A 117 year old women's club sets American Mahjong tables for scholarships in Manhattan Beach

Some clubs discover mahjong. Others make room for it in a house that has stood for generations. On Thursday, November 12, the Neptunian Woman's Club of Manhattan Beach will open its clubhouse at 920 Highland Avenue for an afternoon of American Mahjong, and the money raised will go to the club's scholarship program, its charitable giving and its outreach in the community.

According to the club's event page on Givebutter, doors open at 11 in the morning so players can register, look over the raffle prizes and shop a boutique, with play running from 11:30 until 2 in the afternoon. The page calls the day "Mahjong, Mingle and Make a Difference" and promises snacks and drinks to keep everyone going through each game. When Prim looked this morning, the page showed $8,925 raised from 59 supporters, five days before the first tile is turned.

A club older than the city it serves

The Neptunians are not newcomers to raising money for their town. As Easy Reader News reported on the club's 105th birthday, ten women formed the club in May of 1909 with a clear goal: to win Manhattan Beach its independence from the City of Los Angeles. The paper reported that the founders pushed for the town's own schools, water, police and fire department, and that the club opened the first library and the first school in town and designed its first flag. The city was incorporated three years later.

That same report described a club of 245 active members, ranging in age from their thirties to their nineties, including several mother and daughter pairs. Education was the founders' main thrust, a former mayor and longtime member told the paper, and more than a century later the scholarship fund is still where a good share of the club's effort goes. An afternoon at the mahjong table is simply the newest way to fill it.

How the afternoon works

The event page is plain about one thing above all: bring your 2026 card. The organizers say anyone without one will not be seated. The page describes the day as American Mahjong with good company and a little friendly competition, so this is an afternoon for players who already know their way around the card rather than a lesson for first timers.

Alongside admission, the page offers a few extras in the style many charity tournaments have adopted. Raffle tickets are $25 each, for several baskets the page values at $300 to $500 apiece, and a winner does not need to be present to collect. Players may also buy up to two extra Jokers for $50 each, which the page pitches as a way to improve your chances and your bragging rights. That is a fundraising custom set by the hosts for this event, not part of the game itself. A business or a group of friends can sponsor a table for $100 and see their name displayed during play.

The raffle list mentions a spa day, tickets to a speaker series with dinner, and boutique items among the prizes. OOTT is not affiliated with the Neptunian Woman's Club or with any of the prize donors, and OOTT does not sell mahjong sets.

“No card, no play.”Neptunian Woman's Club event page

Prim's view

This is Prim's opinion. There is something deeply fitting about a club founded by ten women who wanted their town to have its own school now inviting the town to play cards and tiles so that young people can go to one. The table has always been a place where women organized quietly and got a great deal done. The Neptunians simply put it on the calendar.

If you play in the South Bay, Prim suggests you find three friends, check that your 2026 card is in your bag, and give a Thursday afternoon to a good cause. If you cannot make it, the raffle does not require you to be in the room. And if you do sit down, Prim would love to hear how the clubhouse treated you.