I sent this letter to the Mayor of Hamilton a while back:


To: Mayor Di Ianni
Subject: The Bridge surfing beach on Eastport Drive.



Dear Mayor Di Lanni,

A group of surfers met yesterday at “The Bridge” surfing break in Hamilton, Ontario at East Port Drive for an event we called Wave Stock. We surfers had a tail gate gathering and cooked chile con carne and drank hot chocolate. Besides us there were people everywhere using the parking lot on Eastport Drive to walk on the beach and use the pathway.



Before we could set up our tail gate event we had to do something about the filthy conditions of the park. We cleaned up the trash all over the part of the parking lot we used and placed it by the one trash barrel in the lot. We collected a very large pile of trash in a small area. Could the City of Hamilton please send a garbage truck down to the Eastport Drive and pick up the trash we picked up at “The Bridge?”



It would also be helpful for the City of Hamilton to place more trash barrels at “The Bridge” surf break parking lot at Eastport Drive. People use this parking lot year round and enjoy the beach in all four seasons. If there were more trash barrels available maybe the park wouldn’t turn into a garbage dump. In addition there are many people still using the beach in all four seasons. Maybe it would be appropriate during day light hours to have an open rest room that they could use. My wife had to drive to a local bar to find a restroom. The restroom was locked on Sunday 8, January 2006.



This winter has been a mild one and the shore ice so far at The Bridge has been unsubstantial. Surfing at “The Bridge” will continue to take place on those days when there is sufficient wind to create waves to ride.











Sincerely,



Magilla Schaus



Eastern Surfing Association

Great Lakes Co-Director



Wyldewood Surf Club

President





P.S. Could a Canadian scientific representative please take a look at the dead trumpeter swan that is on “The Bridge” beach?

Surely this animal would provide valuable information to our scientific community.

To: Magilla Schaus
Cc: Dore, Al; Fabello, Gina
Subject: RE: The Bridge surfing beach on Eastport Drive.



Hello Magilla

Mayor Di Ianni has asked me to respond to your message and thank you for your comments.

He has requested that this information be forwarded to Al Dore, Manager of Parks and Cemeteries, for his information and action.

Thanks kindly for bringing this to the Mayor’s attention.

Sincerely,

Marjorie Walker

Office of the Mayor

Thanks to all the surfers who showed up at The Bridge wave stock fest.


To: Mayor Di Ianni; Magilla Schaus; Propedo, Tennessee
Cc: Fabello, Gina; Gilpin, Sue
Subject: RE: The Bridge surfing beach on Eastport Drive.



Hi Mr. Schaus : Tenn can you have staff pick up the garbage collected by Mr. Schaus’s group….and see if you can add a garbage receptacle or two…..also Tenn contact MNR staff relative to the deceased swan Mr. Schaus referred to.



In terms of the washrooms being open during the winter season… we do not have the staffing resources available for this…as all of the Parks Staff are transferred to Arenas or Road operations from Nov. 15th until April 15…in any given year….so these types of facility buildings are winterized and shut down.

That's amazing Magilla! Until this point, to be honest, I have always viewed municipal or any level of government responses to be non-existant, or dreadfully tardy! In a matter of days, you managed to change the Bridge environment, as well as provide THIS lakesurfer with a renewed energy when it comes to issues which require government intervention. This is an amazing step forward in the battle for the Bridge!

Thanks for making a difference,

Jeff

Every single surfer that wrote a protest letter, email, or made a call to Save The Bridge and every surfer that has ever done a beach clean up there from the 60's till now made this happen.

Surfing solidarity forever to save our breaks.