11122014Wed
Last updateTue, 11 Nov 2014 11am

Laguna Chapalac – November 1, 2014

Last Minute Halloween

Those who are still looking for the perfect opportunity to strut their stuff in dynamite Halloween costumes are reminded that the Tall Boys 2014 Halloween Bash featuring the Brass Balls Horn section will “return from the dead” and take the stage at El Barco on Friday, October 31, 8 p.m.  Tickets are 70 pesos. In addition to the riotous good Tall Boys time, there will be prizes for the best costumes, a new band member to meet and much more.

School for Special Children

A slew of events are coming up to raise funds for Jocotepec’s School for Special Children. First on the schedule are the monthly “Beyond the Walls” house tours, beginning on Thursday, November 13. The School for Special Children non-profit support group pays for additional staff members not on the Jalisco Department of Education payroll, including a groundskeeper/gardener, a handy man/cleaner, two cooks, an audiologist, and a treasurer. Approximately 700,000 pesos must be raised each year to maintain the support programs.

Thrill the World

A gang of zombies invaded Ajijic on Saturday, October 26 to join the annual “Thrill the World” flash mob happenings going on simultaneously across the globe and also to raise funds for the local Red Cross. The troupe of ghoulish dancers performed the whacky Michael Jackson “Thriller” routine at the village plaza before parading to the west end of town for an encore at Seis Esquinas. Cruz Roja youth volunteers pitched in this year to collect donations from the throng of spectators.

“Run, Jog or Walk”

Youngsters from Chapala’s Love in Action home were delighted to team up with pediatrician Oscar Ibarra (center) to assist as water carriers for the “Run, Jog or Walk” five-kilometer foot race  held on Sunday, October 26. Proceeds from the sporting event were put aside as a donation towards the shelter’s operating costs.

Stop Polio

Proceeds from the 5th Annual Fundraising Dinner planned by the Rotary Club of Ajijic on Saturday, November 8, 5 to 8 p.m. at Roberto’s Restaurant will go to the Rotary Foundation Stop Polio Fund and be matched two for one by the Melinda and Bill Gates Foundation.

For tickets and information contact Anita Hocker at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call 376 766-2410.

Women’s Support Group

The Women’s Cancer and Life Threatening Disease Support Group meets on the second and fourth Monday of each month from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Open to people in treatment and recent survivors, these meetings are the place to find comfort and information from people who really understand the experience. The group is free and run by a professional counselor. For more information email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call (376) 766-4522.

Country Critter Bash

Get out your boots and cowboy hat. Lakeside Spay & Neuter is hosting the 12th Annual Country Critter Bash on Monday, November 10 at the home of Gudren and Dryden Jones, in La Floresta.

The popular fundraiser helps support the Dog Ranch Rescue and Adoption Center and other animal-related projects. The menu for the event is a prime rib dinner or a vegetarian meal. Sol y Luna will provide entertainment. There will be a silent auction, 50/50 raffle and door prizes. The 250-peso tickets must be purchased in advance at Diane Pearl Colecciones, HandyMail, Pet Care, Superlake, Mia’s Boutique or Your Daily Farmer’s Market.

BBQ benefit for Tepehua

Chapala’s American Legion Post 9 will host the Autumn Barbecue benefit luncheon to be held Saturday, November 15, 1 p.m. at the Tepehua Community Center (TCC), Ramon Chavez 16.

The buffet menu will include chicken, ribs, sausage and a selection of side dishes. Guests will also enjoy music, dancing, 50-50 draws and beverages from the cash bar.   Tickets are going for 200 pesos, on sale at Diane Pearl Colleciones and EL Barco in Ajijic and the Tepehua Treasurers store in Riberas del Pilar. For directions and other information contact all Perry and Moonie King, 763-5126 or Susan Natherton, 766-3118.

School for Special Children

Lake Chapala’s School for Special Children in Jocotepec (formerly known as the School for the Deaf) is full to the rafters with special needs kids ranging in age from a few months to 32 years.

With an ongoing need for supplies, improved facilities and equipment, the sponsors of the group are planning a series of fundraisers during this year’s fall and winter season. First up with be the return of the always popular monthly “Beyond the Walls” house tours, beginning on Thursday, November 13.

