During one of the recent storms, lightning struck and destroyed the transformer that serves the orphanage Villa Infantil de San Jose and Our Lady of Guadalupe which is located on the southwest shore of the lake.

Francis of Assisi, the 13th century patron saint of animals, is honored on the October 4 anniversary of his death. St. Andrew’s Anglican Church has planned a Blessing of the Animals service at 11 a.m. on Saturday, October 4 in the Garden Columbarium.

A Hawaiian Luau, complete with 30 Hawaiian dancers and additional music for dancing by Noe and Paco, will kick off with cocktails at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday, September 20 at Rancho del Cerrito in San Nicolas de Ibarra. The event has been organized to raise the needed funds so that young lakeside soccer players can attend a major November youth soccer tournament in Puerto Vallarta.

Plans are complete for a comprehensive two-day Health Fair at the Lake Chapala Society on Wednesday, October 8 and Thursday, October 9. A series of health events will take place from 9 a.m. to noon each day on the organization’s campus at 16 de Septiembre in Ajijic.

San Juan Cosala’s 20-year-old Operation Feed program was designed to deliver essential food to the most challenged of the town’s residents. This year it has expanded to help residents learn to grow food and, in time, to make money to ease the family situation.

Ajijic CARES is a local volunteer committee that started work in March to coordinate events for a commemoration of World AIDS Day. This will be the first local recognition of the annual December 1 event founded in 1988.