Just found out about this...

Body Glove Co-Founder Bob Meistrell to Speak at
Dive N Surf Dive Team Meeting on February 17

Legendary SCUBA Diver and Business Entrepreneur Shares Memories
of his Long Career as a South Bay Waterman

REDONDO BEACH, CALIF. — February 2, 2010 —Bob Meistrell, co-founder with his twin brother Bill of Body Glove, Inc., and Dive N’ Surf, a local retailer serving the South Bay since 1953, will speak at the Dive N’ Surf Dive Team meeting Wednesday evening, February 17, 2010. Held at Delzano’s by the Sea banquet hall on the Redondo Beach Pier, the meeting offers a rare opportunity for the public to enjoy the stories and musings of this local South Bay legend.
The Meistrell twins developed their love of water at age 12 when they devised a makeshift diving bell out of an old wooden crate and went “diving” in the pond on their family’s Missouri farm. They relocated to Manhattan Beach in the 1940s and became active in the growing dive and surf communities. The boys became L.A. County lifeguards and SCUBA divers, and were two of the world’s first certified SCUBA instructors. As the need to protect themselves and fellow surfers and divers from the cold Southern California waters grew, Bob and Bill developed an insulating material they called neoprene and invented the first practical wetsuit in the 1950s. Body Glove Inc. was founded shortly thereafter.
An entertaining, humorous speaker, Bob Meistrell, 81, will recount tales of SCUBA diving and surfing along the Southern California coastline for nearly half a century. An active diver to this day, Meistrell celebrated his 81st birthday last July with a 162-foot dive off the Redondo Beach coastline. The 162-foot depth was chosen because it represented one foot for each of Bob and his brother Bill’s 81 years.
Admission to the meeting is $11, and includes a taco bar buffet dinner. Check-in begins at 6:15 p.m. The Dive Team meeting and dinner begin at 7 p.m. A cash bar will be open for beverage purchases.
This event is open to the public. Everyone attending receives a free raffle ticket for Dive N’ Surf door prizes. A second, $2 raffle will be held for a brand-new SCUBA tank.
Delzano’s by the Sea banquet hall is located at 179 North Harbor Drive, Redondo Beach, CA 90277, on the International Boardwalk at the north end of the Redondo Beach Pier. Park in the Redondo Beach Marina lot (enter on Harbor Drive across from Gold's Gym), as parking validation is available for this lot only. Delzano’s can be reached at 310-374-7525 or go to http://www.delzanos.com.
Dive N’ Surf is located at 504 N. Broadway, Redondo Beach, CA 90277. For more information on SCUBA diving classes, equipment sales, or the Dive N’ Surf dive team, contact the Dive N’ Surf SCUBA Department at 310-372-8423.
—END—