Magnolia Playground Cleanup Honors Daniel Bobis

“After playing in this park throughout my childhood, I can see the value of it to the community and realize the importance of preserving it for children who will benefit from it in the future,” said Eileen Kelly, a Long Beach High School Senior in the International Baccalaureate (IB) Program.

Kelly joined other volunteers, from city and school officials to pro surfers to the widow of a surfing coach, who cleaned up the Hurricane Irene wrecked playground that abuts the boardwalk at Magnolia Boulevard at West Broadway on Saturday.

Storm-powered ocean knocked down the wall with a mural that once separated the playground from the beach, leaving the softened ground, from the swings to the slides, covered in sand and debris.

Kelly thought the cleanup was a valuable way to spend some of the community service hours required by the IB program.

Inspired by Long Beach High School surf coach, teacher and mentor Daniel Bobis, members of the school’s surf club and the city community partnered with the Quiksilver Foundation in spearheading the cleanup.

Four coaches from the surf team led the initiative: Andy Smith, Anthony Balsamo and Rich Rogers, all LBHS teachers, and Rachel Bobis, wife of Daniel Bobis and a social worker at West School, who is a recent addition to the team. Rachel took over coaching duties for the surf team after her husband died surfing with her in Indonesia in July.

“Community service was a big part of our lives, I’m a social worker and taking care of the environment and beaches is of real importance to us,” Rachel said. “Both of us tried to impart important values into our kids.”

Rachel said that her husband’s death was a tragedy for both her and the community in general, but that it brought them closer together and made them better citizens.

Long Beach citizens and local officials, including City Councilman John McLaughlin to Superintendent David Weiss, took up brooms and shovels and pitched in to help with the playground’s recovery. 

Sabrina Crespo, who lives in a building across the street from the park and noticed the cleanup, decided to help out, and a concerned mom, Kim Rosamilia, spoke about why she decided to volunteer: “Our daughter plays in this park all the time. At four-years-old, she painted a picture on the wall. It was heartbreaking to see the wall come down and you cannot get that back, but this park means a lot to us.”

Volunteers were surprised with a visit from world champion surfer Kelly Slater, who finished second in the Quiksilver New York Pro competition last week.

Ryan Ashton, director of the non-profit Quiksilver Foundation, the volunteer arm of the surf company, said the foundation identifies the needs of a community and takes the required actions.

“In this case it was important to identify the needs of Long Beach after Irene and to hold the world’s best surfing event here,” Ashton said. “We love the City of Long Beach and look forward to coming back here in the future and doing this event again, but bigger and better.”

The Quiksilver Foundation gave all its donations to four local charities that it worked with last week: the Family of Danny Bobis, Water Front Warriors, Michelle O’Neill Foundation and O’Keefe Foundation.

To describe the relationship between the city and Quiksilver, Rick Hoffman, president of the West End Neighbors Civic Association, quoted from the movie Casblanca: “I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.”

Hoffman added: “We worked hard with Quiksilver and put on one of the greatest surfing tournaments that they have ever had.”