Fundraiser certain to ‘Peel’ open eyes

After a morning spent on the beach picking up trash, Surfrider Foundation South Texas Chapter members are throwing a party.

And they want to invite others to Dorado’s Baja Bar and Grill for a premier of a surf documentary.

Surfrider will show “Peel: The Peru Project” at the South Padre Island eatery at 9 p.m.

The movie is filmed on location in Peru, “where surfing is a way of life and surfers are worshipped as national heroes,” the movie’s Web site states.

The film incorporates the history of Peru and its surfing, making it a more of a documentary-type movie, Nixon said.

Immediately after the showing, Surfrider members will hold a raffle for a Seven Super Fish short board, donated by Island Native Surf Shop.

Jay Brechot and Brent and Leah Trash opened Dorado’s and are Surfrider members, Leah Thrash said.

“We thought it would help the foundation out - help them raise some money,” Thrash said.

Island Native and other local stores, including Isla and On the Beach, donated surfing paraphernalia to be used as raffle prizes, Nixon said.

Raffle tickets are $5, and will be on sale at Island Native, Dorado’s and during the movie. Participants don’t need to be present during the drawing to win.

The regular menu will be available for attendees to order from during the event, Nixon said.

“[Jay Brechot] has been a very big supporter of the surfing culture in South Texas, and we’re glad to get them some support,” Nixon said.

The money collected from raffle tickets sales will benefit the local Surfrider chapter, Nixon said.

The movie ticket sales will also be a fundraiser for the organization, Nixon said, because

Monterrey Media Inc. gave them the film and only asked for 25 percent of the ticket sales.

Although a fundraiser, organizers want the party to be a chance for people to gather in a social atmosphere, Nixon said.

“Surfrider’s main objective is to be a steward to the beaches and coastal waters in South Texas—actually in the whole nation, but in our case, South Texas,” Nixon said.

One of Surfrider’s national campaigns is the State of the Beach initiative, in which the organization checks the health of the nation’s beaches.

Surfrider was founded in the 1980s in California because surfers were going into waters that were so contaminated that they were getting sick, Nixon said.

The local chapter started in 2005.
 

The Surfrider Foundation South Texas Chapter will screen “Peel: The Peru Project” tonight at Dorado’s Baja Bar and Grill on South Padre Island.

Tickets cost:
$10 general admission
$8 Surfrider member admission
$6 student admission with valid ID
Free for Children 12 and under.

The health of local beaches can be monitored online at http://www.surfrider.org/stateofthebeach/home.asp