Greetings skimboarders and non-skimboarders alike. Over the years, skimboarding as a sport has seen substantial growth. Within Laguna Beach, participation in the sport has doubled over the last few years. This growth spurt has made it harder and harder to find beaches that permit skimboarding year round. In addition to the growth of the sport, the popularity of the beach as a vacation destination or even a one day get away has also grown. The end result is overcrowding on the beaches and a strong trend among government officials to eliminate all sporting events at the beaches during the summer months. During the Victoria Skimboards World Championship of Skimboarding (WCS) contest held at Aliso Beach on June 27th to 28th 2009, County Rangers strongly suggested that our event could also be pushed out of the summer months in the upcoming year. This would be a disaster for the WCS as its very character is threatened if the worldwide participation cannot continue. Most of our participants are school aged (elementary, high school, or college) and would not be able to attend the event if it was held during the school year. The intermingling of skimboarders from Portugal, France, Japan, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Chile, Peru, Florida, North Carolina, New Jersey, Delaware, New York, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Maine, and California would essentially cease. We are petitioning the Orange County Government authorities, specifically the County Coastal Permits division, to allow the WCS contest to remain at Aliso Beach in Laguna Beach, CA during the summer months. More specifically in either late June or early July. The WCS has been run in either late June or early July for the last thirty-three (33) years and it would be a shame to see all of the positive momentum that has been built for skimboarding during that time cease to exist. If you support our efforts to keep the WCS at Aliso Beach during the months of either late June or July, then please sign the petition below. In addition to your signature we ask that you do one of the following listed below: 1) Write a letter expressing the importance of the WCS and how it stimulates friendships between states/countries that are invaluable to us as skimboarders and more importantly, to us as people. Victoria Skimboards Attn: Save the WCS 2955 Laguna Canyon Rd. #1 Laguna Beach, CA 92651 2) Write an email expressing the importance of the WCS and how it stimulates friendships between states/countries that are invaluable to us as skimboarders and more importantly, to us as people. Email address: [email protected] 3) Write a statement in this petition that expresses the importance of the WCS and how it stimulates friendships between states/countries that are invaluable to us as skimboarders and more importantly, to us as people. Whichever method you chose, please try to describe the ambiance of contests in your own area and how the sport of skimboarding has spread across the globe from its humble beginnings right here in Laguna Beach. Please know that all information provided will not be used for marketing purposes but for the purpose of getting the petition heard by the appropriate county officials. We must move quickly on this as it could take upwards of eight (8) months for the process to work its way through the bureaucratic system barely in time before the permitting process for the WCS begins again in March of 2010. Thank you all for your continued support of the WCS and of the sport of skimboarding. Tex Haines Owner, Victoria Skimboards