By Madeline Bailey
Staff Writer
[dropcap]O[/dropcap]ne thing Outer Bankers do best is getting together for a good cause. On Saturday, Sept. 7, the fifth annual Throwdown North of Town surfing contest took place to benefit Keith “Scotter” Raynor.
“It (the contest) is loads of work but I enjoy it and am already ready to do it again,” said Greg Sherman, one of the main organizers of the contest this year. “This small idea has turned into a major event and is five years strong.”
Every year, the contest organizers choose a person or organization in the community to raise money for. This year it chose Raynor, who used to live on the Outer Banks and is a well-known part of the surfing community, according to another contest organizer, Jason Breiholz. Raynor suffers from Pulmonary Hypertension which caused him to need a new lung. The money from the contest went toward his lung transplant.
“The best part was knowing the fact that we raised so much money for someone my family and the surfing community knows so well,” Breiholz said.
The first year the contest benefited the Surfrider Foundation; the second year Isabel Rainey; the third year the Outer Banks Cancer Research Center and the fourth year the Brower family. This year, the contest raised the most money ever. In the 2012 event, $4,370 were raised according to Sherman. This year an astounding $9,615 were raised.
“This is what Scotter said when he found out,” Sherman said. “‘Thank you doesn’t seem like a big enough show of gratitude. But I know that everyone involved does this because they are great people, not for a thank you. This keeps coming to me; God blesses us not because we are good, but because of his goodness. Financially, a double-lung transplant is a big one. This allows me to relax and focus on getting well, not worrying about the finances. Thank you all from a very sincere place. Next year, I’ll be there to help for a new cause. Yeeeewww!’”
This year there were 137 total participants, 77 of them under the age of 16. According to Sherman, there were also 25 female surfers this year, more than any of the previous years.
Many FFHS students participated in the event. Junior Jessica Wallace took third place in the Gidgets, while sophomore Zack Goodwin took third in the Grom division. Freshman Jack Power and sophomore Reid Kelly placed 6th in their divisions.
“I participated to help Scotter Raynor because I know of his sons,” sophomore Zack Goodwin said. “I think contests are really fun because you get to surf against all your friends, making me surf to the best of my capability.”
Send comments to baileyma0905@daretolearn.org
Photos provided by Jason Breiholz
