Who are the Los Serenos de Point Vicente? By Local Resident, Military Historian and Book Author Jim Shneer
Los Serenos holiday party 2021, photo credit: Brenda Cash
Quite simply, Los Serenos (losserenos.org ) is an organization of over one hundred docents and volunteers who contribute thousands of hours and dollars every year to enrich the experience of life on the Palos Verdes Peninsula. In conjunction with the establishment of the Point Vicente Interpretive Center (PVIC) (Point-Vicente-Interpretive-Center) by the city of Rancho Palos Verdes (RPV), the organization was formed in 1984 to provide a broad base of knowledge about the contents of the new museum's collection.
Prospective docents must attend a training program of about 60 hours spread over a five month period on such diverse topics as marine biology, local plant identification, local Native American life and culture, local history, local geology and paleontology, the museum's collection, and the skills needed to be an effective docent. There have been 55 adult docent classes since the program's inception.
“Sam Eric” Wilson, Bob Fenton, Patricia Edie, Jo Labor, Dennis Benner, Nick Stiassni, Sherry Weinberg, Sheri Benator
Rosalie Green, Dorian Harris, Teri Lynn
Docent class graduation, photo credit: Jim Shneer
More recently, Los Serenos has introduced a training program for high school aged docents.
David Kwon, Noah Johnson, Eric Park, Mary Julienne, Ashley Schmid, Leilani Carancho, Jilian Hunter Junior docent graduation, photo credit: Jim Shneer
Prior to the pandemic, Los Serenos had at least one docent on duty at PVIC every hour it was open to the public, to greet visitors, answer their questions about the collection and conduct impromptu tours.
Among major development projects, small teams of docents have restored an antique whale boat which is on display on PVIC's back patio and the skeleton of a baby gray whale which hangs in the lobby over the main entrance.
Docent restoration of a baby gray whale, photo credit: Jim Shneer
Docents conduct monthly tours around the Peninsula which are free to the public. In addition, any group can request a tour of either the museum itself or Ladera Linda or Abalone Cove and Los Serenos will provide docent guides for it.
Docents training for a public hike, photo credit: Amy Kurino
As part of Los Serenos educational outreach, through our Whale of a World Program, approved Title I schools serving disadvantaged students are given funds to provide these students with free bus transportation to bring them to PVIC for a half day to learn about the museum's displays and to see the ocean and marine life, some for the first time. For the past several years (excluding the pandemic) every 4th grade student in the Palos Verdes Unified School District has attended a half day study program at PVIC which has been coordinated with the schools so that the content complements the in-school curriculum.
Fourth grade program, geology session with Diane Shneer, photo credit: Jim Shneer
The location of PVIC provides a prime viewing location for the annual migration of the eastern Pacific gray whale from the Bering Sea to the lagoons of coastal Baja California and back. Gray whales are visible close to the shore between December and May. During the annual migration docents frequently staff a mobile display station on the back patio to explain about whales in general as well as the story of the gray whale migration.
Docent Joyce Jessoe with the whale wagon, photo credit: Jim Shneer
The biggest annual public event that Los Serenos hosts in conjunction with RPV is the Whale-of-a-Day (WOAD) festival (https://www.whaleofaday.com/ ); a day-long event timed in the spring to facilitate whale watching. In addition to food trucks and museum tours for all, there are games, crafts, inflatables and face painting for children; and for adults, live music performances, a beer and wine bar and a silent auction. Some years WOAD has hosted a mobile touch tank as well as various tame animals and birds. Local public safety agencies including the county fire department, the county sheriff and the US Coast feature their equipment and staff. This year WOAD is on April 9 from 10am to 4pm.
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Overhead view of Whale of a Day celebration at PVIC, photo credit: Jim Shneer
Jim is a frequent lecturer in and around Palos Verdes, a frequent contributor to the Palos Verdes Pulse (palosverdespulse/shneer) and among the books he has authored is Exploring the Military History of Fort MacArthur and Palos Verdes. (Exploring-the-military-history-of-fort-macarthur-and-palos-verdes/paperback). He has been an active Los Serenos docent since 2007. Jim has been the organization's photographer and the photo editor of its monthly newsletter for more than 10 years. He is responsible for maintaining the digital version of the organization's roster and he and his wife Diane, who is also a docent, are responsible for planning educational field trips for Los Serenos members.
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