So Nice, We Had to Have it Twice!

Although our annual Lagoona Kahuna event took place last May, when Chelsea Investments and Emmerson Construction told us wanted in on the action, we couldn’t refuse! A special offshoot event for their company took place on September 15th with almost 80 people divided between eight competing teams. At stake, of course, was the legendary Big Kahuna Paddle, a trophy of glory awarded to the team with the most points at the end of the day’s activities.

To kick off this fun filled event, participants collected their custom AHLF shirts with their company logos to show off their lagoon pride! Pizza Port Pizza and beer were an incredible ice breaker to the day, helping people to gather and get to know their teams. We were gifted with gorgeous 80-degree weather that day, so of course we had to make sure Handel’s was there to offer some tasty ice cream to cool participants down and give them the sugar rush necessary for the next item on the itinerary. After the eat and greet, participants were debriefed on the plan for the day.

Teams 1-4 began the competition by setting forth in kayaks and stand-up paddle boards to scour the lagoon for trash and help us clean up this incredible watershed. Meanwhile, Teams 5-8 tested their brains and brawn with a word game, a memory game and blindfolded cornhole. Some impressive records were set and the bar was high for the teams coming back from trash collection. Once both teams had completed both the games portion and cleanup portion of the day, it was time to tally up the points. Team 5 was declared Lagoona Kahuna’s Big Kahuna.

Their accomplishments were impressive: 96 pounds of trash collected, an outstanding blindfolded cornhole record of 24 seconds, a memory game feat of 4:38 seconds, the longest piece of trash collected at 10.5 feet, the second heaviest pieces of trash collected at 50 pounds and one of the most interesting pieces of trash collected: a weathervane. The Agua Hedionda Lagoon was the biggest winner of the day however, with The Chelsea Investments and Emmerson Construction teams 1-8 cleaning up 49 bags and over 470 pounds of trash! The most unique piece of trash found that day was half of a Roomba Vacuum cleaner and the heaviest piece of trash weighed in at a whopping 80 lbs.

We have so much gratitude for the efforts and excitement displayed by these dedicated lagoon lovers and cannot thank them enough for selecting this event to both enjoy some team bonding opportunities and keep our lagoon safe and clean for all! Also, a big thank you to our sponsors, Pizza Port and California WaterSports, without them none of this would have been possible. Join us for the official Lagoona Kahuna event in 2023! Everyone can participate! From small businesses to large corporations to individuals and families, come one, come all to celebrate and maintain our beautiful Agua Hedionda Lagoon!

- Written by: Hailie Brant