Surf City

Imagine being able to go surfing in Huntington Beach. That is the dream of a New York-based company and one that could be a reality one day. There is a fabulous idea floating out there to build a surf park in the city. That is just what this city needs to diversify what it offers both residents and visitors. The proposed park would have at least two wave pools; one for beginners and another for intermediate, advanced and professional surfers, with waves generated and controlled by a computer that changes the shape of the floor to mimic various ocean bottoms.

Jenny Marder Huntington Beach is out for blood, and it's doing a good job getting it. Surf City residents donate about 5,000 pints of blood per year, placing them among the top donors in Orange County, said Cliff Numark, director of donor recruitment at the Red Cross. This is no small feat in an area where blood is scarce and in high demand. While in some parts of the country, as much as 5% of the population donates blood, the blood donation rate in Southern California is only 2%. Every Monday, a bus known as the bloodmobile parks at Magnolia Street and Hamilton Avenue.

DANETTE GOULET Happy Thanksgiving, Huntington Beach. It's that time of year again, when the crunch of the holiday season is upon us. And it is a whole season. Once Halloween hits and the Christmas decorations go up, you know it has begun. Time to cook, time to shop, time to buy cards, put off writing them and forget to mail them out. Or is that just me? To top it off, this year, I've also misplaced my address book. But before the stress of Christmas closes in, today is Thanksgiving -- a stress unto itself.

The Independent went on a city tour with the Huntington Beach Sister City Assn. exchange students from Japan and New Zealand, asking local host family students, 'What is it about Huntington Beach that you are most proud of?' "I guess just like the laid back atmosphere. People are not as uptight here and people think Americans are all uptight." Amy Werblin, 16 Huntington Beach "Probably just the attitude people have here. People are a lot nicer to get along with.

Huntington Beach residents often feel that the city’s miles of beaches are a blessing. But after an interfaith ceremony finishes next Sunday, the coastline will actually be blessed. About 6:45 a.m. Sunday, a group of religious figures organized by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange will host the “Blessing of the Waves” at Huntington Beach Pier. Church officials picked Sunday because it falls just one day after the Feast of Saint Francis of Assisi, named by Pope John Paul II as the patron saint of ecology, diocese spokesman Ryan Lilyengren said.

Jenny Marder A pencil sketch of a face with arched eyebrows and mocking eyes is mounted above a photograph of a sultry woman in a pink sweater. On the floor sits a black and white nature scene beside a florescent, childlike drawing. "It is the ultimate mix," said Steve Schmidt, who placed the pieces for the Huntington Beach Art Center's community exhibit "Centered on the Center." The act of arranging more than 300 pieces of varied and sundry artwork, in a way that's pleasing to the eye, is like herding cats for Schmidt.

Jenny Marder A lavish array of culinary delights will garnish the grand ballroom of the Hyatt Regency Huntington Beach Resort & Spa Sunday on Sunday as Surf City's finest chefs strut their stuff. Restaurants are already cooking up a storm to prepare for the fourth annual Taste of Huntington Beach event. A sampling of dishes ranging from shrimp cocktail, to pesto tortellini to California rolls will be served up to celebrate the city's food and beverage purveyors.

WET AND WILD WITH ROCKIN' FIG The United States Surfing Federation is at the halfway point of the 2002-03 surfing season. It just held its sixth event at Ponto State Beach in Carlsbad, right by the jetties on Sunday. The surf was in the waist- to head- high-plus zone, picking up a little pulse of that northwest swell that rolled in, and it was pretty fun at certain tides. Although there was some heavy current. You definitely needed your best paddling arms out there, that's for sure.

Eron Ben-Yehuda The recent waves of misfortune lapping onto Surf City's shore threaten to drown its reputation as a beach paradise. "It's giving Huntington Beach kind of a bad name," said Traci Adams, manager House of Flys, a Downtown sunglass store. "I wouldn't come here if I was a tourist." The city's drive to attract visitors from out of town began in the early 1980s and slowly picked up steam with the Pierside Pavilion opening in 1989 and Pier Plaza, often characterized as the gem in the city's redevelopment crown, unveiled last year.