Surfers of different generations were honored today for their common love of one thing: waves.

In front of a crammed crowd in front of Jack’s Surfboards, the Surfing Walk of Fame paid tribute to iconic surfers who paved the way for a future generation. At the same time, winners of the 2009 O.C. Surfer of the Year contest were given awards for being fan favorites of ocregister.com online voters.

The morning started with the O.C. Surfers of the Year being introduced by Peter “P.T.” Townend. More than 600,000 votes were cast during a six-week period for the contest, which was put on by the Orange County Register.

The winners include: Brett Simpson (shortboarder), Joe Aaron (longboarder), Courtney Conlogue (Rising Star Female), and Andrew Doheny (Rising Star Male).

Surfers got creative when it came to generating votes, posting updates on their Twitters and Facebooks.

Simpson said it was an honor to be included in an event where the Walk of Fame surfers were being honored.

“That’s a pretty awesome feat. Hopefully, one day when I get older, I can be there too,” he said.

The Surfing Walk of Fame paid tribute to five surfers who have had an influence on the sport of surfing. The nominees were selected from a group of 200 surf journalists from around the world. Those honored include: Duke Boyd, the man behind Hang Ten, four-time world champion Wendy Botha, Fred Hemmings, considered the godfather of professional surfing, and local hero Jackie Baxter.

One-by-one, the surfers told stories of past days when surfing was much different.

Townend shared a story of how, years ago, he saw a cover shot in a surfing magazine that showed a surfer taking a big wave.

“That’s who I want to be one day,” he said of Baxter.

Duke Boyd talked about how surfers have an immediate bond when they meet.

“I think surfing is a special society,” he said. “I think it is different than all the sports in the world.”

Botha – who flew in from Australia for the awards – said she was surprised by the turn out of the event, and was so nervous she couldn’t sleep.

Although it was tough sometimes being a female surfer, should couldn’t have asked for a better life.

“It was so cool. You couldn’t have more fun, having surfing as a career.”

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