Mike Marotta is an entertainer, musician, businessman, civic leader and a person who is fun to be around. His stack of newspaper clippings is taller than he stands. His list of awards and achievements stretches even further. Mike has served as chairman of the Monterey Planning Commission, the Downtown Monterey Council, and the Downtown Parking District. He has been director of the Chamber of Commerce and the Monterey Kiwanis Club, C of C Citizen of the year in 1981, and board member of the Monterey Jazz Festival. The list goes on and on.
Mike is a fund-raiser, board joiner and time giver, yet his civic leadership alone is only half of Mike Marotta. Mike has been a musician in a musical family since he was five. At eleven, he was the youngest member of the Musicians' Union. At fourteen he was a radio show musician, and by the time he was sixteen, he was playing nightclubs. His musical journey has led him to Hollywood where he played his accordion with such stars as Roy Rogers and Dale Evans, The Riders of the Purple Sage and The Sons of the Pioneers.
After his stint in Hollywood, he returned to Monterey to work with his father as a bricklayer during the day, and a musician at night; two full time jobs. During his World War II military service, he formed a band that entertained troops at camps and hospitals throughout the nation.
After the war, Mike met and married his wife, Phyllis and they began their family, consisting of two girls and two boys who are also musically inclined. The musical talent has extended on to his granddaughter as well.
For years, he has been one of the busiest musicians on the Peninsula. However, Mike will tell you that he is not a musician but that he is an entertainer first and foremost. Entertaining people is what he likes to do most in his life. Mike Marotta is a local boy who has reached a place of comfort through his successes as a businessman, yet his real satisfaction comes from playing his accordion and entertaining folks.