With the Capitola Wharf restoration now complete, Harry Hooper’s plaque at the entrance to the wharf was rededicated on Saturday, July 11.
Friends and family gathered in front of the plaque for the rededication. Those gathered listened to speeches from Hooper’s granddaughter, Donna Hooper Danza; former Capitola Historical Museum curator Frank Perry, and Rick Moran, one of the people who helped get the plaque back on the wharf.
From Left: Donna Hooper Danza, Harry Hooper’s granddaughter, former Capitola Historical Museum curator Frank Perry, and Rick Moran, one of the people who helped get the plaque back on the wharf, give speeches at the rededication.
“We’re here today for the rededication of this plaque to the Wharf where Harry fished and to honor the man that did so much for baseball and Capitola,” Moran said in his speech.
The plaque and a baseball signed by Harry Hooper, brought to the event by Deborah Osterberg, curator of the Capitola Historical Museum.
The plaque has been kept in safekeeping ever since the last major storm to significantly damage the Capitola Wharf struck on Jan. 5, 2023, causing severe harm to the 166-year-old structure and prompting extensive repairs and reconstruction. During this work, Hooper’s dedication plaque was removed.
Hooper, a beloved Capitola resident, played for the Boston Red Sox from 1909 to 1920 and the Chicago White Sox from 1921 to 1925. He is a member of the National Baseball Hall of Fame. In his later years, he sold real estate, served as Capitola’s postmaster, and became an important community leader during the city’s early development.
The plaque’s new home is on the railing of the Wharf, facing a small stretch of Capitola’s beach west of the wharf, which honors his legacy as Hooper Beach.
“During this journey to have Harry’s plaque returned to the wharf, I had the privilege to meet Donna, Harry’s granddaughter, right here in Capitola,” said Moran. “Donna, listening to you recall your times with Harry, I could feel the reverence and love you have for the man you call Pop. A great ball player and a great man.”
Rick Moran and wife Chris, 50 years after getting married on Hooper Beach, which the plaque now overlooks.
Find more information about Harry Hooper at the Capitola Historical Museum website and Take Me Out to Capitola, the companion website to the exhibit which was on display at the Museum in 2014.
TOP PHOTO: Harry Hooper’s relatives gather to celebrate the rededication of his memorial plaque on the Capitola Wharf.