Then & Now: The Avalon Anchorage Crew, 46 Years Later
Although there were lots of marine facilities on the Seven Mile Beach in the 1970s, the Avalon Anchorage Marina felt like the hub of the marine universe. Boat rentals, bait, tackle, repairs, fuel, lift service – Stanley Penska offered it all at the foot of 21st Street, along with a luncheonette that served breakfast and lunch.
Obviously, Penska couldn’t provide all those services by himself. No, he had a very capable crew of “guys” who were on the job from sunrise to sunset. They were all locals, at least in the summer – almost everyone knew them from around town. There were Ed Mozer, Bob Funk, Peter Murphy and Steve Schall, at least in the summer of 1975.
Long before the days of cameras in phones, someone clicked a photo of the guys during that summer. It required a camera, a roll of film, the film processing, and the prints being made. A lot of work back then.
Funk held on to his copy. Kept it neatly in a photo album all of those years. And although each would go his own way through life, the four remained friends and kept in touch, connected by Avalon and the Avalon Anchorage.
Today, one lives in Houston. The others stayed closer to Avalon. Which makes it all the more interesting that all four took the time to gather together last month, in as close to the spot of the original photo as possible. They even took the time to recreate the Avalon Anchorage T-shirts they wore in the 1975 photo – shirts that were obviously discarded decades ago. So, a little slower, and perhaps a little grayer, they all made their way to a deck about 200 feet from where the original photo was taken and recreated their photo. Sure, time can take away a lot. But it can’t take away the friendship that these guys still share some 45 years later!
Some people get sand in their shoes. For these guys, we think it might be bay water.