Light in the pockets, Rancho Palos Verdes brews up a plan to finance celebration.

TOAST TO THE TOWN: The Budweisers and Millers of the world are all tied up with beach-town volleyball tournaments and surfing championships.

But who needs them? Rancho Palos Verdes has a brew all its own.

This month, RPV 20 Golden Lager will debut in peninsula liquor stores, supermarkets, bars and restaurants. The beer, to be sold over the next year, honors the city’s 20th anniversary.

Five cents from each bottle or glass sold goes to a private, nonprofit group that is raising funds to finance the 20th anniversary celebration, which begins next month.

“The city has no money and is in a tough financial situation,” said Gunther W. Buerk, one of the owners of the Southern California Brewing Co. in Torrance, which is making the beer. “It’s an easy way to raise money and promote the city celebration.”

Brewed at Alpine Village, the beer also is sold as the microbrewery’s namesake label, Alpine Village Hofbrau Lager. For RPV, graphics designer Don Kracke created a blue label bearing a swinging heart logo.

That is the original cattle brand registered in 1839 by Jose Loreto and Juan Sepulveda, who owned the Rancho de los Palos Verdes.

Three cases and seven kegs of beer were sold when the beer debuted at the city’s Fourth of July celebration.

There was hesitation at first, even though bottles went for $2 each, on par with other brands.

“People at first were worried,” said Buerk, who also served as one of RPV’s founding councilmen. “Then they came back for more.”

Wine drinkers won’t be forgotten. The RPV 20 Project plans a private label Chardonnay as well. But don’t look for grape stompers anywhere near here. The wine is coming from a Napa Valley vineyard.

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FREE GILLEY: Just a month after being rescued from a gill net in King Harbor in Redondo Beach, a sea lion will be set free on Monday. But not before getting at least a few more minutes of fame.

TV crews are expected to videotape the release of the sea lion, nicknamed Gilley, who, during his stay at the Marine Mammal Care Center in San Pedro, has recovered from deep cuts around his jaw and mouth. The center uses a 365-gallon pool as a temporary rehab site.

“He’s done quite well,” center Director Don Zumwalt said. “It’s amazing how deep the cut was, and now you can barely see his injuries.”

Gilley will be released midway from San Pedro and Catalina Island, along with several other sea lions. He also has been tagged for identification.

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RUDY REQUESTS REP: Los Angeles City Councilman Rudy Svorinich Jr. has asked Mayor Richard Riordan for a full-time mayoral field representative in the Harbor area.

Svorinich said the Harbor area has not had a full-time rep from City Hall in three or four years and that the region badly needs one.

“Your appointment of a field representative would greatly increase the Harbor area’s participation in local government with the city’s executive branch,” Svorinich said in a letter to Riordan.

“The people of the Harbor area’s tax dollars warrant equal representation from the executive branch,” Svorinich continued. “We have two vacant offices in the San Pedro Municipal Building with the mayor’s name on the door--let’s get a body to go with the furniture.”

No word yet from Riordan.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“There is no doubt that I should be doing this for the rest of my life. It’s health and wealth.”

--Max Williams, 61, Australia’s largest distributor of Sunrider International’s herbal health food and cosmetic products. He was among 3,000 people who attended the opening of the company’s new world headquarters in Torrance.