Long-Form Stories Salty Air

Mike Houghton, Once Upon A Time At Jasper’s Surf Shop – A Profile In Memoriam

Mike Houghton
Written by Brian Tarcy

EASTHAM – On the floor of the now long-closed Jasper’s Surf Shop, which opened in 1967 in a garage behind a gas station, were several inches of Coast Guard Beach sand. You were, in spirit anyway, already at the beach when you walked in the door.

Propping open the door back then was an old oar known as “Bobby,” said Rick Weeks of Orleans.



On the land directly behind Jasper’s was a small cottage colony.  Surfers, including Weeks for a time, lived there.

And when the waves weren’t good, as the story goes, on the grounds of Jasper’s there would almost always be several surfers in various stages of relaxation and story telling. There was, it is said, a vibe to the place.

In the middle of it all was Mike Houghton – “Houghty” to his many friends – the helpful and outgoing owner of Jasper’s. There he was and still is in so many memories, cracking jokes or telling his own stories while also renting, selling and even loaning out surfboards, sometimes to people he had just met.

Mike Houghton

The sand floor at Jasper’s Surf Shop. PHOTO COURTESY OF RICK WEEKS.

“He was much bigger than he seemed at the time,” said Weeks, 73, who is now a professional surfer on Stand-Up Paddle. “Houghty had a big impact on how the Outer Cape evolved,” he said.

Houghton, who died in July at 80 years old, owned and operated Jasper’s for the 40 years that it was open – from 1967 to 2007. Jasper’s operated in two different locations – each for 20 years. The first location, with the sand floor, has grown into a legend through the years.

This is a story about Houghton and the community of surfers, lifeguards and others that he nourished by virtue of operating what longtime surfer Chick Frodigh, of Pembroke and Eastham, called, “the best surf shop I’ve ever been in.”

“What’s better than a surf shop with a sand floor?” said Frodigh.

 

 

WaveThe Vibe

“Basically, Mike had the kindness to allow us all to live around his shop. There was no escaping it. There was a Jasper’s aura. I think his biggest influence was just allowing us to congregate and be kids,” said Weeks.

“That was the place to go,” said Willy “Wipeout” Lindbloom, 73, of Eastham. “The sand floor inside, all the surfboards, and the people.”

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About the author

Brian Tarcy

Brian Tarcy is co-founder of Cape Cod Wave. He is a longtime journalist who has written for the Boston Globe, Boston magazine, the Cape Cod Times and several other publications. He is the author of "YOU CAN'T SELL RIGHT FIELD; A Cape Cod Novel." He is also the author or co-author of more than a dozen mostly non-fiction books, including books with celebrity athletes Cam Neely, Tom Glavine and Joe Theisman. His previous book was, "ALMOST: 12 Electric Months Chasing A Silicon Valley Dream" with Hap Klopp,who created the iconic brand, The North Face.
For more information, see Briantarcy.com
Brian is a long-suffering Cleveland Browns fan with a long-running NFL predictions/political satire column connecting weekly world events to the fate of his favorite team, now at Whatsgonnahappen.com.

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