Next up will be another opportunity to visit behind the walls of a fascinating lakeside home to attend the annual Auction Fashion Show on Wednesday, December 3.

Each year the group hosts a Christmas House Tour and Cocktail Party. That event has been scheduled for Thursday, December 11.

The annual gala dinner/dance to commemorate the school’s 35th anniversary is set for for Thursday, February 19.

To learn more about the School for Special Children non-profit group, and how area residents can assist in their work, or to learn more about these special events, contact Board President Dale Wilson at (376) 766-5283 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

Loss and Moving Forward

Those who have lost a parent or child, or a life partner through death or divorce, can find help in this support group facilitated by a professional counselor.

Through a circle of support, those attending the Loss and Moving Forward Group focus on the roller coaster of feelings experienced while grieving and discuss ways to positively harness the emotions and move toward creating a new life.

The group is free and meets on the second and fourth Wednesdays from 2:30-4 p.m. For the address and to join, contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call (376) 766-4522.

Bilingual Toastmasters

Continued congratulations go to Arturo Gutierrez, who first won the local contest and now has won the recent regional competition in Guadalajara. Arturo will represent Lake Chapala Bilingual Toastmasters in Table Topics at the national contest in Durango next month.

The Toastmasters gather every Monday and alternate English and Spanish meetings. The English session is on Monday, November 3, from 7 to 8:30 p.m. in the Sala of the Lake Chapala Society. The side gate on Ramon Corona will be open for the members. For more information in English call Guy Jobidon at (376) 766-5181. Spanish details are available from Marissa Urrutia at (33) 1600-5937.

St. Andrew’s Anglican

The observance of All Saints’ Sunday, a remembrance and celebration of those whose lives and faith have been written indelibly on the human spirit, will be observed at St. Andrew’s Anglican Church on Sunday, November 2.

Fr. Winston Welty’s sermon during the 10 a.m. worship service, “Blessed Are the Upside-Down,” recalls the quality of strangeness that was shared by many of the saints. They were people who didn’t fit in or whose values seemed contrary to their peers. Welty comments that contemporary saints still demonstrate this quality.

The children’s bilingual Sunday School program is at 9:45 a.m., and a time of welcome, fellowship, and refreshment in the garden follows the service.

Parishioners can leave donations of non-perishable items for the program to help feed the needy in the baskets by the church doors.

St. Andrew’s is located at Calle San Lucas 19, a block south of the Carretera in Riberas del Pilar.

Little Chapel

The interdenominational worship service of the Little Chapel by the Lake will be held at 11:15 a.m. on Sunday, November 2, following the 10:45 a.m.refreshment period shared with the congregation of Christ Church Lakeside. This week, Dr. Daniel Boatright,  a medical missionary in Nicaragua and other Latin and South American countries for 14 years, will present some of the highlights of his work in an audio-visual presentation.

Boatright, with his wife Brenda, hopes to use models they have established in other locations in Jalisco as they work to help some of the state’s poorest communities.

Boatright says, “We’ve worked to improve the standard of living and the lives of the poor in a number of areas where people were trying to survive on just one dollar per day. We will soon begin surveys of area villages to see how we can best shape our Mexican ministry to meet the spiritual, physical, educational and emotional needs of the poor.”

In other locales the Boatrights have worked with shamans, chiefs, doctors, engineers, medical experts, agricultural advisors, political and religious leaders to create water projects, build clinics and church buildings and open food kitchens.

“Our feeding kitchens, working under the name ‘Dios es Amor,’ not only provided immediate relief for the hungry, but helped communities improve the supply and quality of locally-grown fruits and vegetables and taught cooking and nutrition classes. A very popular program was the distribution of vitamins, especially for the pregnant women. The improvement in birth weights, the health of the mothers and the decrease in infant mortality was very rewarding.”

Following the worship service, many members of the congregation will continue their fellowship at Lety’s Mariscos in San Antonio Tlayacapan.

The free Wednesday Midweek Movie will feature “End of the Spear,” which depicts a group of missionaries who travel to the heart of the Amazon jungle in search of the Waodani, a tribe of fierce warriors isolated from civilization.

The Little Chapel is located on the mountain side of the Carretera, just east of the golf course in Chula Vista.

