Chapala’s DIF family services agency is giving a boost to its satellite center in San Antonio Tlayacapan by sponsoring expanded programs coordinated by its newly appointed director Ramiro Renteria.
Just three weeks after taking the helm, Renteria pulled together a modest cultural festival held Monday, June 10 to tie into the town’s annual festivities honoring patron saint San Antonio de Padua.
Chapala First Lady and honorary DIF President Marisela Navarro, Executive Director Olga Ramirez and town administrator Rosa Maria Lechuga were on hand for a ribbon-cutting to kick off the event.
Local housewives prepared hors d’oeures platters, a buffet of sumptuous taco fillings served with freshly made tortillas, and jugs of chilled agua fresca drinks.The gathering featured an exhibit of watercolors, acrylics and mixed media work by local artist Jose Duran who offers a drawing and painting workshop at the San Antonio facility on Monday afternoons, 4 to 6 p.m. In his free time Duran continues the process of completing a mural on the exterior of the town’s Delegacion office that will depict a lake scene, village landmarks and pre-Hispanic motifs.
The group of women who take part in the center’s dressmaking workshop displayed a selection of their handwork, including blouses, skirts, dresses, two piece ensembles, children’s outfits and a handsome infant’s baptismal gown.
For musical entertainment nine youngsters enrolled in the upstart Boy’s Banda belted out three well rehearsed numbers, closing their public debut with a rousing rendition of Tequila, performed complete with turn-around dance steps.
Instructor Alonso Estrada, a graduate of the University of Guadalajara’s School of Music, employs the Bruce Pearson method to teach the boys how to play clarinet, trumpet and trombone. With plans in the works to initiate a new beginner’s group, he is on the lookout for donations of instruments for in-coming pupils.
Other group activities offered at DIF San Antonio include aerobics and dance classes, workshops on making piñatas, ceramic crafts and decorative gelatins. Among the on-going family service programs are psychological consultations available on Mondays, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.; free eye exams, offered Tuesdays, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.; and special attention for senior citizens, scheduled for Thursdays, noon.