For decades there was heated arguing over who was the legitimate Surf City, Santa Cruz of Northern California or Huntington Beach of Southern California. In April of 2010 it was proclaimed by Mike Rotkin that Santa Cruz was indeed the legitimate Surf City which was ascertained by factual evidence that Three Hawaiian Princes surfed the San Lorenzo Rivermouth and were guests of the Swan Family of Santa Cruz.
Mayor Rotkin, on April 9, 2010 made and Official Mayor’s Proclamation and Tom Ralston Concrete was asked to design a monument to place the Three Hawaiian Plaque which came from Princess Kapiolani Kawananakoa, the Marchesa Marignoli: Whereas: On July 20, 1885 local news paper The Santa Cruz Surf reported that “the young Hawaiian Princes were in the water, enjoying it hugely and giving interesting exhibitions of surf-board swimming as practiced in their native Islands”;and Whereas: Santa Cruz Historian Geoffrey Dunn and Surfer Historian Kim Stoner’s Extensive Research on the Three Hawaiian Princes Helped to Bring their Story to Light; and Whereas: Artist, Surfer, and Cement Scion Tom Ralston Helped Design and oversaw the construction of the base for the Plaque;and Whereas: Artist Sean Monaghan designed the base for the Plaque and contributed bronze artwork to its construction. See more on the Three Princes Plaque project.
