Bilingual Toastmasters
The English speech contest at the recent meeting of the Lake Chapala Bilingual Toastmasters saw Guy Jobidan take first place and Karuna Gomez Mont second. Jobidan will represent the group at the March 28 competition in Guadalajara.
The group will hold a speech competition in Spanish during the Monday, February 16, 7 to 8:30 p.m. meeting in the Lake Chapala Society (LCS) Sala. The winner will also participate in the Guadalajara event.
Interested participants can contact Jobidan for information in English at (376) 766-5181 or call (33) 1600- 5937 for information in Spanish.
Local actress
Ajijic resident Claudia Blum (left) has been selected to join the cast of “Why Me?”, a Mexican movie directed by Jaime Jimenez Pons. Shown with Blum are, from left, Adriana Molina, director of the Anahuac Norte University school of art; Blum’s mother, local gallery owner Maria di Paola; and Jimenez Pons.
Lakeside Freethinkers
The meeting of the Lakeside Freethinkers on Wednesday, February 18 will focus on defining atheists, agnostics, humanists, skeptics, and freethinkers? Members may also bring up other topics. The lakeside group states their belief that individuals should not accept ideas proposed as truth without recourse to knowledge and reason. They reject belief in the supernatural and rely on science and reason to guide their lives.
Last month’s discussion looked at how religion played a role in the horrific events in Paris and they debated the differences between confrontational atheists and moderate atheists. A book report was presented on “Nailed: Ten Christian Myths That Show Jesus Never Existed at All” by David Fitzgerald.
For information or to attend this or another meeting, 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..">.
Memorial
A memorial to Jacqueline Berry Jones (above), who died last week at the age of 90, will be held during the regular 9 a.m. English Mass at the San Andres Catholic Church in Ajijic on Sunday, February 15. Berry moved to the area 25 years ago and leaves a son, Steve Anderson, of New Hampshire. Berry’s remains will be interred in the columbarium following the service.
Legion Events
American Legion Post 7 in Chapala is cooking this week with two major events featuring vastly different cuisines.
First up is the Chinese New Year celebration set for Thursday, February 19, with cocktails at 3 p.m. and giant selection of Chinese food sure to satisfy those celebrating the year of the ram.
The event menu features spring rolls, sweet and sour pork, chicken fried rice, egg foo young, pork chow mein and sherbet. There are door prizes, a 50-50 drawing and music by Fabian. The cost is 180 pesos with tickets available at the Post or from some members.
Next the Legion eschews the giant area chili contest to host their own event and decide which of the friends of the Post makes the best chili in their own Annual Chili Cook-Off. The Wednesday, February 25 event leads with 3 p.m. cocktails and chili tasting at 5 p.m.
Those attending will pay 50 pesos to net them a sample of each entry and homemade corn bread. Winners in the People’s Choice and Judge’s Choice category will be announced. Those who wish to enter their own chili recipe can pick up an entry form at the Post’s bar.
Post 7 is at Morelos 114 in Chapala.
Black and White
Due to the support from events such as the Friday, February 20 Black and White Ball, the School for Special Children, formerly known as the School for the Deaf, has come a long way in its 35-year history.
Originally the school taught classes to a few students in a converted chicken coop. Today the campus offers education to 100 students with a number of different challenges on a campus featuring well-equipped classrooms.
The benefit Black and White Ball, a popular fundraiser in previous years, has been revived to raise funds to improve the Jocotepec campus and create additional classrooms. The Swing era of the 1940s inspired the theme for the gala event and provides a template for the evening’s music under the stars in Chapala.
Visit Diane Pearl Colecciones and Mia’s Boutique to purchase the few remaining tickets for the elegant event at Villa Encantada in Chapala. For questions or information, contact event coordinator Claudette Champagne at (376) 766-1033 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..">.
Lakeside’s Bishop’s Committee
Dr. John Higgins was inducted to the Christ Church Lakeside’s Bishop’s Committee on February 8. Shown here during the ceremony are, from left: Dr. John Higgins, Presenter Dr. James Small, Christ Church Adjunct Priest Rev. Sandy Olson and Christ Church Vicar Rev. Danny Borkowski.
