Benefiting the PACIFIC SAILING MARITIME CENTER

Monday, December 5, 2011 at:

• L’OPERA RISTORANTE
• 101Pine Ave. in Long Beach

5:30 P.M. TO 9:00 P.M

• Complimentary Appetizers
• Silent Auction, Opportunity Drawings,
• Santa Claus And Music
• Friends Welcome

Rsvp 562-981-9200.

$ 20.00 Donation At The Door

No Host Bar

Please stop back by again soon!

Thank you for your patience.

Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach:
Supplied all of the racing photography for our site.

Hal Scheie:
One of our own members, Hal is responsible for all Paddock Club pictures. Look for his video of Race and Paddock Activities at our Membership Mixers.

BLISS 525
Bliss is a favorite place for several Board of Governors meetings. It is located at525 Broadway in Long Beach. The room is perfect for our functions, and they gift us with terrific appetizers. Started by longtime Long Beach resident Nancy Downs, Bliss 525 is a family owned and operated restaurant and bar, open daily for lunch and dinner. Please try this restaurant. You will have a delightful time. Go to www.bliss525.com for more information. Thanks so much Nancy.

Names & positions

An auto racing fan-turned-travel-agent — Chris Pook — was about to put the city on the international sports map and spark a business, travel and financial renaissance that continues today.

Barely 18 months earlier, Pook had beaten all the odds and naysayers by staging the first Long Beach Grand Prix, a Formula 5000 race won by Brian Redman that attracted more than 46,000 race fans and curiosity seekers. He followed that only six months later by staging a Formula One race, won by Switzerland’s Clay Regazzoni, that was a moderate success.

Now, at 4:30 a.m., it was financial crunch time. With a pack of creditors snapping at his heels, Pook desperately needed a high-profile F/One race that would be watched by countless millions worldwide and – he hoped – packed grandstands in Long Beach.

He got it. With some help from a tough, diminutive Italian-American from Nazareth, PA. Mario Andretti, who avoided a first-lap multi-car collision, then went on to outduel F/One stars Jody Scheckter and NikiLauda to become the first American to win a F/One race in a U.S. Grand Prix.

“Mario’s victory really changed the whole image of the race,” says Jim Michaelian, now the President and CEO of the Grand Prix Association of Long Beach and the race’s financial officer in 1978. “We made the New York Times, Sports Illustrated and the race was all over the local and national news.”

For the next six years, a decidedly international ambience settled over the city each Spring. Romantic car marques like Ferrari, Renault and Brabham shared headlines with equally-romantic, internationally-famous drivers like Jacques Laffite, Emerson Fittipaldi and Nelson Piquet.

Several years passed and, change came to Long Beach. Downtown, boarded-up buildins were being replaced by office buildings, restaurants and gleaming new hotels. And, for Chris Pook, it was Financial Crunch Time II.
In 1983, faced with increasing F/One purses, sanctions and shipping charges, Pook was approached by Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART), and signed for the Champ Cars to make their Long Beach debut in 1984.

Once again, Mario Andretti rode to the rescue.

“We weren’t exactly sure if the Champ Cars would have the same mystique for race fans,” says Michaelian. “But we didn’t miss a beat.” Thanks to Mario, who put his Budweiser-Haas Lola under the checkered flag…and again put the race back into headlines around the country.

American names have dominated the streets of Long Beach ever since, winning 14 of 28 races. Al Unser Jr. was the victor here six times, including a remarkable four straight from 1988-91. Mario Andretti visited Victory Circle four times and his son, Michael, is a two-time winner. California’s Jimmy Vasser won the race in 1996.

Still, the race has always managed to retained a little of its original international flavor. Italy’s Alex Zanardi, one of the race’s biggest fan favorites, won back to back in 1997-98. Colombia’s Juan Montoya, now a fixture in the NASCAR Sprint Cup series, in 1999 became the first rookie to win the race before joining the F/One wars, and Brazil’s HelioCastroneves led an all-Brazil 1-2-3 finish in 2001.

