25th Hugh Shaw Memorial Longboard Classic

The Flagler College Alumni Association told local reporters at Historic City News that they will be hosting the 25th Hugh Shaw Memorial Longboard Classic on Saturday, May 1st, at 8:30 a.m. at Anastasia State Park.

In the spring of 1983, Hugh Shaw was set to graduate from Flagler College when a tragic accident cut his life short. His friends and family decided to honor his memory not only with a scholarship, but also with a friendly fundraising competition that commemorates Shaw’s love of longboarding.

The annual event, the Hugh Shaw Memorial Longboard Classic, first began in the fall of 1983. Shaw’s sister, Beth Shaw Masters, ’87, has worked with a “multi-talented bunch of Flaglerites” and the Alumni Relations Office to develop the surfing contest into a family-friendly beach day.

“The longboard competition reflects the fact that we’ve dissed shortboards competing over the years, as well as the wearing of leashes, or ‘kook cords,’ as Hugh used to say,” Masters said.

The contest, a part of Flagler College Alumni Weekend, is open to students, faculty, staff and alumni of Flagler College. The public is welcome to come and view the contest, purchase commemorative t-shirts, posters of the event and raffle tickets.

In honor of the 25th anniversary of this event, Patrick Madden, owner of The Surf Gallery in Indialantic, Florida, has created a one-of-a-kind commemorative longboard with the new Flagler College logo. The longboard will be raffled off at the event.

Shaw and Masters’ parents, McLaurin and Charlotte Shaw, set up the endowed scholarship to honor their son. Each year, it’s awarded to a student studying philosophy/religion with a strong grade point average.

Photo credit: © 2010 Historic City News contributed photograph by Flagler College Alumni Association