Fundraising dinners
Thursday, April 27, Diane Smith and her staff at Simply Joyful hosted a delicious pasta dinner to benefit Cruz Roja Chapala Delegation. Friends at STI Solar Technology donated a trip to the salad bar to compliment the Spaghetti Boloñesa.
The evening was a great success, raising much needed funds to replenish the medicine cabinet at the clinic. Cruz Roja Chapala depends entirely on the generosity of donors to fund ambulances, a clinic open 24 hours per day, seven days per week, training and community outreach programs.
Each month, Simply Joyful hosts a function for a different charity. In addition to the dinner, envelopes for donations are included in the check folders to encourage patrons to help out.
During March funds were raised for Operation Feed, while April was devoted to the Cruz Roja and May will benefit Poco a Poco.
Art Auction
Efren Gonzalez is holding an art auction, Friday, May 5, 4 p.m. on the Ajijic Plaza to raise funds to celebrate Mother’s Day in Ajijic. Well-known artists will auction off oils, watercolors, acrylics and pastels. An oil painting demonstration by Gonzalez takes place at 3 p.m. and the work will also be auctioned off at 4 p.m. Refreshing drinks will be served.
Open Circle
Eduardo Ramos Cordero and Philip Rylett present “Hidden Traditions of Ajijic” at the next meeting of Open Circle, Sunday, May 7, 10:30 a.m. at the Lake Chapala Society.
Quite often we see and enjoy the very public celebrations in Mexico, but sometimes there are events and traditions that, as foreigners, we either don’t see or don’t understand what we do see. Ajijic has a long history of traditions and practices that predate the arrival of foreigners—including the Spanish, centuries ago. Many of these are quietly maintained and cherished by the local villagers. Have you seen them? Maybe. Those rockets? Well, you certainly heard them. But what exactly is happening? Come and enjoy learning about some of the lesser-known traditions of Ajijic.
Rylett arrived in Mexico ten years ago and was lucky enough to be the neighbor of the cronista of Ajijic, Eduardo Ramos Cordero, affectionately known in the village as Lalo. The village cronista is a recognized title in Mexico and is given to community leaders who have taken it upon themselves to preserve and revive village customs and traditions. Lalo is the organizer of Pasión de Cristo, Verbena Jamaica del Pasado, Batalla de las Flores, and many other activities in Ajijic. Over the past ten years, Rylett has spent a lot of time with Lalo and has been enchanted with these stories and would like to share them with you.
Next week, Lillie Henley will present “Mother-Daughter Relationships.”
Registration is strongly encouraged. Reserve at opencircleajijic.org.
Chapala Birders
Thursday May 11, the Birders will meet at the Riberas del Pilar Marsh at 8:15 a.m. Expect to see a variety of lake, dry scrub and garden birds. At about 10 a.m. the group reconvenes at Cafe Negro in San Antonio for breakfast and to review the bird list.
How to get there: from Ajijic take the carretera to Riberas. when you see the first OXXO on the left, turn down to the lake on Calle San Mateo and park close to the lake. (if you get to the Catholic Church, you have gone one block too far.)
Tuesday May 23, the Birders will meet at 8 a.m. at the sculpture at the only traffic light in La Floresta, leaving immediately for the Rosa Amarilla Loop (a 60-minute drive). Expect to see a variety of grassland birds and possibly a white-tailed hawk. Bring refreshments for the morning and sandwiches for the 12:30 lunch stop. The group will be back in Ajijic about 3:30 pm.
E-mail John Keeling at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. at least two days ahead indicating if you can bring a vehicle and can take others, or you would like to be a passenger.
The Chapala Birders bird-walks are open to all those interested in birds, both beginners and experienced birders. Just bring binoculars. They always have knowledgeable birders on hand to identify the species. They try to limit most car trips to three vehicles and 14 people because larger convoys are hard to manage when trying to stop on country roads to look at the birds. If you are being given a ride, a suggested contribution to your driver for gas and tolls is 150 pesos for a half-day outing and 300 pesos for a day trip.
Foodies take note
The Lake Chapala Society is holding a gala evening of signature gastronomy, Friday, May 26, 6 p.m.
The cost is 1,500 pesos payable in cash only at the LCS office (no online sales). The menu is noted below.
Entries:
• Pricila—cherry tomato base appetizer with a combination of goat cheese and a special vinaigrette
• Madahv—mixed lettuce salad with tropical flavors
Drink pairing:
• Ataulfo (mezcal based drink, with citrus flavors)
• Om (gin and root beer based drink)
Drink pairing:
• Sou relaxing (whiskey based drink with exotic flavors)
• Shot de aguacate (mezcal based drink with a combination of chile and avocado
• Liczba (white rum-based drink with fruity flavors)
Main courses:
• Itzel—puff pastry with chicken and corn cream
• Pablo—pink mole and lamb with vegetables
• Mitzia—salmon served with special risotto with vegetables
Desserts:
• Abraham—maccarons filled with special raspberry cream with fruits
• Alondra—mascarpone cheese mousse served with a matcha biscuit
Drink pairing:
• Yin and Yang (drink based on damiana liqueur with a fruity raspberry touch)
• Wanda (vodka-based drink with a hibiscus and orange flavor)
Helping Hands
Fundraiser
Javier Gonzalez and his wife Martha of La Bodega de Ajijic are holding the first of hopefully quarterly events to raise funds for local charities Thursday, May 25, 7 p.m.
Helping Hands, seeking to help the most needy people at Lakeside, invites you to participate as a judge with your vote and donation of 1,000 pesos for the winning charity. The idea is to get 100 people to each meeting to collectively come up with 100,000 pesos.
Legally constituted and organized charities from the municipalities of Chapala and Jocotepec that have registered with Helping Hands will participate. Their names will enter a raffle and the first three charities will each have 20 minutes to explain what they do, as well as how they will commit to invest the 100,000 pesos.
Then the judges (the 100 participants who have donated 1,000 pesos each) will vote on one of those three charities. The organization that obtains the most votes will take the total proceeds plus 30-percent of the sales from that day at La Bodega. Winning charities will not participate in the next scheduled Helping Hands events. Contact Javier at La Bodega to sign up as a judge.
Isolation kennel needed
Bone Voyage Dog Rescue must build an isolation kennel at their new shelter. When a new puppy or dog enters the shelter, it is necessary to isolate it for two weeks. This is imperative to keep the shelter population healthy.
Have you seen a dog with distemper or parvo? It is a terrible thing to see, both are caused by viruses and are very contagious. Distemper is one of the most serious diseases a dog can get. I affects all of the systems of the body and there is no cure. Parvo is much the same. While there is no cure, Bone Voyage vaccinates to protect dogs. While in the process of being fully vaccinated, the dogs are vulnerable and need to be isolated.
For these reasons, it is essential to build an isolation area as soon as possible. Please help Bone Voyage raise 55,000 pesos to construct a quarantine area.
To donate, go to www.bonevoyagedogrescue.com click on donate or contact Tim Tierney at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for more information.
It is imperative that dog and cat owners keep up-to-date on all their pets yearly vaccinations! Local vets are expecting a very adverse year for these very contagious diseases.