Turner was the owner of Surf City Surf Shop in
Wrightsville Beach, a business he started with Mark
Allison in 1978 and operated for more than 25 years
before selling to current owner Mike Barden. The
store was a hangout for the town’s surfers, a place
to swap stories and pick up tips.
“We weren’t just a place where you bought your
product,” Turner says. “If there’s such a thing as a
boys’ club on the beach, that’s what we were. We
created this community for everybody. That was
kind of my goal. If we could give them a place that
was comfortable, that’s all that mattered. And
luckily I could make a living at it.”
Turner’s contributions to the estab-lishment
and progress of Wrightsville
Beach’s surfing community were
recognized in October when he
was inducted into the Wrightsville Beach
Museum of History’s Waterman Hall of Fame. Turner
received a special recognition award during the cer-emony
held at the Blockade Runner Beach Resort
on Oct. 15.
Diver Ryan McInnis, fisherman Sammy Corbett,
and sailor Dr. Murray Siedel joined him as fellow
2017 honorees. Reggie Barnes was recog-nized
for his contributions to beach
culture, including his role in bring-ing
outrigger canoes to Wrightsville
Beach. Nancy Fahey received the
Local Hero award for her contributions
as president of the Wrightsville Beach Sea Turtle
Project for more than a decade.
This was the fourth class of the Waterman Hall
of Fame, which was founded by the
museum in 2014 as a tribute to the
generations of Wrightsville Beach
watermen and women whose achieve-ments
have shaped the community and its
relationship with the water.
Few, if any, have embodied that spirit better than
Turner.
Barden, speaking at the induction ceremony,
recalled favorite “RT” phrases like “What’s shakin’,
baby?” and “How’s it going, big guy?” all designed to
be welcoming.
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