Article by Hillard Grossman

COCOA BEACH — Perseverance always has been a trademark with the Salick family.

Richard Salick was a champion surfer and a tireless advocate for kidney disease research and patient care who died at age 62 in 2012. But, three kidney transplants — the first from his twin brother, Phil, in 1974, and the other two also from family members — showed his will to live and overcome the odds.

“Even when doctors discovered his cancer, and he was given 18 months, he lived another 12 years,” said Phil, who has shown a lot of perseverance himself, turning 76 Monday, just a few days before the start of the Salick’s’ 40th annual National Kidney Foundation Surf Festival, which has raised skyward of $10 million for kidney research and organ transplant patients.

 

 

 

This year’s event takes place Saturday through Monday at the Westgate Cocoa Beach Pier, starting at 8 a.m. each day.

The festival also includes a block party in Downtown Cocoa Beach on Saturday night featuring internationally recording stars Beebs and Her Money Makers; the annual Taste of Brevard and Silent Auction fundraiser (plastic-free) at the Cocoa Beach Country Club on Sunday evening with the Anna Delgado Band; and a separate paddle-out memorial presented by the Florida Surf Museum to honor Ron Jon founder Ron DiMenna at noon Sunday at the Pier.

It’s an extra special celebration as well, since it’s actually the 50th year since Richard and Phil put on their first Florida Team Challenge at 3rd Street North in Cocoa Beach where, years later, a tiny Kelly Slater entered his first contest and led the winning team, of course.

It was the launching pad for not only Slater’s professional career but also the historic ride of what became the aptly named NKF Rich Salick Pro-Am Surf Festival.

The first contest, in 1976, collected a mere $126 for the kidney cause and those coins and dollar bills were all delivered in little brown paper bags.

Last year’s event raised $150,000, and with more than 109,000 people on the transplant waiting list (including 92,000 just for kidneys), that money is more important than ever, with 84 cents of every dollar going directly to patient programs.

In 1986, the Salicks’ first major surf festival took place at Sebastian Inlet, expanding from the original 15 teams to 44, and creating traffic jams all the way back into Melbourne Beach. “We had to move it after that,” Phil said.

That inaugural event, the Florida Team Invitational, came about, Phil said, because of the generosity of Western Waste owner John Paglia who, from his Idaho business, spent a quarter of a million dollars to produce the event, bringing in bands from New York and California.

“He did get a transplant and he lived for awhile,” Phil recalled.

With the encouragement from Dr. Craig Tisher, an officer with the National Kidney Foundation, the NKF event exploded into national prominence.

“Our average crowds were 150,000 for the weekend,” said Phil, following the final volunteer meeting last Thursday at the Cocoa Beach Country Club. “We had the most mosh pits ever at Lori Wilson (Park), and all three bands that performed that one year, they were all at the top of the next Billboard sales list.”

Ziggy Marley and Jimmy Buffett bands; an amusement village; a skatepark ramp; and a $50,000 sponsored, “rowdy” bikini contest (“We gave away $20,000, that’s how we raised money,” Phil said) all have been part of what once was a Labor Day tradition on Cocoa Beach.

But, as more diverse events cropped up, such as pro events offering points and even bigger cash prizes, the NKF was forced to switch its schedule to Columbus Day (now known as Indigenous Peoples’ Day) two years ago, albeit having thrived in the scorching heat of early September and the threat of coastal hurricanes, which delayed a couple events.

“I surfed on the pro circuit for 12 years,” Phil recalled, answering a question about today’s surfing prize money. “One contest I won, I made 60 bucks, so I took the family to the Chart House and blew it all there. That’s when prime rib was $12.95,” he said, laughing.

Melbourne Beach’s Bob Freeman, a member of the East Coast Surfing Hall of Fame, has won won 16 NKF titles throughout his career (and 14 more in the old Easter Surf contest). He’s entered this event at age 77, showing his own perseverance and the love of the sport.

“New hips and a pacemaker helped,” he said, smiling.

Freeman, who will compete in the 50s division, said he enjoys looking forward to Brevard County’s surfing fall classic.

“It’s such a whole different scene than regular contests,” he said. “This is all about the Kidney Foundation, and raising awareness and raising money.”

Anything else?

“Bragging rights,” he said.