It’s the heart of the beach town, a nostalgic place where memories have been made for nearly a century.
The San Clemente Pier is celebrating its 95th birthday this year, with October dubbed “PierPride” month and several fundraising gatherings that have marked the milestone in recent weeks.
“It’s an overused word, but it’s iconic,” Eileen Kawas, president of the nonprofit PierPride, said of the wood structure. “Everybody who comes to San Clemente knows about the pier… We have so many stories, people who have proposed, people who met on the pier. Everyone has a story about the pier, whether it was a junior lifeguard jumping off the pier, meeting someone special or having lunch at Fisherman’s (Restaurant and Bar).”
Earlier this month, on Oct. 7, a dozen people got to jump off the pier for $1,000 each – legally and under lifeguard supervision of course – as a thrilling way to raise money toward pier improvements.
Among the 12 jumpers was a family – two parents and their three children – who did the plunge together.
“It’s always a fun event,” Kawas said.
At a “Light The Future of the Pier” fundraiser on Oct. 19 at the historic Casino San Clemente in North Beach, PierPride raise nearly $50,000 through auctions and other donations, putting the effort near the $200,000 goal for the year, Kawas said.
Another fundraiser earlier this month was held at the Fisherman’s restaurant, which put on a sunset dinner meal for 60 guests.
“We do what we do because we all love the pier and we want to do it for future generations,” Kawas said. “We’re glad we have people who come together and are able to feel the same way.”
The pier was built in 1928 by the town’s founder Ole Hansen. The Santa Fe Railroad stopped at the pier since the very beginning, the underpass built in 1927 as a way for train visitors to get to the waterfront.
The wooden, 1,200-foot-long pier has a storied past, including being used by rum smugglers who…
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