OCEANSIDE -- One of Southern California's early surfing pioneers will be honored today at the California Surf Museum's annual Old Timers Day.

The downtown museum celebrates surfing heritage each year with a free daylong festival that attracts as many as 200 surfers of all ages and their families from throughout Southern California. This year's honoree is Jack "Woody" Ekstrom, 78, of La Jolla. Ekstrom began surfing off the coast of La Jolla in the 1940s -- he's known for being one of the first to master the breaks at La Jolla's Windansea beach -- and has served as an adviser to the museum for 20 years.

Ekstrom will be on hand, along with many other surfers who first hit the waves in the 1940s, '50s and '60s, for today's activities, which include a luau, live entertainment by the Moonlight Beach Ukulele Strummers and Dancers, socializing and photo-sharing and an exhibition of antique surfboards; noon to 4 p.m.; Oceanside Civic Center Community Rooms, 330 N. Coast Highway, Oceanside; free (luau is $10); (760) 721-6876.