Play all audios:
HUNTINGTON BEACH — _ Yo, dudes, it’s radical._ _Ya know, like Huntington Beach decides to market itself as Surf City. But, like, some guys back East say “Not!” Like, you know, there’s two
cities already named Surf City. One in New Jersey. One in North Carolina. The mayors of those Surf Cities are totally amped out, like with major problems. They’re saying, “Hey, get outta my
surf, ya wannabes.”_ _But check this: HB tells the other Surf Cities, “Hey, chill out. Don’t get all agro. Let’s be mellow.” Then HB says it’s going for the copyright. Like, wipeout, East
Coast dudes!_ Call it the Battle of the Beaches. A pair of East Coast beach towns have been doing some tongue-in-cheek huffing and puffing over the Huntington Beach City Council’s decision
to market itself as “Surf City.” The slighted cities are Surf City, N.J., population 1,600, and Surf City, N.C., population 1,500. Huntington Beach, population 185,000, has for decades been
unofficially called “Surf City,” especially by young surfers who flock into town. But Huntington Beach began the surf spat with the East Coast Surf Cities when it announced that Huntington
Beach would copyright “Surf City” and use it as a sales tool. A turf fight over surf was in the making, according to the eastern cities. Tourism is a big industry in all three communities.
Huntington Beach officials insist that all the misunderstandings have been laid to rest. They say there’s enough surf for everyone--that taking a copyright to protect their marketing scheme
won’t hurt the New Jersey and North Carolina communities. But the mayor of Surf City, N.J., said last week that he is still leery of Huntington Beach’s intentions. And officials in all three
cities said there is, indeed, tourism magic in the Surf City name. A major reason is the Jan and Dean rock song “Surf City,” which hit the top of the charts in 1963 and remains a surf-music
classic. The sand spat began last September, when Huntington Beach’s City Council first voted for the Surf City marketing strategy. Humorously written wire stories relayed the news back
East. Mayor Leonard T. Conners Jr. of Surf City, N.J., responded with a letter to then-Huntington Beach Mayor Peter M. Green. “This could be viewed as an effort to obtain some degree of
exclusive rights for the use of the great name of Surf City,” Conners wrote. “ . . . I am also notifying our colleague, Mayor Douglas C. Medlin of Surf City, N.C., of this situation and
asking his community’s opposition to any attempt to make exclusive the great name of Surf City.” Conners put enough light touches in the letter to show Green that the challenge from the
Garden State was good-humored. For instance, Conners closed his missive by telling Green: “Bring your board and see you at the beach.” Green replied with a similar light touch. “I wrote him
words to the effect that we weren’t taking over the surf--that the surf would still be hitting the beaches of his city,” Green said in a recent interview. Huntington Beach Community Services
Director Ron Hagan additionally made a peacemaking phone call to Surf City, N.J. Hagan is in charge of Huntington Beach’s marketing program. He said he didn’t want a messy surf fight. “I
explained to them that the copyright we’re seeking is ‘Surf City Huntington Beach,’ ” Hagan said. “We’re not copyrighting ‘Surf City’ just by itself. I also told the New Jersey people that
we could exchange promotional programs and promote travel to both coasts. And we invited them to come visit Huntington Beach. I think everything’s ironed out now.” Well, maybe. But Conners,
in an interview last week, was not too happy about hearing that the Huntington Beach council had unanimously voted Tuesday to pursue the copyright. “Oh yeah? How about that,” said Conners.
“I wonder what that would do. Not being an attorney, maybe I should look into that. The name is ours. I don’t think they can steal it from us. But we certainly are going to look into it, and
we will resist with all the vigor that is necessary to do so.” Conners explained that the Jan and Dean “Surf City” song has always been a big boost for his community. “How could you miss?”
Conners said. “Here’s the No. 1 song in the nation (in 1963) and everybody but everybody looked to Surf City, New Jersey, as the place to be. . . . There were people who came to Surf City
because of that record and who I married as mayor. There was one couple, the girl came from California and he was from New Jersey, and they came to Surf City to be married in Surf City. And
they were married on the beach.” However, Conners said he and other city officials never gave a thought to claiming the song as their own as a tourism gimmick. “I’ve got to tell you this--we
need very little promotion to get the people out. . . . We don’t advertise. This is a mecca.” Huntington Beach officials also consider their community a beach mecca. Nonetheless, the city
advertises. With a recession in full bloom, tourist dollars are very welcome. And Community Services Director Hagan said Huntington Beach is already reaping vast commercial attention because
of the new Surf City marketing. In Surf City, N.C., Janet Chamblee, interim town manager, said last week that city officials there were at first unhappy when they learned about Huntington
Beach’s marketing plans. “But then we learned that they weren’t going to take over the Surf City name by itself, and we felt that was OK,” Chamblee said. Chamblee said the surf is a big draw
for tourists. And tourists balloon the little island community in the Tar Heel State from a winter population of 1,500 to about 30,000 in the summer, she said. Likewise, in Surf City, N.J.,
the winter population of about 1,600 swells to around 25,000 in the summer, said Municipal Clerk Mary Lundy. Tourism is _ the_ industry, she added. Huntington Beach has a major ace in the
hole in the high-stakes Surf City game. Dean Torrence, the Dean of Jan and Dean, now lives in Huntington Beach and is a volunteer adviser for the city’s marketing plans. “Dean knows a lot
about what people in the rest of the nation think of surfing communities and how we should market them,” said former Mayor Green, who is still on the City Council. But Torrence, in a recent
interview, said there’s no reason for any of the other cities to worry. There are many visions of a Surf City, he said. He added, “There’s room enough for everyone.” A Surf City Comparison
Two cities in the United States are named Surf City. Here’s how they stack up with Orange County’s own version, Huntington Beach: Surf City, N.J. Winter population: 1,600; summer, 25,000
Location: 25 miles northeast of Atlantic City Major industry: tourism Official motto: none Unofficial nickname: “The Family Community” Incorporated: 1894 Surf City, N.C. Winter population:
1,500; summer, 30,000 Location: 30 miles north of Wilmington Major industry: tourism Official motto: none Unofficial nickname: none Incorporated: 1949 Huntington Beach, Calif. Permanent
population: 185,000 Location: 30 miles southeast of Los Angeles Major industries: aeronautics and space, oil, merchandising, tourism Official motto: “City of Expanding Horizons” Unofficial
nickname: “Surf City” Incorporated: 1909 _ Source: Individual cities_ MORE TO READ