For the dogs
Those folks interested in adopting a dog – or maybe more than one – will be happy to know that the adoption process has been made a little easier with a new local website.
Lakechapaladogcenter.com shows current and updated photos of dogs and puppies available for adoption. These are dogs looking for someone to love and now residing at Anita’s Animals, veterinarian Pepe Magana’s or the Lakeside Spay and Neuter Ranch. Dogs at the new Lucky Dog Adoption and Rescue Center will be included as soon as that facility opens (see next item).
You can also contact the website and notify others of a lost dog and you’ll get help posting this notice on the website. Likewise, service is available if you have found a dog and are looking for its owner or an adoptive home. Just type Lake Chapala Dog Center into Google and the www.lakechapaladogcenter.com will come up.
Votes
Democrats Abroad President Tim Whiting (L) hands over the last box of absentee ballots to U.S. Vice Consul Tom Bollati on October 25. They were subsequently sent to the United States in the diplomatic pouch. Hopefully, most have already reached their correct electoral district destinations before the general election on November 6. Whiting estimates that some 500 absentee ballots from voters of all political persuasions were dispatched in this manner from the Lakeside area.
Almost here
The new Lucky Dog Adoption and Rescue Center that will replace the former Dog Adoption Center at the Animal Shelter is due to open on December 1.
The facility is situated on the grounds of the Pet Hotel owned by the Ladron de Guevara veterinarian brothers. On the highway heading east along Lake Chapala, the new accommodations include a huge play yard and protected space for between 12 and 24 of the canines. Geoffrey Kaye of the Animal Shelter has donated all of the equipment used in the Dog Adoption Center, including the water pressure system. A bathroom is being put in and the group building the shelter is looking around for used washers and dryers (and toilets). They hope to have at least two volunteers on the grounds at all times. If you’re interested in the care, feeding and affection of dogs, or would like to make a donation, contact Chris Bublin at 766-4282 or Bob McKeown at 766-3504.
Bus
Cruz Roja will sponsor a bus trip to the Galerias Mall in Guadalajara on Thursday, November 8, leaving La Floresta a 9 a.m. The return trip will leave the Costco parking lot at 3:30 p.m., arriving in Ajijic about 5 p.m.
The cost is 200 pesos. Purchase your space at the Cruz Roja table on the Lake Chapala Society grounds Monday through Friday between 10 a.m. at 1 p.m.
Family festival
The congregation of San Antonio de Padua Catholic Church in San Antonio Tlayacapan is inviting everyone to the parish’s “Family Festival” to be held on the San Antonio plaza (one block south of the carretera below Mail Boxes, Etc.) on Sunday, November 11, 2-10 p.m.
The festival is a combined effort of both the Mexican and expatriate parishioners. It will feature a variety of music, including mariachi, a barbershop quartet, a children’s choir, country and western singers and karaoke.
A wide choice of freshly-prepared authentic Mexican dishes as well as hot dogs and hamburgers will be for sale. Some of the featured activities will be face painting, bingo, tombola, raffles and a lottery. Look for contests for the best rebozo, the best dressed, the best smile and other categories.
Admission is free. The only cost will be for food and the activities that you choose. Tickets will be sold in units of ten and five pesos. Since this is a church-sponsored event for families and friends to relax and enjoy together, no alcohol will be permitted at the festival.
All proceeds will go toward the completion of the church rectory and office.
Veterans Day
The annual Veterans Day ceremony will be held Sunday, November 11, 11 a.m. at American Legion Post 7 (Morelos 114, Chapala).
The ceremony will honor veterans who have served in the military of the United States, Canada, Great Britain and Mexico.
Coordinated by Post 7 and Department of Mexico Chaplain Tom Schmidt, the event will be attended by dignitaries from the U.S. Consulate in Guadalajara, the American Legion Department of Mexico, American Legion Post 9 and the Thomas Paine Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution.
A cocktail hour will follow the ceremony while seating is shifted and tables are set for dinner. On the menu will be the Post 7’s famous roast pig along with home-made baked beans, corn on the cob and Banana Foster for dessert. Tickets are currently on sale at the Legion and from members for 130 pesos each.
In Canada and the United Kingdom the observance is referred to as Remembrance Day.
