Article from the January 1999 edition of the Woodie Times, written by Suzan Giuliano

Wavecrest No. 19 was another tremendous hit! Moonlight Beach was as beautiful as ever! It was a great time to see old friends and make new ones while enjoying the sight of beautifully refinished wood and gleaming paint and chrome. It was a time to chuckle with fond memories, seeing the surfer woodies or the restorations just being started. It was a time to cheer on those reconstructions underway or to applaud those completed. It was a great opportunity for woodie owners to share their enthusiasm and tremendous knowledge with each other and for woodie families to understand the magical lure that brings woodie owners together year after year. 

Of course, the fun started much earlier than Saturday. Midweek driving around town found more woodies to be seen than usual. By Thursday and Friday the excitement was building as the last-minute preparations were being completed by the committee and woodie owners and their families were checking into the Encinitas Inn Suites. Friday afternoon and evening was a busy time for the committee and a wonderful first gathering in the hospitality room for everyone. We shared some snacks and got first choices on this year's shirts and posters. Mostly, it was a time to share stories and ideas and take a walk down the covered parking area that was filled with nothing but woodies! As always, it was so impressive to see the many sizes and shapes of woodies, each one a unique piece of history. 

Saturday morning early birds were at the lot waiting by the time the committee arrived to open it. Their excitement was evident! This year we had hot coffee and donuts, sold by the Encinitas Lifeguard Association, to get the bodies going. Soon there was a steady stream of woodies checking in. It's fun just to watch as each one is directed into its proper spot. Just the parking is quite an art, to get as many cars as possible into the lot. 

We had perfect woodie weather (clear, sunny, warm and dry!) and larger group than ever: 242 woodies in all! It was a beautiful sight to see! It was fun having cars spilling over into two areas. The ellipse by the beach was for woodie vendors, thanks to the City of Encinitas which allowed vendors for a small fee that went directly to the local high school, and it seemed to work out very well. Lots of folks just out enjoying the beach were interested in the great items displayed. 

Thanks again to the Wavecrest Committee for a tremendous job of putting the '98 event together. The great posters and shirts and mugs designed by the Doherty's are now prized collectors items. All afternoon there were drawing for some of the great raffle items. The money raised from these sales and sponsorship by local businesses is what keeps Wavecrest a free event. 

There was a judging of the wonderful cardboard woodies that had been cut out, colored and assembled from the unique invitations. The kids category winner received a trophy and other prizes and the adult winner received dinner for two money! Some of the entries were wonderfully creative! 

When the traditional awards ceremony was held, First Place for Long Distance went to George Lodge, who drove his 1939 Ford woodie 1189 miles from Denver, Colorado. Second place was awarded to Ted Stouder who drove his 1951 Ford woodie 1000 miles from Hagerman, Idaho. 

Two hard luck stories were both so great that a tie for the Hard Luck Award was declared! 

Barry Konier has six woodies, and this was his ninth year coming to Wavecrest. He started out from Anaheim in his newly-acquired 1954 Ford, but it broke down in El Toro (about halfway there), so he had someone bring the 1951 Ford he has had for a year and a half. He drove that from El Toro to Oceanside (almost there) when it too broke down! He had tried two cars and still didn't get one to Wavecrest! 

Art Bjornestad told Bill Phillips' story. Bill has a 1941 Mercury that he bought after the show car had been totaled in an accident where the trailer it was on flipped and skittered the care 1/4 mile down the road. Bill spent a year and a half restoring the car to its former beauty. He was proudly heading down the road from Cambria but only made it as far as Oxnard when it blew a Colombia! The rest of the trip to Wavecrest had to be made in a rental car -- and the agency was out of woodies. 

Southwest Woodies of Arizona, a newly-formed chapter of the National Woodie Club, brought their own award for the car they'd most like to see at their December show in Carefree, Arizona. That award went to Lloyd Mayes of Las Vegas for his one-of-a-kind 1946 hardtop Chrysler. 

Other awards were presented as follows: 

Under Construction Award went to George Taylor of La Jolla and his 1951 Ford
Best 60s Surfing Woodie went to Shawn Moore of Santa Barbara and his 1949 Ford
Best Hot Rod went to Don and Joleen Perry and their 1934 Ford
Ron Heiden Woodworking Award went the Jim and Nancy Miller of Redondo each and their 1946 Ford
Bent Town and Country with to Brian Large of Huntington Beach and his 1949 Chrysler
Best License Plate went to Bob Theda and his 1949 Ford with the plate reading HODAD
Doug and Susan Carr's Wood 'n Carr Award went to Jerry Jacob of Malibu and his 1942 Willy
People's Choice Award went to Ken Berger of Scottsdale, Arizona, and his 1933 Rolls Royce 

After the award there was a gradual exodus of those who had to drive home, but for those staying on, the fun continued. Some had barbecues, visited by the pool at the hotel or headed to some of the sponsoring restaurants for dinner. 

Sunday morning everyone was up and at 'em again for a fun breakfast run. Everyone picked their favorite Highway 101 place to eat. It was fun to drive up and down, checking out all the cars after breakfast and to get the reaction of all the locals to so many woodies! We reconvened at Moonlight Beach for a final raffle drawing (with much better odds of winning), and great time was had by one and all. 

Then the grand finale: A tour south on Highway 101 to Cardiff Beach with one last photo opportunity to get all those woodies in a row! 

With toots and waves, we bid each other farewell and headed home satisfied. 

For the surfers there was an extra bonus. The California Surf Museum sponsored an auction of surfboards and surf memorabilia back at the hotel on Sunday afternoon. 

It was another great Wavecrest. I don't know how it can be topped, but next your is No. 20, and I have a feeling it'll be something special. Hope to see you there!!