Laguna Seca Raceway was established in 1957 and is a world class road racing track for automobiles and motorcycles. Several changes have recently been completed in a $22 million construction project including a new pedestrian bridge and track resurfacing. In July, there will be a major shift in the county ownership structure. The track is the number one revenue creating venue for Monterey County, generating tourism, retail spending, etc. Our speaker will discuss not only all these new developments but also current operations and behind the scenes color. Accompanying our featured speaker will be two other members of the car racing community, Bruce Canepa and Ross Merrill. 

John Narigi assumed his current position in late 2019 after 26 years as President and GM of the Monterey Plaza Hotel and Spa. He has served on numerous boards, such as the Monterey Peninsula Chamber of Commerce, the Monterey Peninsula Convention and Visitors Bureau, and the Monterey Hospitality Association Executive Committee. John has received various awards including “Hospitality Professional of the Year” and “Outstanding General Manager of the Year.” He is from the Northwest, graduated from Gonzaga, and lives in Corral de Tierra.

Bruce Canepa has businesses dealing from design and development to historical/collector car sales, restoration and racing. He has raced Super Modified and Sprint Cars, and various other racing cars, and was Rookie of the Year and Most Improved Driver in three different categories. His team was 3rd in the 24 Hours of Daytona and in his first Pikes Peak International Hill Climb he placed 2nd. Bruce has the course record that still stands there for the tandem axle big rig event. And he still races in historic events.

Ross Merrill is CEO of Merrill Farms in Salinas Valley, 8,000 acres of produce crops. He is heavily involved in car racing, restores Porsches, and is President of the Laguna Seca Raceway Foundation. He still races.

"Renewed Competition in Space from Russia and China"

This presentation will cover renewed competition in space: China and Russia’s development of weapons to attack U.S. satellites and security threats in space, the U.S. advantage of its commercial space sector and military space alliances, and how the U.S. is developing some critical comparative advantages.

Clay Moltz is a professor in the Department of National Security Affairs and in the Space Systems Academic Group at the Naval Post Graduate School. He has served as dean there in the International and Defense Studies school, and chairman of the Department of National Security Affairs. Before his stint at NPS  he worked in the U.S. Senate, at UC San Diego, and the Monterey Institute of International Studies. Moltz has also served as an advisor to NASA-Ames Research Center. His Ph.D. is from UC Berkeley. His books include The Politics of Space Security, Crowded Orbits, and Asia’s Space Race, and he is co-author of Nuclear Weapons and Nonproliferation, Preventing Nuclear Meltdown, and The North Korean Nuclear Program. Moltz' honors include an award for Significant Research and Sustained Contributions to the Navy and DoD, and for Interdisciplinary Achievement.

"Aerobatic Aviation Stunt Flying"
Sean D. Tucker, World Champion Aerobatic Aviator

Sean Tucker is one of the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum’s 25 “Living Legends of Flight.” He is in the National Aviation Hall of Fame which tags him as the “Ambassador of Aerobatics.” Sean has the Charles E. Yeager International Aeronautical Achievement Award and is president and co-founder of the Bob Hoover Academy for underserved teens to get them engaged in aviation and scientific, tech, engineering and math education. He established the Academy of Aviation Safety in 1997.

Tucker has flown more than 1,600 performances at over 575 air shows. He practices his air show routine as many as 3 times a day during the season, and follows a rigorous physical training schedule working out more than 340 days a year. And he has summited 4 of the world’s legendary Seven Summits, including Mt. Kilimanjaro. You may be familiar with his Oracle Challenger aerobatic airplane that he flies in airshows and is destined for the Smithsonian Museum.  Its top speed is 300 mph and it is disassembled, inspected and rebuilt before each airshow.

"Men's Health: A Primary Care Perspective"

JP Meckel is a Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine at the Montage Medical Group. He focuses on office procedures, addiction medicine, and preventative care. Dr. Meckel has a Mechanical Engineering degree and a Master’s in Biomedical Engineering from Cal Poly. He attended medical school at Midwestern Univ. in Arizona and did Family Medicine residency at Ventura County Medical Center. Jon-Peter comes to us highly recommended from the Montage Group board to speak on a topic of considerable interest to our members, health matters that males confront, and how to practice preventative measures.

