Pa Bendall – July 1996

From July 1996 this surfer profile by John Charlton on Caloundra surfer “Pa” Bendall. “Pa was a Canadian airman in World War 2 and settled in Australia after the war. He was one of the first surfers in the Caloundra area in the 1950’s, as was his wife Marjorie, who was obviously known as “Ma”. Over the years “Ma and Pa” inspired many young surfers and personified the term “stoked”. “Pa” died in 1973 and such was the respect for him in the local surfing community, the following year they held the first “Pa” Bendall Memorial surfing comp at Caloundra. The contest still runs every year and became known as the “Ma and Pa” Bendall Memorial comp after Marjorie passed away in 2001 aged 91.

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