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By LB Indy Staff
The Laguna Beach Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors has started a yearly $ 1,000 scholarship for Laguna Beach High School graduating seniors beginning at the 2023 commencement ceremony .
“ It has always been our goal to fund a scholarship ,” board chairman Paula Hornbuckle-Arnold said . “ After the success of last year ’ s Taste of Laguna Food & Music Festival , our board of
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directors felt it was the right time to invest in the future generation who want to focus their career in business or entrepreneurship .”
The Laguna Beach Chamber of Commerce Business & Entrepreneur Award ’ s purpose is to further education in trade school , community college or university .
“ Free thinkers are the future , and the board of directors would like to encourage students to be creative and
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think outside the box by pursuing higher education at any institution of their choice ,” Hornbuckle-Arnold said , “ It was important to me personally that trade schools be an option for seniors who have decided that college or university isn ’ t quite right for them . I attended a trade school as college wasn ’ t an option for me .” Former board member Dawn Knepper came up with the idea in 2019 . |
“ At the time , the chamber was not in a financial position to entertain the option . The staff and board of directors have been working hard to ensure our organization ’ s financial strength and viability to give something back to our community ,” Hornbuckle-Arnold added .
Students interested in applying must inquire through Laguna Beach High School ’ s scholarship department .
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we have beach volleyball . It wasn ’ t invented here , but the Laguna Open is the longest-running pro tournament in the world , and the surfing competition at Brook Street is the longest-running . Some world-class activities have come from this eight-mile stretch of this little coastal town .”
Hayek and Cogorno hatched the plan to start Stories of Laguna during a Laguna Open organizer meeting last May . Since then , the pair has unearthed more about Laguna Beach culture than they anticipated . They ’ ve had mountain bike hall of famer and freeride pioneer Hans Rey in for a chat , an extensive two-part series on the history of Laguna Beach lifeguards with Chris Brown and Laguna Open organizer Kirk Gibson drop by to discuss the history of volleyball ,
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and that ’ s just scratches the surface .
“ It ’ s hard to pick a favorite of mine , but the segment we did on the lifeguards was just invaluable ,” Conogo said . “ Even I heard stuff I never knew before , and I grew up with these guys . But you rarely get people to sit down and just talk . And that ’ s when you discover the stories you might not otherwise get .”
Hayek said that teaming with Conogo has made all the difference in creating an engaging dynamic with their guests . It ’ s not just a back-and-forth interview . It ’ s a conversation between friends .
“ When we first started talking , he had all the stories and knew the people ,” Hayek said . “ I said , ‘ well , there is a way we can tell these stories .’ Whoever comes in to talk to
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us , and sometimes , it ’ s two or three people , I just sit back and let them talk . Sometimes I ’ ll ask a dumb question because not all of our listeners know everything about mountain biking , surfing or whatever they may be talking about to break it down so everybody can understand . It ’ s a cool dynamic .”
Hayek and Conogo ’ s upcoming program is centered around the history of skimboarding in Laguna . Victoria Skimboard owner and maverick Tex Haines joins them into the studio to discuss its origins , along with plenty of anecdotes from a distinctive time in history .
“ What I thought was really neat from our conversation was how Haines got involved with skimboarding and how it evolved ,” Conogno said . “ You could go on some rivers , and people would throw flat
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pieces of wood down and slide on them , also , they were doing it in Hawaii . Nobody really decided to figure out how to shape the wood better so that it wouldn ’ t get stuck in the sand . The early pieces of plywood that they skimmed on were basically flat , and if you didn ’ t hit it just right , you just went right over on your face . I loved talking to Tex about how he developed the skimboard . It ’ s such a special part of beach culture that originated right here in Laguna .”
Hayek and Conogo ’ s interview with Tex Haines will air this coming Monday at 7 p . m . on 104.7 FM .
All archived episodes of Stories of Laguna can be found on kxfmradio . org . To see photos relating to each broadcast , visit Stories of Laguna on Instagram at @ StoriesofLaguna .
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