COPYRIGHT JEFF WEINLANDT 2008
JEFF'S DAD TOOK THIS PICTURE IN 1958.
JEFF COMMENTS
I think this is a classic picture. It's Chris Kartalis in case you forgot his name. I'll always remember him for being the first Saltaire lifeguard to ask the kids to come up to his chair before they went into the water so he could tell them what the surf was like. I probably inherited that from him when teaching my sons the vagaries of swimming in the ocean. Whenever we got to the beach I would make them stand at the water's edge and tell me what type of ocean they were entering...rough, calm, sweep left, sea-pussy, sets of large waves, etc. They both have their first jobs as lifeguards this summer.
Earliest memory of a Saltaire lifeguard for me was Art Moll taking a break from lifeguarding and swimming out in the calm ocean with a spear-gun...and then bringing back a skate with the gun to dump on the sand. As a five or six year old, I was blown away.
JOH: Any kid who went to the ocean beach remembers Chris. Like Uncle Pete, he was first and foremost a teacher. Sometimes kids chafed Kartalis' strict enforcement of safety rules, but I don't recall anyone drowning under his watch. And if Jeff is teaching his kids lessons he learned from Chris fifty years ago it goes without saying Chris was an effective teacher.
By the Way: ART MOL, who lifeguarded before Kartalis, was also a great ballplayer. Was he the one who actually hit a ball that rang the church bell at St. Andrews? Or was that a Callahan?
I am still waiting for someone to write us a story of the great 1950's-1960's Saltaire epics at the field: Art Mol, Callahans, Wrights, the Weinlandts, Bob Marks, the Connolloys,Relic, and the epic wars of "MARINE WALK v. THE WORLD."
8 comments:
Luckily Larry Lynch did not drown due to Chris' strict enforcement of safety rules - after Chris would chastise him Larry would state that "I'm going down to swim at my grandmothers beach" - the site which was where Grandma Lynch's first Saltaire home had been prior to the '38 Hurricane.
IN THE BACKGROUND OF THE PICTURE THERE IS A BLACK OBJECT THAT LOOKS LIKE IT'S SUPPORTED BY SOME SORT OF STILTS
WHAT IS THIS STRANGE OBJECT??
It is a UFOWT: Unidentified Flying Old Water Tower.
WHERE IS THIS UFOWT NOW??
where is the ufowt now?
it was here: (Follow Link):
http://saltaire38.blogspot.com/2007_12_01_archive.html
but then it got old and tired and that was the end:
follow the link to the last known sighting: (follow link):
http://saltaire38.blogspot.com/2007/12/death-of-saltaire-water-tower.html
-The editors
Editors - Are there any lifeguard pictures predating the 50's that anyone has sent in? I have a few out at the beach that I think are from the 40's. Our SOR(Saltaire Ocean Rescue) records indicate guards back to the early 30's. I would ask my wife but I can't seem to find her.
Big E's husband - SOR Rich
How nice to hear such nice sentiments about our good friend, Chris Kartalis. We became friends when picking grapes at the Laughlin Vineyards in Bayport and have been friends ever since. As my husband and I run our dog passed his house, we often stopped in to give the dog water.
We will miss our friend, Christ. We hope he's is blissfully at peace in heaven doing the things he loved most, listening to music, playing tennis and telling wonderful stories.
I remember Chris making us get out of the water and having us sit on the beach to rest after we'd been riding waves for a while. Our parents were lucky to have him watching us because they really could relax. We were lucky too.
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