00:00and you have your water because it's very warm uh so before sherry gets up and does some words
00:07about the statue uh i'll give you a little running order what's going to go on today
00:11sherry's going to say some words uh then our local man's going to car town mayor's going to
00:15come up he's going to say some words too and then we'll do the official handover
00:20uh and i think that that's uh that's pretty much us for the afternoon so thanks for taking your
00:24time out and come with us uh there's just a few common things that we might need to put to
00:29bed
00:29a little bit of paperwork first okay so for the guys this is actually the keog foundation has paid
00:34for all of this guys so which is a wonderful thing i think it's an amazing statue uh this was
00:39the most
00:40logical and logistically the best place to put this as those guys in the cell we see rogers here as
00:47well
00:47from the 60s that uh bought surfing to the uk uh definitely started off in the bay before they
00:52me found a fish tool so it's a good location uh enjoy the afternoon and uh i'll hand you over
01:00to sherry
01:12good afternoon everyone good afternoon mr mayor thank you for joining me at this hand of sarah
01:18surfing has had great importance for new key over the past six plus decades and i hope this statue
01:28will be here celebrating nuclear surfing heritage for many decades to come surfing began in new key bay
01:35and with the statue on this site overlooking the bay which is a tribute not just to surfing but to
01:41the
01:41surfing pioneers those first brave men and women who ventured into the atlantic rollers my late
01:49husband stuart and i had a surfing business in new key for many years and on our travels looking for
01:55new
01:55products for our business we visited los angeles in the early 1980s and we visited huntington beach
02:03this is where we first saw a surf statue and we both decided there and then that you keep you
02:08did
02:09a surf statue it was many years before we could even contemplate gifting the statue and six and a half
02:17years ago this project was first presented to the town council i would like to thank my late husband
02:23for his perseverance and dedication to this project and his attitude of never give up new key now has its
02:31surf statue i'd also like to thank johnson stark for all his hard work when stuart passed away jonathan
02:38shoulder the burdens for me and this project would not have been completed without his help my
02:45thanks go to colin watts and richard alexander foundation trustees who have also contributed to
02:51this project thanks go to wesley harland the artist who sculpted the figure and spray dave farrow who
02:58designed the surfboard at sea base for making the blank that was cast along with the surfer and spray by
03:04the
03:04morris singer foundry thank you to all the local contractors who have helped with this project
03:11when the plaque is in place there is a qr code on the plaque that will take you to the
03:16foundation website
03:17and the history of surfing and the history of surfing in yuki written by roger mansfield thank you for your
03:51contribution
03:53maybe that was too much there we go let's try and get some sort of baseline there okay let's go
04:00with
04:00that so good afternoon everyone what an afternoon we've got standing here on the killer court
04:06looking down over tower and beach behind me standing on the exact spot where it all began
04:1160 years ago australian lifeguards paddled out on this bay with something nobody here had seen
04:19before fiberglass surfboards from that one moment a whole culture was born nookie was never quite the
04:27same again local pioneers like roger mansfield i see roger's here today alan mcbride dennis cross
04:34and trish scarlet of our town's first female surfer picked up that spirit and really ran with it
04:42stewart keogh opened a surfboard factory at hollywood bay then his own surf shop here in
04:49newkey on four street with his wife jerry beside him it became the newkey surfing center a name
04:56two generations of surfers will remember that's the thread running through everything we're making
05:03here today surfing isn't just something we do as a town it's who we are here in newkey the uk
05:11capital
05:11of surfing and board riding it's our economy it's our identity the way visitors picture us before
05:18they've even arrived it's given us jobs and friendships and a way of life built around this
05:24very stretch of ocean which brings us to why we're here today behind me stands the surfer of the south
05:32a
05:3216 foot bronze cast sorry cast at morris singer foundry the same foundry that casts work for
05:40henry moore and barbara hepworth this isn't a small gesture it's a landmark for the whole town gifted to
05:47us by the keogh foundation sadly of course stewart keogh didn't live to see this day he passed away a
06:00couple of years ago but his vision is standing right here looking out over the very break where
06:06it all started cherry on behalf of everyone here in newkey thank you thank you for believing this town
06:14deserves something permanent something that tells our story to everyone who walks up here for years to
06:20come so today we're not just unveiling a statue we're marking 60 years of saltwater surfboards and a
06:28community that's never stopped chasing the next wave whether you've surfed this bay for 60 years or
06:34you're here visiting for the first time welcome to the home of british surfing it is my honor as mayor
06:41to unveil to unveil the surfer of the south thank you
06:45thank you
06:55you
06:55you
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