Speak Spanish
The Lake Chapala Society (LCS) has announced the start of their next term of Spanish-language classes that will begin Monday, July 9. They will cover seven weeks of study ending on August 24.
The LCS Spanish-language program uses the Warren Hardy Spanish Language Course that is designated for adult students. Several levels of learning are available as students progress in the program.
Registration for the upcoming classes is currently underway at the LCS office, Tuesdays and Fridays from 10 a.m. and July 3, 5 and 6 on the LCS campus on the blue umbrella patio.
“Introduction to Spanish” is a casual beginners’ class that covers the Spanish alphabet, simple vocabulary and phrases to use about town when shopping and other useful information on the Lakeside area and Mexican culture.
These classes are held each month starting the first Tuesday of the month and going for four weeks. July classes will start July 3 and are held at LCS from noon until 1:30 p.m. Learning materials are provided to the student. The tuition is 150 pesos. Sign-up is available now at the LCS office from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Saturday.
LCS is located at Calle 16 de Septiembre 16A. The telephone number is (376) 766-1140. Class schedules, LCS membership requirement, tuition, policies, materials needed and additional information can be found on the LCS website at www.lakechapalasociety.org.
Locomotive 4th
The Lake Chapala Shrine Club “Loco Motive” Unit is sponsoring a traditional Fourth of July “All You Can Eat Hot Dog Fiesta” at the old train station museum in Chapala (Gonzalez Gallo 1500). The hotdogs will be Costco all beef and served with mustard, onions, sauerkraut and ketchup. Enjoy the dogs with cold drinks from the cash bar.
The event runs on Wednesday, July 4, from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Tickets are 100 pesos each. The proceeds from this fundraiser will go towards the cost of building a landscaped stone base for a permanent exhibit of the model trains donated to the Shrine Club by the model builder David Netherton. The party will feature an exhibit and running demonstration of the model trains. Netherton will be on hand with an interactive discussion on the history of the 1920s Chapala to Guadalajara railroad. Railway engineer caps and wood train whistles will also be on sale.
This event supports the long-term exhibition of articles used in the heyday of Mexico’s railroads. This exhibit is on loan to the Gonzalez Gallo Cultural Center from the Mexican National Railway Museum in Pueblo.
Tickets are available at the O&A Investment Office (across the street from Walmart). You can also get them by calling 766-4481, finding ticket vendors at the Wednesday tianguis in Ajijic or from Perry King at 763-5126.
Medical insurance
The meeting of the Lake Chapala Council of the Navy League held on June 16 saw guest speakers from MEDIJIC medical clinic in Ajijic, Dr. Al Dickson and Dr. Ian Fischman, giving an excellent presentation.
The 25 attendees were mostly interested in what insurance the clinic is accepting. The clinic has a viable program with military insurance carrier Tricare and will submit claims directly for eligible patients. Their website for more information is www.medijic.com. You can also call them at 766-0399. The office is located in Ajijic across the highway from Bruno’s restaurant.
Need new stuff
The Love in Action Children’s Center kitchen staff recently attended classes in food preparation and nutrition. From those classes, the staff realized that they have big needs in the LiA kitchen. Their oven doesn’t work and isn’t fixable and having a functioning oven would mean being able to bake rather than fry food. They have one average-sized refrigerator for a center that prepares three meals a day for 65 people. This keeps them from buying as much fresh produce as they should because of the lack of cool storage space. The freezer is very old so they can’t purchase food in bulk that would save time and money and they don’t have a microwave oven or a food processor … so here’s the list: a new commercial sized stove, a new big fridge, a new freezer, a food processor and all the baking pans and baking sheets and other implements that go with them … and a microwave. If you can help contact the director Summer Phillips at 765-7409.
Extra hands
While most organizations gear down over the summer months, Cruz Roja is in full swing, providing emergency ambulance and clinic services for Lakeside. Right now they really need your helping hands. If you have a few spare hours, Cruz Roja has a job that will fit you to a tee. From computer savvy to ticket selling, organizing events and hosting bus trips to collecting donations and manning the Cruz Roja table at LCS, Cruz Roja has a place for you. Chase away the summer sloth. Call the president of volunteers, Debbie Thompson at 766-5728 or show up at the general meeting on July 11, 2 p.m. in the LCS gazebo.
Bus trips
LCS has two bus trips planned for July. The first is on Wednesday, July 11 to Tonala and Tlaquepaque. The bus leaves promptly at 9 a.m. from the La Floresta sculpture area. Travelers will stay in Tonala until 12:30 p.m. when the bus will take them to Tlaquepaque to stay there until 4 p.m.
The trip to Guadalajara’s Galerias Mall is set for Thursday, July 26. leaving at 9 a.m. The bus will be parked in the Galerias parking lot until 12:30 p.m. It will then move to the Costco and Mega parking area, leaving there at 3:30 p.m. for the return trip.
Sign up at the LCS table Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. the price for each trip is 200 pesos.
Benefit steaks
A special Rotary Club benefit event will be held all day Friday, June 29 at Hacienda’s Ajijic Steak House.
The net proceeds for the day will be donated to the Rotary Club Community Service Project Fund. Go have a great steak and help Rotary help the community.
Presbyterians
While Pastor Ross Arnold is on vacation, Arturo Smith will be preaching at Lakeside Presbyterian Church. Smith’s sermon on Sunday, June 24 will be “Healthiness versus Holiness,” using 2 Corinthians 7:11-22 as the text. There will be no Friday morning Bible study on June 29 but the study will start up again on July 6. The church is located on the mountain side of the Carretera just west of S&S Auto and Bubba’s Restaurant. Worship begins at 10 a.m.
Christ Church Anglican
Christ Church Anglican Fellowship will celebrate the Fourth Sunday after Pentecost on June 24, 10 a.m. with Holy Eucharist Rite in the ground floor area at Manix Restaurant located at Ocampo 57 in Ajijic. Father Danny Borkowski’s sermon will be “Fear and Faith,” based on Mark 4:35-41.
St. Andrew’s Anglican
“Amar es Servir” – to love is to serve. Love that is only emotion based is never complete and never enough. That is the insistence of this week’s sermon at St. Andrew’s, a sermon that also faces, head on, the inadequacy and failure of human love alone. Is it really true that “love is all we need?” Yes and no. For both the yes and the no join St. Andrew’s congregation for worship at 10 a.m. Sunday. “Yes,” you’ll find a warm welcome, and “No” we never ask you to check your brain at the door. Worship each week is followed by a time of refreshment, welcome and fellowship. St. Andrew’s is located at Calle San Lucas 19, just a block south of the Carretera in Riberas del Pilar.
Unitarians
The Lake Chapala Unitarian Universalist Fellowship (LCUUF) meets each Sunday, 10:30 a.m. at Santa Margarita 113 in Riberas del Pilar. As part of the UU ethics theme, the service on June 24 is titled “Can a life ever be not worth living?: Ethics and Euthanasia.” Presenter Mardele Harland will explore this controversial subject with reference to two famous Canadian cases, those of Sue Rodriguez and Robert Latimer. A coffee hour get-together will follow. For more information please call 766-1119 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. LCUUF is a welcoming congregation.