Rotarians gathered again at the Palos Verdes Golf Club as Juliet De Moss played a medley of songs for our enjoyment.  

President Lynne called the meeting to order.  Jim Hartman gave the invocation reminding us all to keep the hurricane Harvey flood victims in our thoughts and prayers.   New member Duncan Sutton led us in the Pledge of Allegiance and Phyllis Pelezzari led us in our patriotic song “America the Beautiful”!

Jackie Ignon canvassed the room for guests. Harry Kitter introduced Claire Reed and his grandson, Luke.   AJ Johnson introduced our guest speaker, Mike Schaadt, Director of the Cabrillo Marine Aquarium.  Marc Mazarow then led us in the “Welcome” song.  During the meeting, Rotarians raised $118 in recognition of Harry Kitter’s newest grandson, Chris.

President Lynne reported on a change in the Beer and Wine festival membership.  The El Segundo Club is stepping aside due to conflicting fund raising activities and the Westchester Club will be added as a new member.  Lynne indicated that she believes the Westchester Club will be able to turn out more volunteers to support this significant fund raising activity!

The Friends of South Bay Rotary will be hosting a service project on September 21^st to package lunches for the homeless.  Lynne will be sending out an e-mail to invite Rotarians to sign up for this project. 

Juliet DeMoss then reported that she would be collecting toiletries over the next few meetings, which will be donated to a homeless shelter.

John Stillo gave an update on the Palos Verdes Concours d’ Elegance.  The signature event will be held Sunday October 1, 2017 at the Zamparini Field in Torrance.  Robinson Helicopter will be the sponsoring host providing the Concours with access to Robinson’s ample parking and airport facilities.  The re-imagined format will include classic aircraft and classic vehicles.  Rotarians are invited to sign-up for shifts to volunteer the day of the event.  All volunteers will have free access to enjoy the show.  John advised he would send out an email to all Rotarians later this week.  

Liz Fitzgerald spoke to the group regarding ‘Rotary in the Home”.  She is looking for volunteers to host these events in their homes as well as Club members to attend the events.  Several Rotary in the Home events are planned between October and May.  

The PV Chamber will be hosting an event to bake cookies and prepare and deliver box lunches to the homeless.  This will be a joint service project with a number of other local clubs.  An e-mail will be forthcoming.  

Our guest speaker Mike Schaadt, Director of the Cabrillo Marine Aquarium (CMA) is a marine biologist.  He told our group that the CMA ‘s mission is to be a trusted source for scientific learning and education.  They are solely dedicated to the study and preservation of Southern California ocean marine life.  The CMA, organized in 1935, is a free resource to the public.  They are part of the Long Beach Parks and Recreation program.  In 2004 their master plan was updated to include a number of new programs dedicated to the research and public outreach to our community.  They sponsor a number of out research programs such as the “Grunions Run”, farm raising Garibaldi (The California state fish), Abalone, Pacific Sea Horse and Grunion.  They also host an aquatic nursery, Young Scientists symposium, an exploration center, and school tours.  They are a partner with the ALTASEA project at the port of LA and are deeply involved in the need to raise the awareness of sustainable seafood sources as a source of food. 

We closed our meeting with the opportunity drawing. 

Next up is our regular meeting on Friday, September 8th.