The Saturday morning host of KCBX public radio's Freedom Jazz Dance is a 1960s surfer dude who felt he could save the world. Thirty years older and wiser than when he was shredding the waves in San Diego, Rick Mathews in many ways has become an icon of the reckless surf boys of the 1960s who have grown up to take on responsibilities for their families and small businesses while also channeling their energy into community works. Social good was an unarguable mission for Mathews. His father, who was a supervisor in their Pomona Congregational Church made that familial imprint. So he was studying anthropology and sociology at San Diego State University with the intent of going into teaching. But surfing and his own self-acknowledged immaturity took him off course. Along the pathway over 30 years he has changed locations, changed careers and changed aspirations but kept his high school sweetheart, Valene. Mathews owns Madrone Landscapes in Atascadero, a company that specializes in residential and commercial landscaping that promotes the incorporation of native California plants in its designs. His avocation is promoting the health of Atascadero's urban forest and also the healthy community environment of its children.
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