Surfing community ‘tribe’ rallies for its pastor

Blaine Sato sat at a table outside the Huntington Surf & Sport shop on Main Street in downtown Huntington Beach recently, and while chatting with his wife, people would walk up to him, offer words of comfort and hug him.

“You’re going to fight this, Sumo,” said one, calling the 53-year-old by his nickname.

“You’ve got this, Sumo,” said another.

He seemed genuinely taken aback by the attention.

“I don’t live for this kind of stuff,” said Sato, who was diagnosed in February with Stage 4 colon cancer, which has spread to his liver. “My stuff is hidden. I want to be in the shadows. All this support is just crazy. I would rather have my applause from heaven than from earth.”

For Sato, who is a pastor, the chaplain for the city’s Marine Safety Division and a regular speaker at the funerals of those in the action sports community, the outpouring hasn’t stopped there.

His friends are hosting a “Luau of Love” on Saturday at Don the Beachcomber, an event venue in Sunset Beach, to raise money for Sato’s treatment. They have planned hula dancers, Hawaiian singers, an art show and a live auction for the Hawaii native, who moved to Surf City in 2009.

Rick Fignetti, owner of the Rockin’ Fig surf shop in downtown Huntington Beach, is one of the organizers of Saturday’s event.

He said this is the surf community’s way of giving back to a man who has helped them out so much in the past.

“Even if we raise a little bit, the main thing is to just give Sumo the love from the whole town and everyone just stoke him up for his big battle,” Fignetti said.

The surf community has often rallied together in support for one of its own. Sato has been surfing since he was 4 year old, though he hasn’t been able to do so lately.

Fignetti said the surfing community raised $20,000 for surfboard shaper Chris Hawk’s battle with throat cancer five years ago and similarly worked to help surf filmographer Timmy Turner, who nearly died after he got a staph infection that went to his brain. Through it all, Sato was there showing his support by speaking at events and consoling his peers, Fignetti said.

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FOR THE RECORD

April 7, 5:45 a.m.: An earlier version of this post incorrectly stated that surf filmographer Timmy Turner had died of a staph infection. He nearly died of the infection.

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“Everybody surfs out there, but it’s a tight-knit community, whether you’re a young kid or older,” Fignetti said. “Everyone knows each other. We’re almost like a tribe. When something happens, we all feel a lot of times that we need to get together to try to help out.”

Sato worked for area churches before founding H20 Community Church in the city with pro surfer Brad Ettinger and his family in 2011.

“I’ve worked for every church in this town and they cannot contain me because I can’t sit in an office,” he said, chuckling. “I can’t do that. I have to be out with people. I think Jesus walked around and was among the people. I want to be a representative of who Jesus was. I want to be remembered for loving people.”

He said he often leads services at his home. It is a setting where people who are uncomfortable in a traditional church can feel comfortable, said Diane Sato, the pastor’s wife.

Twenty to 30 people, mainly young adults, attend his sermons on the first and third Saturdays of the month, they said.

“Everyone around here knows if they’re down and out they can call me,” Sato said, adding he once helped a 13-year-old girl talk to her parents after they had been drinking. “Sometimes they don’t even know me. They just know I’m cool from the beach.... I think this is God’s way of saying, ‘Hey, you’re OK.’ ”

He has also welcomed homeless people into his home but asks that they follow strict rules, like staying sober.

He said he relates to their struggles. He sold drugs as a teenager in Hawaii and was “kicked off the island,” he said, when he was 14 because he got in so much trouble.

Today, “druggies” and “hardcore gangsters” often listen to his sermons and become friends, he said.

Sato said former Hawaiian neighbors are confused when they learn that he has, in fact, not been in jail for the last few decades and instead has turned his life around drastically.

“I was a bad kid,” he said. “I was a thug. The pier has different personalities. Huntington Beach has levels of cultures. There’s a real dark culture sometimes.... Jesus and surfing saved me.... I give the people a different kind of drug now. I give them gospel.”

He said he turned his life around when he was 21 and discovered Jesus Christ. He said his newfound devotion to God led him on missions to underdeveloped countries.

“I put myself in the positions to see how these people feel,” said Sato, who begins chemotherapy this week. “I think maybe that’s why I have cancer. I always felt bad and said I wish I could take away their pain.”

Huntington Beach Marine Safety Lt. Claude Panis, who will play guitar in the Lifeguard Band at Saturday’s event, said Sato has offered support for his department as well.

“Sumo is not what you would picture as a chaplain for anyone like police or lifeguards,” he said. “But he’s been a blessing for us for the last few years. We have tragic things happen on the beach, of course, and we have some serious events happen. People need that listening ear and Sumo’s there.

“He’s just the happiest, most pleasant guy to be there. He cares for the guards legitimately and provides whatever we need.”

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IF YOU GO

What: “Luau of Love” fundraiser for Blaine “Sumo” Sato

Where: Don the Beachcomber, 16278 Pacific Coast Hwy., Huntington Beach

When: Noon to 5 p.m. Saturday

Cost: Minimum $20 donation

Info: www.facebook.com/LuauofLove4Sumo