There’s a new temporary exhibit on display at the Wisconsin Maritime Museum focused on surfing.
While surfing might make you think about warm sunny beaches in California or Hawaii, the exhibit called Surfin’ Wisconsin focuses on surfing culture in the Badger State.
Pictures and exhibits discuss Sheboygan, known as the “Malibu of the Midwest,” and the Great Lakes surfing culture.
Exhibit Curator Karen Duvalle explained that she wanted to conduct the research and help bring the exhibit to life, showcasing the history of surfing on the Great Lakes.
The exhibit also discusses the modern surfboard, created by a Milwaukee native, Tom Blake, and why surfing is different here than in the ocean.
“The Great Lakes has a lot of the short waves, not the big waves,” she explained. “Winter is the best time. That’s their season is October through March. But that’s when the lake is rough and that’s when they surf.”
Some of the pictures and artifacts were donated by Sheboygan Surfing Legends Larry “Longboard” Williams and his twin brother Lee “Waterflea” Williams.
Larry tells Seehafernews.com that his dad was a deep-sea rescue diver for submarines, and that his family lived about two blocks from Lake Michigan, so they were at the beach all the time.
He then saw members of the Lakeshore Surf Club and knew he wanted to be a part of the culture.
Williams described the culture of, “Huarache Sandals, serape, goofy hats, and their cars with surf boards on, and the music of Jan and Dean and the Beach Boys and things. They just inspired us.”
Larry and Lee wanted to share their passion with Wisconsin and started their own event, the Dairyland Surf Classic, which took place on a beach in Sheboygan for many years.
It would gain national attention in newspapers across America, and then it would become international, bringing surfers from all over.
After surfing for 50 years, the two have since retired.
But Larry says when the museum reached out to him about the exhibit, he couldn’t wait.
“(I’ve) done a lot of things, books and movies, and been in every major newspaper in America, been in seven different movies in things, but I think this is the peak,” he explained. “Very professionally put together and gives you a true understanding what surfing in Wisconsin is all about.”
Surfin’ Wisconsin is open now and will remain at the museum until November.
More information can be found at WisconsinMaritime.org.