And, Canada’s Paul Tracy is a four-time winner here: 1993, 2000, 2003 and 2004. France’s SebastienBourdais won three consecutive Long Beach races from 2005 to 2007.

In June 2005, race team owners Kevin Kalkhoven and Gerald Forsythe purchased the Grand Prix Association of Long Beach, ensuring that the famed seaside circuit would continue operating. In March 2008, the Grand Prix Association of Long Beach signed an agreement with the City of Long Beach to continue running races through 2015 with an additional five-year option.

In May 2008, the Grand Prix Association of Long Beach signed a five-year agreement with the INDYCAR to run the IndyCar Series beginning in 2009. Dario Franchitti won the inaugural IndyCar event before a packed house, ensuring the race’s success in the new era. Ryan Hunter-Reay was the first American to win the race since Michael Andretti in 2002 with his 2010 win. England’s Mike Conway took the 2011 race, his first IZOD IndyCar Series win and the second consecutive for team owner Michael Andretti’s Andretti Autosport.

Thus, on April 15, 2012, it’ll be “Gentlemen, start your engines!” for the 38th straight year

3000 Pacific Avenue
Long Beach, California 90806

(562) 981-9200

MEMBERSHIP PRIVILEGES

• Enjoy membership in a prestigious organization with a long history of service.
• Opportunity to volunteer at many different events & show pride in our community.
• Get behind the scenes & be a part of the TOYOTA GRAND PRIX of Long Beach.
• Be a part of the C-300 organization and make Long Beach and Southern California a better place to live.
• Have monthly networking opportunities at the Board of Governors meeting
• Receive tickets to the TOYOTA GRAND PRIX of Long Beach.*
• Attend a private catered party at the end of race weekend.
• Wear a signature red jacket with pride.

MEMBERSHIP OBLIGATIONS

• Attend “New Member” orientation.
• Attend monthly Board of Governors meetings.
• (Third Wednesday of each month).
• Select and participate in a C-300 sub committee.
• Staff grandstands on Saturday and Sunday of TOYOTA GRAND PRIX race weekend.
• Work the LA AUTO SHOW and at least 1 other TOYOTA GRAND PRIX promotion per year.
• Read and abide by the C-300 by laws.
• After first year, purchase signature Members’ RED COAT.

And, they’ll be the first to tell you they’re having fun doing it!

Working closely with the Grand Prix Association of Long Beach, C-300 members on race weekend serve in a variety of capacities, most notably as official grandstand supervisors, their red jackets a beacon to fans who are lost, need a restroom or ATM or want information about downtown restaurants.

As the “fun” part of the weekend, the C-300 hosts hundreds of race fans in the Paddock Club, which just happens to be one of race weekend’s hottest entertainment spots! The Paddock Club’s garden-party atmosphere offers the perfect setting for race fans to enjoy the three-day package of reserved pit row grandstand seats, catered breakfast and lunch on Saturday/Sunday, closed-circuit TV, live entertainment, full no-host bar, and admission to the IndyCar Paddock.

To order Paddock Club tickets, go online at www.gplb.com/ticket_prices.html

However, the C-300′s responsibilities don’t stop when race weekend is over. C-300 members staff the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach booth at the Los Angeles Auto and Orange County Auto Shows and the local Belmont Shore Auto Classics Show. We also march in the Seal Beach, Belmont Shore and Daisy Lane Christmas Parades accompanying the Grand Prix Pace car.

The Committee has been involved in the decoration of the City of Long Beach Tournament of Roses Parade entry. Other non-race related community services are encouraged and have included National Night Out with the Long Beach Police Department, Habitat for Humanity, Special Olympics and the Long Beach Woman’s Shelter.

Each year the group adopts a local charity, helping those less fortunate through a wide variety of year-round fund-raising events.

Check our activities section for meetings, membership mixers, or other fun events in the area.

If you’d like to be part of one of Long Beach’s most dynamic organizations (not to mention joining in on all the fun!) call the Committee of 300 at (562) 981-9200 or e-mail us at office@redcoat.com

Also like us at www.facebook.com or search Committee of 300 of Long Beach, Inc/