The Lake Chapala Society is in a pickle.

I have been a member of LCS for more than half a century, seeing it go through ups and downs over those five decades. It has survived internal conflicts, public controversies, good and bad economic times, and deep troubles during the Covid pandemic. What is happening right now suggests LCS is facing its first potential existential crisis.

When I first joined LCS, it was headquartered in a hole-in-the-wall locale on Chapala’s Avenida Madero.  Regular activities essentially boiled down to running an English-language library and monthly luncheon meetings that were more social in nature than about LCS business.

A major turning point was the 1983 move to the north quarter of the Neill James estate. She bequeathed the entire property to LCS before she died in 1994, apparently thanks to some dubious arm-twisting by the board president. But she was coaxed into doing the society and the community a huge favor. Had the sprawling piece of land fallen into other hands, it might have been turned into an enormous condo complex by now.

Other significant milestones include the 1991 legalization of the LCS charter as a non-profit Asociación Civil; acquisition of satellite properties, including the house bequeathed by Ed Wilkes that now houses the education center named after him; and the 2010 hire of Terry Vidal as the first executive director, who led the adoption of a new constitution and a comprehensive set of internal policies and procedures.

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