Hammers
Have Hammers Will Travel Learning Center is holding a fundraising dinner on Wednesday, November 14 at Manix Restaurant (Ocampo 57, Ajijic). Tickets cost 300 pesos and include dinner from a choice of steamed sea bass or chicken Valdostana, appetizer, soup, salad, tea or coffee and tip. Drinks are additional.
A rumba dance lesson will be offered from 4:15-4:45 p.m. Dinner is served from 5-7 p.m. on Manix’s main floor. Ricardo and Blanca will provide live music from 7-9 p.m.
Tickets are available by advance purchase only at the Have Hammers School located at Hidalgo 110 in Riberas del Pilar, from the receptionist at Actinver Bank, Hector at Manix Restaurant or from Wayne Renz at (376) 766-1860.
Those attending will be helping support a very successful program that teaches Mexican youngsters valuable life skills through wood working and carpentry, enabling them to become proud, employable members of their communities.
Niños Incapacitados
Programa Pro Niños Incapacitados del Lago holds its regular monthly meeting on Thursday, November 8, 10:30 a.m. at Hotel Real de Chapala. Coffee and cookies are ready at 10 a.m. Meet one of the children in the program and get acquainted with its goals and objectives. Everyone is welcome.
Fashion Auction
The seventh Fashion Auction to Benefit the Lakeside School for the Deaf and Children with Special Needs is coming up on Friday, November 30, beginning at noon.
You’ll be able to shop (bid) in this one-day-only store for fabulous bargains and your favorite outfit while Lakeside’s most beautiful models show off the gently used and new items donated by women of the community and some local stores. The sumptuous lunch will be catered by Leslie Martin.
The place is Claudette Champagne’s Moon Estate (Rio Zula 4A, West Ajijic). The 250-peso ticket includes lunch, one glass of wine and the fashion show auction. Call Cece Girlings at 766-3964 or Shirley West at 766-4997.
Moving forward
“Loss and Moving Forward” is a group for people who have lost a life partner through divorce or death. The aim is to offer a circle of support to focus on the roller coaster of emotions experienced and encourage ways to harness those emotions positively toward creating a new life.
The group will meet on the second and fourth Wednesdays, 2-4 p.m. There are no fees and the group is run by a professional counselor. To join, contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call 766-4522.
American Bandstand
Put on your bobby sox and smooth out your poodle skirts for the American Bandstand and Dance Party at La Bodega Restaurant, (16 de Septiembre 124, Ajijic) on Thursday, November 15, 7:30 p.m. For reservations call 766-1002.
St. Andrew’s Anglican
Do you want to be a saint? That’s not as far fetched as it sounds, and, in fact may underlie a lot of our restlessness, the sense of emptiness that so often can lurk even when everything seems fine. This week’s All Saint’s Sunday sermon at St. Andrew’s challenges us to think about what it means “To Be a Saint,” which may just be what it means to be humane. Even if you think you’re far from sainthood, you’ll find a warm welcome at the 10 a.m. Sunday worship at St. Andrew’s.
Following this week’s worship, the usual “Coffee Hour” will also feature a Ministry Fair, during which all the multitudinous ministries of the parish will have displays and information.
St. Andrew’s also invites all interested members of the Lakeside community to an information meeting on Friday, November 9, 3-5 p.m. to learn more about the new Lake Chapala Hospice Program.
St. Andrew’s is located at Calle San Lucas 19, just a block south of the Carretera in Riberas del Pilar.
Christ Church Anglican
Christ Church Anglican Fellowship will celebrate All Saint’s Day Sunday, November 4, 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 “See, I am making all things new,” based on Revelations 21:1-6. There is a time of joint 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 Little Chapel congregation.
This is the first Sunday of the month, so the Little Chapel by the Lake will hold a pot-luck luncheon after their 11:15 a.m. service to which Christ Church will join.
Presbyterians
How strong is your faith? Are you ever discouraged by prayers that seem to go unanswered? Sunday, November 4, Pastor Ross Arnold of Lakeside Presbyterian Church will continue his series on Meeting Jesus with “Persistent Faith,” using Mark 1: 40-2:12 as the text. Worship begins at 10 a.m.
The Friday morning interactive Bible study at 10 a.m. continues in the book of Acts. 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. Sunday, November 4, they will have their annual celebration of Ralph Waldo Emerson. Members will present their art, poetry and writings. There will be a coffee hour following the service. For more information call 766-1119 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..