was into dancing with more then a few dancers starting to look like surfers weaving through the crowd on waves. Before they started to play however, I took a few minutes to describe how Kim and I have tried to make our annual luau similar to those I used to attend or hold in the 60s back home in Huntington Beach. I'm sure some of the old HBSA crew that read this write-up will remember those parties. I should also mention that Kim's dad was Huntington's Beach Director, Jim Way. He wouldn't let Kim attend my parties back in the early days as he considered them way too wild. My annual event is intended to give everyone attending a taste of early surf parties from a bygone era, just not quite as wild. Also, since this party was K-39's 1 year anniversary (they first played at my luau last year), I presented them with Ukulele's as a momento of their performances before they got rolling.

Even though the Rockfish wasn't ready until almost 8pm (Ron and Sharon got tied up and couldn't make it earlier), it was still excellent, freshly grilled on the barbeque. The Hawaiian dishes and finger food was also tremendous. A seasoned shrimp in pinapple sauce won the surfboard award for best main dish, with a Hawaiian sauce basted chicken winning runner-up. Winning the dessert catagory was a pastry of some sort, hard to tell what it was exactly other then good. As for costumes, they get better every year. Two hula dancer with complete outfits went a close head-to-head for the best female costume. The same went for two native looking male costumes. My son Jason went all out this year to repeat his title and he won again. I think the straw hat did it for him. Each winner and runner-up received a Hawaiian shell necklace.

George is also the new East Coast distributor for Nezzy Surfboards and had three on display. The prices and designs are good so hopefully he will start selling a few before long. I noticed surf photographer Brian Maglietta and the surf sisters, Meriel and Hilary Linsenbigler checked them out closely. I think Brian and local surfer Matt Logan both checked out the sisters closely as well. Matt attends the University of Maryland with Hilary and Meriel and all three really need boards.

The band played well into the evening. I was sorry to hear that K-30's regular drummer was in the hospital with problems related to his recent surgery. Let's hope everything turns out OK and he can get back real soon. I think the replacement drummer had a super time as he told me he plans to make the luau on a regular basis. No problem here as it will be great to have him again.

The party lasted until 1am. As it got late, some of the regular crew started to get a little crazy. At one point Mike started telling stories that I can't mention here. Also, Mike, Walt, and Kevein (faking a solid belly) all got into a grass skirt for a hula dance. George Vermillion stayed till close to the end, but my surf partner Jeff Marlow stayed right to the end due to getting his van stuck in the wet grass. Kim finally took him home and he had to get his tractor to pull it out early the next morning.