His presentation will focus on common male health challenges and how to prevent or minimize them. There will be ample time for Q and A.

Presentation Notes

"China, Xi Jinping and Security Threats in Asia"

Michael Glosny is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of National Security Affairs at the Naval Post Graduate School. He is also an Adjunct Senior Research Fellow, and previously was China Security Affairs Fellow, at the National Defense University in Washington, DC. His expertise centers around Chinese foreign policy and East Asian security.

Michael received his Ph.D. from MIT and has been a Fellow at Harvard’s Center for Science and Technology and its Institute for Strategic Studies. He focuses on Chinese foreign and security policy and U.S. alliances in East Asia.

Currently, he is working on a book dealing with the effect of China’s grand strategy on the response by the other major powers. Michael has spent more than 3 years in China and Taiwan and speaks fluent Mandarin.

Here is a link to presentation slides.

"Putin's Russia and the Ukraine War"

Aleksandar Matovski, Ph.D, Department of Graduate Affairs, Naval Post Graduate School, will bring us an informative presentation with visual aid PowerPoint slides. Alek is a recognized expert on the subject. He is stationed at NPS but is also an Associate at the Harvard University Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies. His focus is on strategic behavior of authoritarian regimes with emphasis on the former Soviet Union. In addition to his PhD from Cornell University, he holds an MA in War Studies from King’s College in London, and a law degree. Alek is from Eastern Europe and was a National Security Advisor there with the Macedonian government. He speaks Russian fluently and has been in Russia some 30 times. Do not miss this timely talk.

Here is a link to the presentation slides.

The Carmel Pine Cone's Jerry Gervase will disclose how he became a newspaper columnist with little experience beyond having a paper route.

For almost a quarter of a century Jerry peddled medical books in several states. Among the titles he sold was "The Kinsey Report." He regrets that the authors never selected him to participate in any of their research projects. He became a Regional Manager in Los Angeles for a large multi-hundred dollar medical instruments company. He left when his boss balked at relocating Jerry's office from LA to the rear deck of Kimo's Bar in Lahaina, Maui. He was fortunate to have extraordinary teachers who fanned into flames the embers of potential they saw inside him.

He is a widower with three astonishing children, two nurses and a teacher, who continue to amaze him. He has been favored with a small group of steadfast friends whose loyalty he counts as his personal wealth. He shares his life with a lovely talented singer, an author, and a voice teacher, all in one person, who is his best friend, linguistic sparring partner, and whose constancy is an ongoing blessing.

For the past 18 years he was been writing a newspaper column which he describes as, "Once a week I get to empty out a cluttered mind."

Jeannine Pacioni is the current District Attorney for the County of Monterey, Elected in 2019, she is the first female District Attorney in Monterey County. She received her Juris Doctorate Degree from the University of San Diego, School of Law in 1990 and after serving as Deputy District Attorney for Kern County, joined the Monterey District Attorney's Office in 1992. Serving until 2001, she left to serve with several Monterey County legal organizations and is an elected Board Member of the California District Attorney Association.

Ms. Pacioni has devoted her entire legal career to the pursuit of justice while handling virtually every type of criminal case prosecuted in Monterey County. For 20 years as a prosecutor, she has tenaciously represented victims of crime in numerous high-profile cases involving murder, gang crimes, vehicular manslaughter, assault, robbery, child molestation, adult sexual assault and edler abuse.

Jill is the President/Executive Director of MATE Inspiration for Innovation and the Principal Investigator of two National Science Foundation grants at Monterey Peninsula College. Highlights of her 24 years with MATE include working with the Marine Technology Society (MTS) ROV Committee to establish the global student MATE ROV Competition and coordinating the development of MATE’s Underwater Robotics: Science, Design & Fabrication textbook.

Download slide presentation here

The speaker for our August meeting will be Dick Crowell, who will present a program titled, “Bye Bye Blackbird” about the family of amazing spy planes designed and built by Lockheed Aircraft during the Cold War era. Dick is an ardent military history buff and enjoys the arcane stories of events and hardware used in warfare.