Ajijic’s La Bodega restaurant will host a romantic dinner with live entertainment by La Rondalla de Chapala Friday, May 18, 6 p.m., as a fundraiser for local pilot-in-training Julio Raygoza Villanueva.
The young man is set to return to Merida, Yucatán next weekend to continue practical training at the iFly Escuela de Vuelo, an affiliate of Mexico’s Direction of Civil Aeronautics where he is pursuing a license as a commercial pilot of fixed-wing airplanes. He made his first solo flight one year ago, but still needs to complete 200 hours of flight time to earn his professional wings, at a staggering cost of 2,500 pesos per hour.
A humanitarian by nature, prior to entering flight school Raygoza served the community as a long-time volunteer at Cruz Roja Chapala and member of the Civil Protection and Fire Department staff. He is the son of local attorney Blanca Villanueva and Javier Raygoza, founding director of the Orquesta Típica de Chapala, head honcho of lakeside’s annual Harp Festival and publisher of the local Spanish language weekly Página.
La Rondalla de Chapala is an all-male vocal and acoustic instrumental group renowned for its heart-soothing repertoire of traditional Mexican music. Their performance starts at 7 p.m. La Bodega’s special menu for the occasion will feature Chicken Cordon Bleu. Tickets, priced at 250 pesos per person, are on sale at the Página office, upstairs at Avenida Madero 415-A, next door to the OXXO store at Chapala’s main intersection.
Persons interested in sponsoring an hour or more of Raygoza’s flight time are encouraged to contact his dad at 765-3535, 33-3559-3690 (cel), or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..">.