Felicidades
Best wishes to Kate Karns on her 90th birthday. Descendants representing three generations of the Karns clan flew in from the United States to celebrate the occasion, among them daughter Julie and granddaughters Mareth and Alex, who grew up in Ajijic. Longtime local friends gathered for a festive brunch held on September 25.
Kate and her late husband Rocky settled in Ajijic in the early 1970s, becoming pioneers in Lakeside’s budding expatriate colony. Over the years she has written many humorous accounts of her experiences in adapting to Mexican village life. As for how she has seen the area change in the span of four decades, Kate says she most misses all the quirky characters who once put their special mark on the foreign populace. “They all seem so straight-laced now days,” she muses with a wry chuckle.
Big thanks
The parents of children supported by Programa pro Niños Incapacitados del Lago will set up booths in Chapala’s Parque Cristiania to sell homemade food and desserts on Sunday, October 2, from 11 a.m. and throughout the afternoon.
There will also be a bazaar of clothes and books and a special lottery game for the kids. Proceeds from this “kermes” (a Dutch word for a small church, school or community fair that has worked its way into the Mexican idiom) will go directly back to the Niños Incapacitados general fund to help families with their children’s medical expenses for chronic or disabling diseases. This is the parents’ way of saying “thank you” to the organization. Do stop by and enjoy some great food and lots of fun.
By the way, don’t be surprised to see a lot of cyclists while you’re there, as there is a big bike rally planned for the park on that day, including an exhibition of some of the latest in cycling equipment.
Organic
“Biodiversity and Consumption: The Relationship between Your Meal and Ecosystems” is the theme of a lecture to be given Tuesday, October 4, 11 a.m. at El Centro Laguna. The speaker is Victor Eduardo Flores, a constituent of the Colectivo Ecologista de Jalisco, a counselor to the Circle of Production and Responsible Consumerism of the Farmers’ Market in Guadalajara and a correspondent of the rural communities for the campaign “Without Corn there is no Country.” The lecture is free and all are welcome.
World Animal Day
A special event planned for Sunday, October 2, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Ajijic Cultural Center on the Ajijic Principal Plaza will celebrate World Animal Day and the introduction of the Humane Education Alliance. Kids will have lots of fun activities with table games, drawing, a puppet show, reading to dogs, poetry, science, presentations, videos and meeting therapy dogs. Parents and educators will be informed about the curriculum of the Humane Education Alliance and learn about the tools to help children become more compassionate and empathetic members of society. For more information call This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Oktoberfest
The Lake Chapala Society (LCS) will celebrate its own version of Oktoberfest on Saturday, October 8, between 2:30 and 8 p.m., at its campus at 16 de Septiembre 16-A in Ajijic
Tickets are 100 pesos per person and on sale now at the Cruz Roja table on the Café Patio Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., or at Diane Pearl’s Colecciones. Only 130 tickets will be sold so you’d better get at it!
Ticket holders will be presented with a German meal of bratwurst and bun, red cabbage, sauerkraut and German potato salad. The beer bars will be serving up glasses of dark beer straight from the kegs and your favorite brew will be available from Corona and Modelo, along with red or white wine, soft drinks and water. El Figon Microbrewery Club and Food is sponsoring a free tasting of microbrews.
For dessert or “take out,” Cruz Roja will have a sumptuous selection of home-baked goods for sale. Dixie, everyone’s favorite German bake lady, will re-create authentic pretzels and gingerbread hearts.
DJ Bob Crisfall will spin an assortment of German polkas and drinking songs, and dancing in the gazebo will be encouraged.
Tim Schubert and Pastor Bob Hendrick will do the yodeling honors and Barbara Rotthaler and German friends will be performing some of their favorite and familiar songs accompanied by Arlene Schubert on the accordion.
Willkomen!!!
Canadian Thanksgiving
American Legion Post 7 in Chapala will celebrate Canadian Thanksgiving on Monday, October 10 with cocktails at 2 p.m. and dinner served at 3 p.m. The menu includes turkey and stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy, cranberries, broccoli salad, honeyed carrots and dessert. There will be live music for listening and dancing. Tickets for 150 pesos are available at the Post (Morelos 114 in Chapala), from Diane Pearl’s Colecciones in Ajijic or contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Health Fair
The Lake Chapala Society will host its semi-annual Health Fair, Tuesday and Wednesday, October 11 and 12, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Various health screenings, lab tests and presentation from medical and health professionals will be offered. There is no entry fee for the event.
Free health screenings include blood pressure checks, diabetes testing, hearing tests and cancer screenings will be available. Care Lab will offer lipid profile and HbA1c tests and Lake Med Pharmacy will offer pneumonia, tetanus and flu shots for a small fee.