Pet Food Drive
A cat and dog food drive will be held Thursday, February 19, 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the Lakeside Friends of the Animals Shelter and Pet Food Store in Riberas de Pilar.
During the event donors can purchase food to help feed the animals in any of the lakeside animal shelters by paying for the gift and then alerting the volunteers from Anita’s Animals who will be on hand to help.
Area pet shelters have been at capacity for several months and really need and appreciate these donations and other support. Those who are unable to visit the pet food store during this February date can make a pet food donation at any time to their favorite animal shelter by making their choice known to the store clerk at the time of the purchase. The customers must then also notify the shelter to pick up the gift at the store.
All purchases every day at the LFA Pet Food Store allow the store’s supporters to make donation to help support several lakeside charitable organizations.
Shriners Ribfest
The doors of Villa Encantada in Chapala will open for the Eighth Annual Lake Chapala Shrine Club Ribfest on Wednesday, March 4, 1 p.m. The food service will begin at 2 p.m. The menu at this popular event will include ribs and chicken prepared by Tony of Tony’s Restaurant fame.
Tickets are 400 pesos and are available from any Shriner. Blocks of 10 tickets will be sold for those who wish to have a reserved table. The afternoon will be studded with great entertainment and lots of Shriner fun.
The proceeds from this fundraiser will help lakeside children in need of medical treatment at the Shriners Hospital for Children in Mexico City, in Guadalajara or locally. For more information or to obtain tickets contact Denny Strole at (376) 766-0485 or via email at 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..">.
Local Cruz Roja
From the 2009 inception of the Naked Stage, the founders have sought to bring a different type of theater to Ajijic and to make donations to the local Red Cross. After a few difficult years, the theater made a 10,000-peso donation in 2013. Above, Graham Miller presents Cruz Roja volunteer Margy Kassier with this year’s donation of 20,000 pesos. The Naked Stage and the Cruz Roja thank the audience members who make 80-peso donations to come and applaud the monthly play readings at the Plaza de la Ribera.
St. Andrew’s Anglican
The strange, mysterious story of the Transfiguration marks the end of the Epiphany season at St. Andrew’s Anglican Church, and provides the focus for Fr. Winston Welty’s sermon, “Why Worship?” on Sunday, February 15, 10 a.m.
The annual Fat Tuesday Pancake and Sausage Supper starts with a social hour on Tuesday, February 17, 4 p.m. The supper begins at 5 p.m. The cost is 50 pesos, including optional seconds. The sign-up on Sunday ensures there will be plenty for everyone.
Special Lenten services will be held on Wednesday, February 18, noon and will include the Imposition of Ashes. Welty’s message will be “When God Lets You Down.” On the six remaining Wednesdays in Lent, Bible study at 11 a.m. will feature “Easter People,” meditations on six individuals whose lives were changed on the “Lenten Road” to the empty tomb.
The bilingual Children’s Sunday School starts each Sunday at 9:45 a.m. St. Andrew’s is located at Calle San Lucas 19, one block south of the Carretera in Riberas del Pilar.
Lakeside Presbyterian
“Perhaps no belief of the Christian faith is more misunderstood, or perceived as more problematic, then the doctrine of the Trinity,” says Pastor Ross Arnold of the Lakeside Presbyterian Church as he continues his sermon series “Why We Believe” with “Why We Believe in the Trinity,” during the Sunday, February 15, 10 a.m. service.
He considers how can God be one God, and yet still be the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and then uses analogies, reason and the Bible to explain why it not only makes sense to believe in the Trinity, but that the belief helps Christians better understand the world and themselves.
The English and Spanish language congregations gather in the garden at 11 a.m. for fellowship before the Spanish service at noon. Lakeside Presbyterian Church is on the mountain side of the Carretera in Riberas del Pilar, next to S&S Auto. Look for the sign “You have family at Lakeside!”
San Andrés English
The English-speaking congregation of Templo de San Andrés will celebrate Jesus, friend of outcasts during the Sunday, February 15, 9 a.m. Mass. Explains Rev. Basil G. Royston, D. Min., “To bring help to outcasts, Jesus himself had to become an outcast and ‘stay outside in places where nobody lived.’”
The congregation will gather to celebrate Mass on Ash Wednesday, February 17, 9 a.m. During rest of the Lenten season, the group will meet for Mass each Wednesday at noon, followed by time for study.
