Longtime bring surfing, fishing display to Gilda's friends
SANTA CRUZ Dino Stagnaro slid into a window booth at his family restaurant and immediately broke into laughter with the man he had bumped over to make room.
On a recent afternoon, Stagnaro and Thomas Hickenbottom shared that kind of good-natured greeting that underscores a lengthy friendship the pair grew up two doors down from one another in Santa Cruz.
Stagnaro, 51, is the great-grandson of Cottardo Stagnaro I, regarded by many as one of the first to establish sport and then commercial fishing in Santa Cruz. Hickenbottom, 63, began surfing in Santa Cruz in 1958 and is the author of "Surfing in Santa Cruz" as well as a surfing-themed novel, "Local Tribes."
The two men's friendship has resulted in a display of photographs hanging on the walls of Gilda's Restaurant on the Santa Cruz Municipal Wharf that showcases decades of both commercial fishing and surfing in Santa Cruz.
"Dino and I are both fourth-generation Central Coast natives and Santa Cruz High graduates," said Hickenbottom, whose two sons work for Stagnaro at Gilda's. "This (collaboration) is a story about heritage, family and love of the bay."
Stagnaro selected the 15 surfing photographs from the more than 200 included in Hickenbottom's nonfiction book. He said he made a point to choose photographs that show either the wharf in the background or display buildings that no longer exist.
"Fishing and surfing it was all intertwined," Stagnaro said. "The surfers would come to the restaurant or fishing with us. The ocean was always part of every discussion. Everyone knew everyone. It was a big extended family."
Photographs of sport and commercial fishing already decorated the walls of the restaurant, which offers an unobstructed view of popular surf spots Steamer Lane and Cowell Beach. Stagnaro said some of the photos were taken down to make room for the surfing photos.
One fishing-themed photo that remains was taken in 1906 and holds a title of "Record tuna catch." Cottardo Stagnaro I and Cottardo Stagnaro II (Dino's grandfather) are just two of a group of men and women featured who are gathered around a number of 300- to 400-pound freshly caught tuna.
One surfing-themed photo was taken by Sentinel photographer Dan Coyro in the 1980s, according to Hickenbottom, who has donated all of his royalties from "Surfing in Santa Cruz" to the Santa Cruz Surfing Museum. Coyro's photograph features surfboards laid on the wharf in front of Otto's Fun Spot, a former gas station owned by Otto and Jean Mayer that once stood at the wharf's entrance.
Another shows Jack O'Neill surfing a catamaran at the Rivermouth shore break in the 1960s while the oldest surfing photo on display was taken in 1933 and shows Lee "Scorp" Evans atop a wave at Cowell Beach.
Stagnaro said that the 96-year-old Evans still eats breakfast at Gilda's every morning.
"I got to thinking that all these surfers have patronized our restaurant for years," said Stagnaro of how the exhibit came about. "I told Tom that we need some surfing photos in here. I want to intertwine some surfing photos with the fishing photos.
"After all, the bay is all any of us talk about."
If You Go
Surfing in Santa Cruz exhibit
WHAT: Photographs spanning decades of surfing in Santa Cruz have joined photographs of decades of commercial fishing in Santa Cruz on the walls of Gilda's Restaurant on the Santa Cruz Municipal Wharf. Dino Stagnaro, whose family owns Gilda's, partnered with longtime Santa Cruz surfer and author Thomas Hickenbottom on the project. Stagnaro selected the 15 surfing photographs from the more than 200 included in Hickenbottom's book, 'Surfing in Santa Cruz,' which is available at Bookshop Santa Cruz and the Capitola Book Café.Read More ...
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