In this monthly series, we republish a few of the headlines from our July editions 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50 years ago.
1972
Dominion Day celebrated
Lakeside Canadian residents have achieved a status of sorts. Hector embraced them. July 1, he hosted 75 friends from the “Far North” in the first Dominion Day celebration at Lakeside.
Our genial witch doctor cum drug dispenser entertained his friends at the Chula Vista Motel with short speeches, long drinks, good food and the entertainment of strolling violinists who struggled manfully with Mexican variations of the Maple Leaf Forever. Nostalgia and good fellowship were long in the tooth. (From the July 8, 1972 Lakeside Look column.)
1982
Guadalajara expats celebrate July 4th
Expat Americans in Guadalajara celebrated the 206th U.S. Independence Day, Saturday, July 3, to avoid conflict with Mexico’s presidential election on Sunday, July 4.
The events began with a brief but formal ceremony honoring the United States at the American Legion Alvaro Castillo Post No. 3 in Las Fuentes. American Society President Judy Furton offered a short welcome to those attending. U.S. Consul General Julio Arias read President Ronald Regan’s official proclamation. Representatives of local veteran organizations, the Boy Scouts and the Daughters of the American Revolution were all present.
Following the ceremony, The American Society held an independence Day picnic for its members and their friends at the San Jose del Tajo trailer park on Avenida Lopez Mateos Sur. After a performance by local square dancers, Connie and Jim Gulffre led willing dancers in everything from a waltz to rock ’n’ roll throughout the afternoon. An old-fashioned sing-a-long of favorite American tunes was enjoyed and the Boy Scouts supervised a tug of war and a watermelon eating contest. Swimming pools were filled with frolickers.
1992
Neanderthal Man found on Chapala beach?
A surprising find of ancient human remains in Chapala may be between 30,000 and 100,000 years old, researchers said June 25. If so, that would change anthropologists’ entire timetable for human existence in the Western Hemisphere.
Paleontologist and researcher of the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) at Guadalajara’s Regional Museum, Federico Solorzano Barreto, discovered the brilliant black fragments of skulls, which are similar in structure to Neanderthal Man. They are the first of this type to be found in the Americas. The discovery is of world-wide interest because if the early date of the remains is correct it would establish a new type and a new timetable for human existence in the western hemisphere.
The exact age of the Chapala finds has not been established, because they cannot be tested by the carbon 14 dating method. The requires organic material and the fossils are petrified. Solorzano has dedicated ten years to excavations that uncovered the remains. The skull fragment is four times thicker and bigger than a modern skull.
2002
Heavy storm kills one in Chapala
The death of a young housewife and extensive material damages were caused by torrential rains that swept downtown Chapala on the evening of July 3. The intense storm unleashed a huge one-ton boulder that rolled into a home at Calle Primera del Cerrito 66 in the late evening. The huge rock knocked down a wall, instantly killing 21-year-old Alma Delia Hernandez Miramontes as she was preparing to retire for the night. Medical reports indicated that she died from severe head trauma. She was three months pregnant with the freak accident occurred.
Chapala’s municipal civil protection unit was kept on call from 9 p.m. until dawn providing assistance to residents affected by flooding of homes and streets, mud and rock slides, and fallen trees and power lines, which were reported throughout the central area of the municipality. The town’s Red Cross clinic was among the public service facilities that suffered significant water damage.
2012
Developers take over another Jalisco beach
Since July 7, private security guards trucked in from the State of Mexico have been denying vehicles access to the pretty Careyitos beach on the southern Jalisco coastline. Visitors and fishermen now have to find a place to park on the coastal highway and walk a considerable distance to the beach.
Locals fear the move is the first step in the full privitization of the popular beach area.
Three ydears ago, Imagen y Espectaculos, a Mexico City-based company believed to be owned by former Banamex owner Robeto Hernandez, received a 15-year federal concession (from the Zona Federal Maratimo Terrestre) to operate a 13,000 square-meter area adjoining the beach. Unfortunately, the zone bisects part of a 400-square-meter concession granted to the local fishermen’s assocation (Produccion Pesquera de Rivera Punta Peralta) in 2005. The disputed area has caused friction betwen the two parties and a complicated legal battle.
Hernandez owns the nearby luxury Tamarindo complex, where public access to its beaches is restricted. Locals believe Hernandez wants to develop Careyitos in the same opulent style as El Tamarindo.