Christ Church
Fr. Danny Borkowski will preside and give the message, “They were Terrified,” based on Mark 9:2-3 during the Sunday, February 15, 9:30 a.m. worship service of Christ Church Lakeside in the Little Chapel by the Lake.
The congregations of Christ Church Lakeside and the Little Chapel by the Lake share a common coffee fellowship time between the services of the two groups from 10:35 until 11:10 a.m. each Sunday.
Christ Church will host a traditional Shrove Tuesday pancake supper on Tuesday, February 17, 5 p.m. at the Little Chapel by the Lake at the Carretera 10 in Chula Vista. The supper cost is 50 pesos per person.
A service with the Imposition of Ashes will be held on Ash Wednesday, February 18, 3:30 p.m. with Deacon Rob Wells presiding.
Wells leads an hour of Bible Study on Tuesdays at 10 a.m. The group’s lively discussion currently is focused on the Gospel of Luke.
The Little Chapel
According to Pastor Gene Raymer, the members of the interdenominational congregation of the Little Chapel by the Lake (LCBTL) will have a special treat during the Sunday, February 15, 11:15 a.m. worship service. An audio-visual presentation by Tony Rojas, the church’s missionary to Youth With A Mission, will be featured.
Last year Rojas’ work with the organization took him to Jerusalem just as the bombing of the city began. He has many supporters in the Lakeside area. It is hoped that they will come to see the work he is doing.
The congregation shares a fellowship time with the members of Christ Church at 10:30 a.m. Following the service, members of the congregation will have lunch and fellowship at a local restaurant.
The Little Chapel by the Lake is on the mountain side of the Carretera just east of the Chula Vista golf course. Visitors can gain additional information at the LCBTL Facebook page.
Open Circle
Dr. Todd Stong is the speaker at the Open Circle meeting on Sunday, February 15, 10 a.m. at the Lake Chapala Society.
Stong says he will speak on a variety of topics, including the status of Lake Chapala, the water supply and wastewater treatment in area villages, aquaculture and the associated job potential, village hydroponics, volcanic ash products, village marketing of spring water. If time allows he will address the potential elevated Ajijic highway project, possibly of a first-class beach development and public project expectations related to this, as the third year of the three-year governmental cycles in villages and counties about the lake.
For 20 years Stong has pursued voluntary humanitarian service in Africa, Asia and Latin America. He is now in his 13th winter at Lakeside. where his focus is on public infrastructure projects and potential employment opportunities. The father of six engineers and a nurse, his own professional career included 15 years of overseas construction and 20 years of laboratory direction.
Unitarian Universalists
Kathy Koches presents “Love is All You Need” at the Lake Chapala Unitarian Universalist Fellowship meeting on Sunday, February 15, 10:30 a.m. at Plaza de la Ribera, Rio Bravo 10A in Ajijic.
Koches’ program will be a celebration of Valentine’s Day as the group reflects on how love affects every aspect of their lives, individually as well as part of the global community.
Unitarian Universalists search for truth along many paths. They gather around common moral values that include the inherent worth and dignity of every person. They are a caring, liberal, open-minded community that encourages others to seek their own spiritual path, wherever it leads. For further information, visit www.uuflc.org.
Buddist Community
The Heart of Awareness Buddhist Community meets Wednesdays at 4:30 p.m. for meditation and dharma teachings in the sangha’s new location at Guadalupe Victoria 101 in Ajijic. The Wednesday, February 18 dharma talk features Gina Sharp’s film “Asking for Forgiveness,” the third video of a four-part series.
Loretta Downs presents the second of her four-part workshop, “Spirituality and Death,” on Saturday, February 14, 2 to 4 p.m.
The dharma movie on Monday, February 16, 3 p.m. will be “Ram Dass Fierce Grace,” a meditation on consciousness, healing and the unexpected grace of aging.
Heart of Awareness is a non-sectarian Buddhist practice community grounded in the original teachings of the Buddha as preserved in the Theravada/Vipassana tradition. Membership is open to those with Zen, Tibetan or Shambhala backgrounds, as well as people with no previous meditation experience. For further information on the sangha or the four-part workshop, call Janet Reichert at (376) 766-6069.