Lakeside Presbyterian

While Pastor Ross Arnold and wife, Carolyn Hansen, are traveling to the Middle East for a three-week lecture tour, Dr. Sidney DeWaal will fill the Lakeside Presbyterian Church pulpit.

DeWaal has served in dozens of countries during the past five decades. His distinguished career includes work in academia, as a pastor, consultant and teacher. His message for the 10 a.m. service on Sunday, November 2 will be “God Calms Down Feisty People,” based on text from Isaiah 49: verses 14-16.

Following the service, the congregation gathers in the garden for refreshments and fellowship. Lakeside Presbyterian Church is in Riberas, on the mountain side on the Carretera, beside S&S Auto.

Unitarian Universalist

The Lake Chapala Unitarian Universalist group will celebrate Dia de los Muertos during the 10:30 a.m. service on Sunday, November 2. Local author Jim Tipton will be the speaker. Those attending are encouraged to bring a photo of a deceased loved one to place on the altar. A coffee hour will follow the service.

Unitarian Universalists search for truth along many paths while gathering around common moral values that include the inherent worth and dignity of each person. The caring, liberal, open-minded community encourages others to seek their own spiritual path.

Unitarians meet at Plaza de la Ribera, Rio Bravo 10A. For more information, call 766-1458 or visit www.uuflc.org.

Christ Church

The members of Christ Church Lakeside will observe All Saints’ Sunday on November 2 with Deacon Rob Wells presiding. The theme of his message is “Our Heavenly Family,” and is based on Matthew 5:1-12. The service will feature a remembrance of all the deceased loved ones of the congregation.

Christ Church Lakeside and the Little Chapel by the Lake share a joint coffee fellowship between their services from 10:35 a.m. to 11:10 a.m.

The first Sunday pot luck luncheon will not be held in November. Christ Church members are invited to join the Little Chapel congregation for lunch at Lety’s Mariscos.

The Tuesday Bible study led by Wells will resume the study of the Gospel of Luke at 10  a.m. on November 18 in the fellowship hall of the Little Chapel by the Lake at Carretera 10 in Riberas del Pilar.

San Andres English

“We commemorate All Saints as we begin the Liturgy in Solemn Prostration and the chanting of the ancient Litany of the Saints on Sunday, November 2,” says Rev. Basil G. Royston, D. Min. “Our Liturgy continues with the remembrance of all our beloved departed who sleep in the peace of Christ awaiting the glorious resurrection on the last day. We continue ancient custom throughout the month of November as we pray for all those who have died during each 9 a.m. English Mass at Templo San Andres.” Those who would like the names of family or friends added to this list should contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

Members of the English congregation present an offering of staple food items which help feed the children of La Villa of Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe and San Jose. The children will visit and take part in the English Mass on the first day of Advent, Sunday, November 30. After Mass they will be treated to breakfast in a local restaurant.

Open Circle

Jim Cook, a seven-year Ajijic resident, will explain the pre-hispanic roots of the Mexican observance of Day of the Dead during the Sunday, November 2, 10:30 a.m. meeting of Open Circle. As part of his Open Circle presentation, he will discuss the meaning of death in the Mexican context, the basic elements of family altars and the origin of the Catrinas.

Cook and his wife, Carole, have traveled throughout Mexico gathering insights into the country’s history and celebrations. His photography and writing are keys to the success of his internet blog: “Jim and Carole’s Mexico Adventure.”

Open Circle attendees gather at 10 a.m. on Sundays on the back patio of the Lake Chapala Society for fellowship, coffee, tea and sandwich bites.

Buddhist Community

The Heart of Awareness Buddhist Community meets in Ajijic for meditation and dharma teachings at 4:30 p.m. each Wednesday at Encarnacion Rosas 9.

The dharma talk on Wednesday, November 5 is entitled “Introduction to Buddhist History, Traditions and Practices.” This meeting will be followed by the optional First Wednesday Social at La Nueva Posada. The First Sunday Long Sit is scheduled for Sunday, November 2, from 9 a.m. to noon.

Membership in  Heart of Awareness is open to those with Zen, Tibetan or Shambhala backgrounds. For more information, call Karin Miles at (376) 766-0020.