The Cape Cod Oldtimers Longboard Classic was established in 1974 through Jasper’s Surf Shop in Eastham, MA. The surfing contest has been a fundraising event from the very beginning. Originally, all of the proceeds were donated to Big Brothers Big Sisters of Cape Cod. Since the passing of Kenney Norton, one of the original organizers, a portion of the proceeds have been used to maintain the Kenney Norton Scholarship Fund.
Kenney Norton ripping backside on a tasty one.
A spectacular year for media coverage.
Jasper’s Surf Shop - The original home of the Cape Cod Oldtimers Longboard Classic
From the left: Doug Weeks, Kevin “Fog” Foley, CEO, Mike Houghton, Tommy Dill and Mel Reed. Down in front: Conrad” Pinhead #1” Nobili.
Jasper’s Surf Shop was established in 1967 by surfing visionary Mike Houghton. The first surfboards that Jasper’s sold and rented were the classic Dewey Weber Performer and Oceanside Spoiler models. As the demands grew and models changed Mike followed the trends to shorter and lighter boards like the Weber Ski. Over the 40+ years in business he represented some of the best known shapers and manufacturers such as Surfboards Hawaii, Hobie, Design 1, Gordon and Smith, Plastic Fantastic, Herbie Fletcher, Becker Surfboards and many others. Still, he did not lose his love for the classic longboard design and style of surfing. Mike always kept a few on hand even when it was not fashionable.
Mike listened to the surfers that frequented the shop and special ordered custom made boards that would fit their style and perform well in the ever changing Cape Cod conditions. Many of these same surfers still surf and stay in touch with Mike.
Jasper's Surf Shop CEO Mike Houghton shredding during an evening session.
Jasper’s Surf Shop was always the place to be. The only time surfers were not hanging out at the shop was when the surf was up. When there were waves the shop was busy with renters looking to get hooked by that first ride on a surfboard. Many of them did get hooked and never left Cape Cod. The ones that did leave went to Hawaii. But, they always came back.
Jasper’s had the best surf reports. Mike would drive by the beach in the morning on his way to the shop. As soon as the doors opened the calls would start. No modern technology, such as answering machines were ever allowed in the shop. Every surf report was delivered by a live person over the phone. There had to be 100’s of calls a day asking how the waves were. After a Nor’easter or Hurricane the phone would never stop ringing. There was one guy that would call numerous times during the day trying to disguise his voice so the crew wouldn’t know it was him.
Every summer people from all over the world would stop in at Jasper’s to say “Hi” and get their new Jasper’s T-Shirt. People could not drive by without stopping in. It got to be that Jasper’s was more of a Surf Club and anyone that came in was a member. It was a great place to chew the fat, have a beer and laugh until you couldn’t breathe.
Since Jasper’s does not have a bricks-and-mortar location at this time the Cape Cod Oldtimers Longboard Classic has acted as the meeting place to catch up with old friends. A great time to reminisce and have some more wonderful laughs.
The original Jasper's Surf Shop van.