OC Surf Club Membership Drive Slated

WEST OCEAN CITY- The recently formed Ocean City Surf Club will hold its inaugural membership drive this Sunday at the Greene Turtle in West Ocean City with a fun-filled event including lots of oysters, beer and other special events.

With a close attention to a nostalgic past and a careful eye on a promising future, the Ocean City Surf Club was formed this winter with a renewed focus on the popular sport, environmental advocacy and charitable fundraising. For the last two months, the club has been busy establishing the new organization and putting together a leadership group and is now ready for its first big membership push.

The inaugural membership drive is set for this Sunday, April 6 at the West Ocean City Greene Turtle, which has become club headquarters. The event runs from 1-5 p.m. and the optional $25 entry fee includes all-one-cares-to-eat oysters on the half shell, fried and steamed oysters, oyster stew, pasta salad, cole slaw, assorted rolls and draft beer. Entertainment will be provided by DJ Wood.

However, the $25 fee for the party is not mandatory and those wanting to just stop in and become a member of the surf club are invited to do so. The Greene Turtle West, the first business member of the Ocean City Surf Club, will donate a portion of the $25 collected at the door for the oysters etc. back to the OCSC. In addition, throughout the year the Greene Turtle West will offer a 10-percent discount to all card-carrying club members.

Ocean City Surfrider Foundation executive director Shelly Dawson, who led the local chapter for 14 years, stepped down from the position this winter to take the reins of the fledgling Ocean City Surf Club. Essentially, the club is a resurrection of the original Ocean City Surf Club formed about 50 years ago.

The new Ocean City Surf Club will focus its attention on the local surfing community and will continue the fundamental principles of the Surfrider Foundation in the resort over the last decade or so. Under Dawson’s watch, the Ocean City Surfrider Foundation has been instrumental in advocating for clean beaches and clean water, including the ubiquitous “leave only your footprints behind” campaign.

The new Ocean City Surf Club will continue those efforts, but will also place a renewed emphasis on charitable works in the community and fostering and nurturing the next generations of surfers in the resort area.