August 20, 2008 Wednesday

The Greeter of the Panoramic Highway

Meet John the Greeter of the Panoramic Highway. For the past year, I have seen John on my return trips from the beach to Mill Valley. From the same location between Mountain Home and Four corners, John happily waves to and salutes all the cars and trucks that pass by. The first few times I didn’t realize what he was doing. After a short number of trips I realized that the same gentleman was always in the same spot waving to the cars. Depending on time of day sometimes he wouldn’t be there. I passed a couple of times when he was setting up for his day. Twelve noon is when he arrives. After a few months it became clockwork. Every time I passed after 12:00 pm regardless of day of the week, John would be there. I waved back, and now I roll down the window, toot the horn and shout, “Whoa, John. Have a good day,” and he waves back. Other drivers also toot and wave to him.

Seeing John there happily waving at everyone reminded me of the Greeter of Laguna Beach. For three summers during the fifties, my dad rented a house on the beach at Crystal Cove just north of Laguna Beach. What a wonderful period of my life. I slept on the covered porch of a twenties style wood-frame cottage and listened to the waves boom all night, played in the warm sand and got creamed by the heavy shore break. Those days started my lifetime love of the beach. Many times we traveled into Laguna Beach, and there on the corner of the main downtown intersection stood a tall, lanky guy with shoulder length hair and a big gray beard. Remember this is the fifties, the period of butches and flattops, seeing an adult male with long hair and a beard was weird. He waved and hooted, “hello” to every car and individual that came by. “Who is that?” I asked my dad. “He’s the greeter. Wave to him.”

“Hey,” I shouted from across the street and waved. In a booming voice he called out, “hello,” and waved back. He had a pleasant countenance and gentle smile. What a hoot for an eight year old like me. Every time we went into town, he was there. I looked forward to seeing him and for the opportunity to return his greeting.

The Greeter is part of the history of Laguna Beach. For thirty-three years, from 1938 to 1971, he stood on the corner of Pacific Coast Highway and Foster Ave in the very center of town and greeted all comers. Eiler Larsen was born in Denmark in 1890, traveled and worked in Europe and Russia, immigrated to the United States, attended college in Minnesota, enlisted in the Army to fight in France during the World War I, and was wounded by artillery fire that caused him to walk with a cane for the rest of his life. He worked on Wall Street as a messenger during the booming twenties and in the Depression he wandered to the fields of California along with hundreds of Dust Bowl migrants. From picking fruit in San Joaquin he headed south to Laguna Beach to visit some artist friends and there he stayed. He worked at the Pottery Shack and was a part time gardener. In 1938 at the age of 48, he took his position on the corner as The Greeter.

The townspeople slowly adopted him as one of their own. In 1959 some residents complained he and his booming voice were a nuisance, but a poll by the town newspaper showed that 88% of residents wanted the Greeter to stay. In 1963 the town council proclaimed him the town’s Official Greeter and Goodwill Ambassador; an unpaid position with unofficial benefits of free meals and a low rent room at the Hotel Laguna. In 1967 a group of locals raised $3000 to send Larsen home to Denmark for a six-week visit after he suffered a stroke. Eiler Larsen died at a nursing home in 1975 at the age of 84. Today there are two statues that commemorate the Greeter. One is at the entrance of the Greeter’s Corner Restaurant, located where Larsen use to stand, and a colorful concrete statue by Charles Beauvais that stands at the corner of PCH and Brooks Street in front of the Old Pottery Place.

“I don’t care who they are, they all respond to good will,” Larsen once said. “Some don’t even speak English, but they understand anyway. It’s my eyes. They project. They reach every car and every person, and they give the message of goodwill.”*

Now we have John giving goodwill on the Panoramic Highway. If you are ever in Laguna Beach look up the two statues of the Greeter, and the next time you travel the Panoramic Highway in the afternoon between Four Corners and Mountain Home look for John and wave.

If tooting my horn and waving brightens the day of a friendly soul, I will do it every time.

* “Laguna Beach Greeter Left Indelible Mark”, Cecilia Rasmussen, Los Angeles Times, January 6, 2008.