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.
“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.
“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.”