Cookoff
The 13th Annual American Legion Auxiliary Unit 7 Chili Cookoff is set for Thursday, January 10. Cocktails begin at 4 p.m. and dinner at 5 p.m. The menu will include chili, homemade corn bread, cole slaw and ice cream for dessert. Tickets are 80 pesos in advance. Those who participate in the contest pay only 40 pesos.
This is a “no rules” competition with first, second and third awards to the winners, decided by outside judges. To enter the contest, call Victoria Schmidt at the Legion (376-765-2259) or Sharon Ottsman at 765-4795.
American Legion Post 7 is located at Morelos 114 in Chapala.
LCS seminar
The seminar set for January 8 at noon in the Lake Chapala Society (LCS) Sala will be chaired by Bill Frayer.
In the TED talk podcast “Dare to Disagree,” Margaret Heffernan suggests that most people instinctively avoid conflict, but as she demonstrates, good disagreement is central to progress. She illustrates (sometimes counterintuitively) how the best partners aren’t echo chambers and how great research teams, relationships and businesses allow people to deeply disagree. Heffernan blogs for the Huffington Post and BNET.com and is a Visiting Professor of Entrepreneurship at Simmons College in Boston and the Executive in Residence at Babson College. This seminar is open to all LCS members.
Tea Party
The Lakeside Tea Party will hold its monthly meeting on Tuesday, January 8, 4 p.m. at Sunrise Café in Riberas del Pilar. The discussion will center o the “out-of-control” spending culture in Washington, D.C. For more information contact Karen Cage at 766-5047 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Democrats
The Chapala chapter of Democrats Abroad will meet Monday, January 14, 4 p.m. at La Nueva Posada. Maureen Jones, former election judge in Texas, will give a talk entitled “How’s Your Democracy Working for You?”
Democrats Abroad is also on the lookout for subjects members would like to have presented at future meetings. They are looking for speakers and suggestions for topics.
Election campaigns are coming in the next few months and Democrats Abroad is also seeking volunteers to fill various offices. This is a great opportunity to become involved and to influence future activities. Contact publicity chairperson Lois Schroff at 766-5606.
Shrine dine
The next Dine with the Shrine event will be on Thursday, January 17 at Hotel La Nueva Posada (Donato Guerra 9, Ajijic). Special lunches and dinners will be served from noon to 8 p.m. Hosts Michael and Maria Eager have planned two great entrees at a cost of only 125 pesos. The first is grilled chicken breast topped with coriander and manchego cheese served on a bed of rice with mixed vegetables. The second choice is sea bass with Veracruz sauce served with rice and vegetables. Tips, drinks, salad and dessert are not included.
The restaurant will donate 100 percent of the special lunch and dinner sales to the Lake Chapala Shrine Club to benefit the Club’s activities, most importantly helping Lakeside kids with medical needs.
Reservations may be made by calling (376) 766-1444 or by stopping at the restaurant. Please indicate that you will be coming for the special Shriner dinner. Get a group together and come and have a look at the brand new Las Cupulas dining room at La Nueva Posada.
Community support has made it possible for the Shrine Club to help nearly 500 children in the last six years at a cost of more than 1.2 million pesos. Your continuing support of the Dine with the Shrine program is greatly appreciated and the Shriners are looking forward to seeing you all on January 17.
The movies
To celebrate Three Kings Day, Steve Cross and Fernando Gomez, owners and operators of Casa las Flores B&B will treat all 100 children and their teachers from the Lakeside School of the Deaf and Children with Special Needs to a movie at the Plaza Interlago Movie Space on January 8.
The guys would really appreciate any donations of small, simple toys (coloring books and crayons are good, too) wrapped with gender and age designation on the outside. The children at the school range in age from 5 to 15 years old and have varying degrees of disabilities. Presents can be dropped off at the Casa las Flores B&B at (West) Zaragoza 38 in Ajijic or can be taken to the movie theater at noon on January 8. The phone number at the B&B is 766-5493.
Theological institute
Lakeside Presbyterian Church has officially licensed and registered the Instituto Teologico del Lago (Lakeside Institute of Theology) with the government of Mexico. The seminary-level courses provided are designed for Christian growth for both lay people and those intending to serve as full-time ministers. The Institute is also certified to license ministers, an option for those completing the masters-level programs.
New classes begin the week of January 7 and include “New Testament Survey,” “New Testament Theology” and “Spiritual Disciplines of the Christian Faith.”
There is no cost for attending the classes, but if you wish to pursue a certificate or degree the Institute requires that you purchase the textbooks for the courses. Find out more at www.LITChapala.org. To get further details or to register for one or more of the classes, please call or email Ross Arnold at (376) 766-1238 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Christ Church Anglican
Christ Church Anglican Fellowship will celebrate the Feast of the Epiphany on January 6 with the Holy Eucharist Rite II at the Little Chapel by the Lake at 9:30 a.m. The theme of Father Danny Borkowski’s sermon is “Stargazers,” based on Matthew 2:1-12. There is a time of join fellowship for the congregations of Christ Church and the Little Chapel by the Lake after the 9:30 a.m. service and before the 11:15 a.m. service for the congregation of Little Chapel by the Lake.
St. Andrew’s Anglican
“Epiphany” – there’s a church word for you! It means “manifestation” and it’s a post-Christmas season that focuses on the various ways in which Jesus’ true identity was “made manifest” to others in such a way as to open their eyes and change them. Staring with the visit of the Persian Magi, the season concludes with the spooky vision on the Mount of Transfiguration. It all begins this week when Rector Winston Welty uses Dorothy, the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodsman and the Cowardly Lion as examples of what it means to journey, like the Wise Men, through the wilderness and mystery of our own lives, until our eyes are finally opened to the life-changing realization of who God is and what it means to be at home.
Worship at St. Andrew’s takes place at 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. with refreshments and fellowship between the services. The Church is located at Calle San Lucas 19, just one block south of the Animal Shelter in Riberas del Pilar.
Unitarians
The Lake Chapala Unitarian Universalist Fellowship is very happy to announce the second Sunday at Lakeside for their first visiting minister from the UUA International Headquarters in the United States. Sunday, January 6, The Reverend Eric Cherry, International Resources Director of the Unitarian Universalist Association, will give the talk, “One Heart, One Faith.” The service will celebrate the benefits of international engagement with people of faith, and how Unitarian Universalist is a Faith without Borders. The service will include a Comunion del Chocolate. Mexican UU church leaders from Mexico City, Guadalajara, San Miguel de Allende and Puerto Vallarta will be at Lakeside to join in the service.
Following the service there will be a potluck luncheon and time to visit with Reverend Cherry. The Lake Chapala Unitarian Universalist Fellowship meets each Sunday at 10:30 a.m. at Sta. Margarita 113 in Riberas del Pilar. For more information call 766-1119 or email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Presbyterians
Sunday, January 6 is Epiphany (Three Kings Day). Pastor Ross Arnold of Lakeside Presbyterian Church will deliver a message entitled, “The Humility of Kings,” with the text taken from Matthew 2:1-12. Worship begins at 10 a.m. The weekly Friday morning Bible study continues in the book of James on January 11. The church is located on the mountain side of the Carretera just west of S&S Auto and Bubba’s Restaurant.