Charlotte Gumbrell, with her two great grandsons, Sean and Colin, at the beach in Del Mar last September.
By BILL BRUNS
Circling the News Adviser
When I was growing up in Cardiff-by-the-Sea, north of San Diego, my two younger sisters and I enjoyed riding waves on our canvas air mats, along with our mother, Charlotte Bruns (now Gumbrell).
We later all evolved to foam boogie boards, but Mom was the only one who stayed with the sport, and at age 95, it has gained her national attention.
Last Friday, Charlotte and three fellow members of the San Dieguito Boogie Board Club appeared on the syndicated “Drew Barrymore Show,” via a Zoom interview from their homes. They explained how their group of about three dozen mostly older women meets at local beaches two or three times a week throughout the year.
Charlotte, who lives in a condo in Del Mar, waits until the water warms up in June, but then rides with the group into October. Blessed with an optimistic spirit, she bought a new wetsuit last summer.
“When I was younger,” Charlotte told her TV audience, “I stopped riding waves for a while, but I loved buying boogie boards for my grandchildren. Then one day I realized, ‘I’m the one who loves to boogie-board,’ and I started joining them.”
Barrymore asked Charlotte, “What’s the best thing about boogie-boarding?” She replied, “Well, in a really short time I feel like my brain is alive, and I’m alive, and life is worth living. It doesn’t take much time in that water to feel that.
“Boogie-boarding is such a wonderful sport. Every year I say this is going to be my last year out there, but then I just keep going. If I can get out there, I’m always so happy I did.”
Thanks to an article in the San Diego Union and the subsequent TV show, numerous members of the San Dieguito Boogie Board Club will gain even more attention this coming Wednesday at 8:30 a.m. when they venture into the surf for a live Fox News program.
“The water is way too cold, about 58 degrees,” said Charlotte, “but I’ll wear my wetsuit and if I’m in the mood, I’ll go in.”