Dr. Bernie Metcalf will discuss “Immunizations for the Elderly” and make recommendations for living full time in Mexico on October 11 and Eric Slebos will present “End of Life Planning: Four Essential Documents.”
For up to date information on times and places for tests and immunizations, check the LCS web site at www.lakechapalasociety.org.
Beer
The local chapter of the Royal Canadian Legion is heading for the Guadalajara Annual Beer Festival on Sunday, October 16 and you’re invited.
The bus, provided by Milenium Bus Tours, will depart from Chapala at 11 a.m. and from San Antonio Tlayacapan at 11:20 a.m. and return from Guadalajara’s Parque Metropolitano at 7 p.m. The day will be filled with music, beer tasting and home brewing workshops. Food will be available.
Tickets are 225 pesos for the bus and the fun. Contact Suzannah Kelly at 765-3757.
Hospitality
The students, faculty and volunteers at the Jaltepec Centro Educativo Hospitality University are inviting Lakesiders (and everyone else) to a fundraising dinner on Wednesday, October 26. Cocktails and hors d’oeuvres will be served at 6:30 p.m. with a no-host bar and complimentary cocktail music by Timothy Welch. Dinner will be served at 7:30 p.m.
The menu is cold beet soup, Tuscany chicken breast or fish filet with fine herbs, green salad and dressing and pumpkin pie with pecans for dessert and tea or coffee.
The donation of 350 pesos per person will help the needier students of this technical university of hotel and hospitality management. The education and subsequent high paying positions they attain help the students and also their families as they often help educate their siblings. Besides, the service and the food will be sterling.
Please RSVP by Wednesday, October 19, to Linda Buckthorp at (376) 766-1631 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Helping out
Volunteers are running out of resources to help feed, clothe and educate the 50 kids who currently live at the Los Niños y Jovenes institution in San Juan Cosala. These young people have no family support and and virtually no chance at an education. Last month the bill came to 7,000 pesos for staples such as flour, sugar, rice, beans, soya and dry goods like soap, toilet paper and laundry supplies. The Casa feeds a “comida” (the main meal of the day) to nearly all the students there (about 120), whether they are residents or live in outlying pueblos.
There isn’t enough money in the stash to cover these same expenses for October. Los Niños y Jovenes relies on the generosity of those who live at Lakeside and appreciate the fact that these children have no other means of support.
Readers who can see their way clear to donating 200 pesos a month will make the monthly trip to the wholesaler possible. Without more support, this worthwhile cause will have to be abandoned. Those who feel that they can manage this much or can help in some other way should contact Sue Campbell at (387) 761-0623 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
St. Andrew’s Anglican
This Sunday’s sermon at St. Andrew’s will be “The Myth of Ownership,” a myth that’s more than a harmless fairytale because it serves to deceive and dehumanize us. The truth is, we’re not owners, we’re sharecroppers – and that turns out to be good news! Worship at St. Andrew’s begins at 10 a.m. and is followed by fellowship, refreshments and a warm welcome to all.
This week will be a special one at St. Andrews because at 10 a.m. on October 2, the Rt. Rev. Lino Rodriguez Amara, Bishop of Western Mexico, will ordain the Rev, Dr. James Priddy as a transitional Deacon in the Anglican Church. Priddy’s family and everyone at St. Andrew’s invite friends and associates from the community to join them for this wonderful celebration.
Presbyterian
The sermon for Sunday, October 2, is “Real People: The Victory of Elijah,” from I Kings 18:16-39, preached by Pastor Ross Arnold. The service starts at 10 a.m.
All are welcome to the Circle of Friends prayer meeting held at the church at 10:30 a.m. on Thursday, October 6. The usual Bible study class will be held on Friday, October 7 at 10 a.m.
The church is located on the mountain side of the Carretera just west of S&S Auto and Bubba’s Restaurant.
Unitarians
The Lake Chapala Unitarian Universalist Fellowship meets each Sunday at 10:30 a.m. at Sta. Margarita 113 in Riberas del Pilar. The service on October 2 will be full of feathered and furry friends. It is not about “blessing” the animals, but about the blessing that animals are in our lives. The presentation will be given by Kathy Koches and Bonnie Phillips will be the service leader. For more information please call 766-1119 or email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Christ Church Anglicans
Christ Church Anglican Fellowship will meet Sunday, October 2, 10 a.m. upstairs at Manix Restaurant at Ocampo 57 in Ajijic to celebrate the Holy Eucharist. Father Danny Borkowski will preach on “Watch Out for That Stone!” based on Matthew 21:33-46.