The Seal Beach Lifeguard Association will celebrate its 51st anniversary this weekend, with events on Friday night, Aug. 5, and Saturday morning, Aug. 6.
Marine Safety Chief Joe Bailey said his department’s station number is 51, so rather than celebrate the 50th anniversary last year (during the citywide Seal Beach Centennial), the Lifeguard Association decided to commemorate the 51st anniversary this year instead.
Bailey thinks they might have as many as 200 former lifeguards participate in the celebration. Following a memorial service for fallen lifeguards, current and former lifeguards will jump off the Seal Beach Pier from 11 to 11:15 a.m., Saturday morning.
The anniversary schedule begins with Lifeguard Night gatherings based on a lifeguard’s decade of service at various Main Street locations. On Friday, Aug. 5:
• Lifeguards who served in the 1940s-1960s will meet at 6 p.m. at The Hangout.
• Lifeguards from the 1970s will meet at 7 p.m. at Hennessey’s Grill.
• Lifeguards from the 1980s will meet at 8 p.m. O’Malley’s on Main.
• Lifeguards from the 1990s through 2016 will meet at 9 p.m. at the Seaside Grill.
• Any lifeguard alumni still available will meet at 10 p.m. at Clancy’s.
On Saturday, Aug. 6:
• An open house at Lifeguard Headquarters with a pancake breakfast provided by the Seal Beach Lions 9 a.m.-10:30 a.m.
• Lifeguards past and present will pose for a group photograph 10:30 a.m.-10:45 a.m., at Lifeguard Headquarters.
• A memorial service will be held for fallen lifeguards at the Seal Beach Pier, Tower 0.
• A pier jump for lifeguards and lifeguard alumni only will be supervised by Marine Safety Department personnel 11 a.m.-11:15 a.m., just outside Tower 0.
• The Seal Beach Lifeguard Association 51st Year Anniversary Party will be held 6:30-11 p.m., at the Seal Beach Yacht Club at 255 N. Marina Drive.
