8th Annual Memorial Expression Session - 2007 Photo Gallery

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Results for the 8th Memorial Invitational Expression Session - May 6th, 2007
Shortboard - 1.Wesley Beck 2.Joe Garza 3.Shawn Cooksey 4.Paul Moly 5.Gaines Burns 6.Nick Brewer 7.Greg Mills 8.Mark Scott
Longboard - 1.Tim Scott 2.Chris Green 3.Carlos Nunez 4.Vern Lewis
Women - 1.Amanda Macauley 2.Keenyn Carrasco 3.Felicia Farquhar 4.Lauren Kenny 5.Dorothy Kumpe
Bodyboard - 1.Mike Gutierrez 2.Karen Pfiffer 3.Cole Pierce
Kneeboard - 1.Kito Holtzman 2.John Hancock

Joe Garza stomps on it and wraps up the win.

6th Memorial Surfing/Expression Session
Sunday May 8, 2005
Sunday May 8, 2005 over 100 local surfers participated in the 6th Memorial Surfing Expression Session sponsored by Southern Texas Title Company.

An 'expression session' is a free form, laid back, less structured surfing contest format that has evolved to encourage more creative or progressive surfing than is normally attempted in contests and to strengthen the camaraderie among the participants. All surfers, male and female, long boarders and short boarders, compete simultaneously. A panel of judges award the standouts in various categories.

Contest Director Scott Gangle of Laguna Surf and Sport, Laguna Heights, called the contest on at noon Friday May 6. With offshore wave heights predicted at over 5 feet for Sunday and weather conditions looking favorable, Gangle made the decision to run the highly anticipated event on Sunday.

Surfers began congregating near the D.J. Lerma Pavillion in Isla Blanca Park on South Padre Island as early as 7am Sunday morning. They were met by high winds, high tide and what appeared to be less than favorable surf conditions. This annual gathering, to remember and honor the memory of 45 South Texas surfers who have passed away, has become a popular springtime event among local surf enthusiasts. After a short memorial service was held at the D.J. Lerma Pavilion, a 2 ½ hour expression (surfing) session took place.

As predicted, the surf conditions slowly improved throughout the morning. By the time the surfers hit the water and the surfing portion of the event began the surf had improved drastically. One couldn't help but think that the anxious participants had gotten a little help from those surfer's who watched from above.

The 6th Memorial Invitational Surfing Expression Session sponsored by Southern Texas Title Company saw some of the Valley's best surfer's competing in for great prizes and of course bragging rights. Despite the laid back, friendly nature of the event, competition was fierce. This day, these surfers proved to be the best:

Men's Grand Champion- Joe Garza
2nd Place Men's Short Board - Wesley Beck, Jr.
3rd Place Men's Short Board - Sean McDowell

1st place Women's Division - Keenyn Carrasco
2nd Place Women's Division - Felecia Farquar
3rd Place Women's Division - Lilly Kumpe

1st Place Men's Long Board - Vern Lewis
2nd Place Men's Long Board - Bill Best

1st Place Open Body Board - Mike Gutierrez

The 6th Memorial Invitational Surfing Expression Session Sponsored by Southern Texas
Title Company was also made possible by many other businesses and individuals who support the sport of surfing and other outdoor recreational sports. Look on-line for a full list of the more than 70 sponsors.

For more information contact: Mike J. Gonzalez
Manager of Public Relations Operations - Southern Texas Title Company
mgonzalez@southerntexasitle.com
1-800-292-6777.

The 5th Memorial Expression Session 2004 story and photos by C.Turkington  Keenyn Carrasco races to beat a section.

This wasn't the type of surf contest that would bring out any aggressive behavior between competitors, even with a class A payoff. First place purse for mens shortboard happened to come with a custom board from Island Native Surf House stuffed in the prize bag. Instead of surfing against each other, racing toward a winner's circle , this group of surfers was simply surfing with each other. It was a celebration of life and surfing.

The 5th Memorial Expression Session, organized by Scott Gangel, has proven itself as a steadfast ritual. Even after nearly four months of postponement due to lack of weekend surf and one case of collision with another scheduled contest, the event endured with a strong spirit and came together flawlessly. May 15th was an official date set aside during waiting period and actually had some nice remnants of a decent southeast swell, but also had hundreds of upper coast surfers descending for the Texas State Championships of the TGSA. Scott backed off and allowed the championship event to go ahead as planned without supplying too much grief for the TGSA officials. It was the right thing to do, as it would have been difficult for the locals to truly celebrate the lives of those surfers that have fallen and are no longer with us. Since this expression session is primarily a memorial event, the proper circumstances and general vibe is nearly a must.

But given the restriction that the event had to happen on a Saturday, there wasn't another opportunity until August 21. Finally, there was enough of a swell that the event could take place. Without a hitch, the local surfers emerged on last minute notice, to share an early morning session with the spirits of those we used to surf with. The most respected surfers that day weren't necessarily the ones walking away with trophies. They were images and memories that we all carry in our hearts. Visions that grow more distant with time, but never lose value, of sharing waves with some dearly missed surfers.

Our 5th Memorial Expression Session can finally go down in the books as a full success in celebrating the lives of the following Texas surfers. Donnie Adams, Tom Adams, Bobby Baum, Mark Benavides, Ben Baxter, Jack Boggus, Billy Boomerang, Joey Corte, Rey Perez, Robert Crowe, Chuck Davis, Mark Fain, Randy Gallatin, Jeff Graves, Mike Hingle, Beto Hinojosa, Skippy Holloman, Sandy Howard, Steve Jenkins, Martin Kane, Gary Koerner, George Krzywonski, Arthur Martinez, Larry Matzke, Jerald McMahn, Mike Mayfield, Dalin McCrae, Joe Martin, Howard Moore, Kenny O'Connor, Bobby Putegnat, Sandy Sanders, Steve Stotler, Kid Sayer, Allen Story, Steven Todd, Jerry Topper, Sergio Torres, Barry Welch, Craig Wells, and John White.