Tonight at 7 p.m. Culver City CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) meets in the Rotunda Room at the Veterans’ Memorial Building.. On the agenda will be CERT business and announcements, update on the December 7 and the Sony drills, and guest speaker Jee Kim, MPH, County of Los Angeles Department of Public Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Program. For additional information contact Perry Waldow, President, Culver City CERT Coordinator, Disaster Awareness Training at (310) 349-6575.

Happy (but it doesn’t feel like) winter birthdays to Art Kassan, Ethel Selvester, Eric Johnson, Gerald Weiner, Megan Henke, Freda Lutz, Tom Hayes, Patricia Becton-Cobb, Madeleine Kruger, Yosief Tesfamariam, Angela Ryan, Maha Bazbaz, Rhona Davis, Leslie Taylor, Guillermina Leach, Alonso Corral, Augusto Lopez, Mohammed Ziane, Danny Augusta, Worku Shibeshi, Mariko Dawson Zare, Henry Mateo, Jen Velazquex, Sophie Robertson, Anurag Jain, Olivia Shelton, Lori Boisen, Galia Julius, Christopher Shiple, Assenka Rizova, Michael Pigott, Estella Lorena Vinat, Joey Shanahan, and Lauren Messiah.

Next Monday the Culver City Rock & Mineral Club’s program will feature its ever-popular Silent Auction. Shop Chair Bruce Mensinger will select “good stuff” from the Lapidary Shop’s donated materials, including rocks, minerals, slabs, etc. The items will all be on display and each will have a silent bid sheet. No one’s going to know exactly when the signal to end the bidding will be, but when it happens and your bid is the highest one listed, you win! The CCR&MC meeting begins at 7:30 p.m. in the Multi-Purpose Room of the Veterans Memorial Building, and guests are always welcome.

In the spirit of the “Pass it On” Annual Support Campaign theme, Culver-Palms Family YMCA Exec Darlene Kiyan was telling fellow Rotarians about last Thursday’s Campaign Kickoff Mixer and thanked the members of the Club for theirongoing support of the Y. According to Reciprocator editor Dannie Cavanaugh, “Darlene then told us about a girl who had waited for years to join the Youth in Government program but could not raise the $1,000 needed to participate. Chuck Perelman immediately said that he would donate $100 towards her fees and in an ‘I am Spartacus’ moment, nine more Rotarians volunteered to give $100 each enabling the young woman to be a Youth & Government delegate.” That’s the spirit!!

Parents of teenagers might want to mark their calendars (with a thick, felt-tip

marker) for Wednesday, November 18 when the Friends of the Culver City Youth Health Center present The Terrible Teens? The Doctor is In! Sarah Carpenter, M.D., who is an adolescent specialist at Kaiser Permanente and volunteer doctor at the Culver Youth Health Center will discuss “Teenage Medical Issues.” The program begins at 6:30 p.m. in the Culver high school Library, 4401 Elenda St – and a light meal will be provided. Special honors go out that evening to Olga Leyva-Garcia, the CCYYHC caseworker and receptionist.

They’re off again! The Culver City Chamber of Commerce has another great (business? networking?) trip, this time a 10-day cruise to the Western Mediterranean starting April 23, 2010. The Norwegian Cruise Line's Jade will host the cruise, debarking Barcelona, Spain and sailing off to Monte Carlo, Florence/Pisa, Rome, Naples and Pompeii, and Palma, then returning to Barcelona. The $2,275 per person fee includes all taxes and port charges. (Slightly higher for non-Chamber members) For further details contact the Culver Chamber Travel Coordinator Jaylon Letendre at (310) 287-3854 or jaylon@culvercitychamber.com.

“Holiday Sales of the Week” update: on Friday visit the Culver City Senior Center from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. All items are handmade by Center members. The Center is located at 4095 Overland Ave., corner Culver Blvd. On Saturday hop over to Culver-Palms United Methodist Church’s Annual Christmas Bazaar). Here you’ll find handmade gifts, jewelry, decorations, needlecraft, home-baked goodies and other items. Lunch will also be available for hungry shoppers – soup, chili, tamales, sandwiches and desserts. Sale hours are from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.. The church is located at 4464 Sepulveda Blvd. (next to the Culver-Palms Family YMCA) Round out your weekend on Sunday at the Emblem Club #254 Holiday Bazaar at the Culver City Elks Lodge, 11160 Washington Place, chock-full of gift ideas and food too!

Registered Democrats are always welcome at the general meetings of the Culver City Democratic Club, traditionally held on the second Wednesday (that would be next Wednesday, November 11) of each month. Refreshments are out starting at 6:45 p.m., and the meeting is called to order by President Ronnie Jayne Solomon promptly at 7:00 p.m., always followed by an interesting program. Meetings are held in the Rotunda Room of the Veterans’ Memorial Building 4117 Overland Avenue (at Culver Blvd.)