Christmas Bazaar
More than 40 vendors will be displaying their handmade art, crafts and sewing items, along with those who will sell plants and homemade foods, at the 3rd Annual Lakeside Christmas bazaar on Saturday, November 22 and Sunday, November 23, from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m.
Featured items at the show at La Huerta de Serna Events Center will include clothing, handbags, jewelry, gifts and gourmet foods. For additional information, contact Jose Melendrez at 33-1252-0812 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .
Bilingual Toastmasters
The November Toastmasters’ theme, appreciation, continues to be at the forefront during meetings and in presentations. Time management is vital during the planning of talks and programs. The group recently hosted a group of Instituto International students and their teacher and shared public speaking information with them. The class observed Toastmasters’ public speakers in action to prepare for a visit to a “United Nations” program of Instituto International schools.
The Lake Chapala Bilingual Toastmasters will meet on Monday, November 24, from 7 to 8:30 p.m. in the Sala of the Lake Chapala Society (LCS). The side gate on Ramon Corona will be open for the use of members. For more information in English call Guy Jobidon at (376) 766-5181. Marissa Urrutia can answer questions in Spanish at (33) 1600-5937.
Genealogy Forum
Phyl Gaskell will lead the Genealogy Forum in a discussion of records in the United Kingdom before the Census and Civil Registration during the group’s meeting on Monday, November 24, from 2 to 4 p.m. Those who are researching ancestors in the United Kingdom before 1840 have experienced problems as they try to move back to earlier generations.
This discussion will reveal what records are available, how researchers can access that information, what can be discovered while working online, and the cost of uncovering this data.
Members of the Genealogy Forum hope to help others through the British brick walls to find good information and additional ancestors. The meetings of this helpful group are held in the Sala at the LCS.
LCS Seminars
The next meeting in the ongoing series of LCS learning seminars on Tuesday, November 25, noon, will feature (by TED podcast) food provocateur Michael Hebb. His powerful talk is titled “What happens when death is what’s for dinner?” Hebb believes that the dinner table is one of the most effective (and overlooked) vehicles for changing the world.
The group of LCS members, chaired by Harland, will discuss Hebb’s concept of staging invitation-only dinners where guests focus on specific themes or ideas. Hebb suggests that others try his method, used since 1997, of using the power of home and hearth to change healthcare and learning how to deal with death.
New location
The staff and residents of Casa Nostra are hosting a grand opening of the assisted living home in their new location at Sta. Margarita 8 in upper Riberas del Pilar (go one block above the Carretera at Mom’s Deli and then right for about one half block). Visitors on Sunday, November 23 are invited to enjoy mariachi music and tour the new facility. For additional information, call (376) 765-3824 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .
Dine with the Shrine
Another of the Lakeside Shriners’ popular fundraising dining experiences has been scheduled. Area residents are invited to visit Restaurant Arileo for lunch or dinner on Tuesday, December 2, knowing that the revenue from the special menu items will be donated to the Lake Chapala Shrine Club to benefit their activities as they help sick and injured children.
The 130-peso fundraising specials, available between noon and 8 p.m. at Restaurant Arileo, are jerk pork with sweet and sour felea tamarind sauce, served with pasta and mixed vegetables or white fish with chartreuse sauce served with coconut rice and steamed vegetables. Both options are served with a sautéed bruschetta appetizer.
The special price does not include the tip, salad, dessert or drinks. Restaurant Arileo is at Carretera 1088 near the Los Charales sign. It is 4.5 kilometers west from the Colon stoplight. Make reservations by calling (376) 106-1627 or visit the restaurant.
Christmas Luncheon
While tickets for the gala December 3 dinner event hosted by the students of the Jaltepec Centro Educativo are sold out, there is seating available for the luncheon on Thursday, November 4, beginning at noon. Following the cocktail hour with complimentary hors d’eouvers, Los Cantantes del Lago will present a Christmas concert at 1:15 p.m. Next on the day’s agenda is a three-course turkey dinner with all the trimmings prepared and served at 2 p.m. by the students of the school which prepares young women for careers in all facets of the food, restaurant and hotel industry. Capping the afternoon of fine dining will be coffee, tea and the now famous Jaltepec cake.
Reservations for this luncheon event are available for a donation of 500 pesos by contacting Linda Buckthorp at (376) 766-1631 or emailing This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .
Little Chapel
The interdenominational congregation of the Little Chapel by the Lake will maintain its regular schedule of worship and fellowship on Sunday, November 30. Refreshments are shared with the congregation of Christ Church Lakeside at 10:30 a.m.
Rev. Gene Raymer has selected the title “Thankful For What?” for the message at the 11:15 a.m. worship service. He explains, “While most of us are thankful for the things we have, many of the heroes of the scriptures rejoiced even when they appeared to have nothing.” Following the worship service, members of the congregation meet at a local restaurant for fellowship and food.
The church is located on the mountain side of the Carretera just east of the Chula Vista golf course.
St. Andrew’s Anglican
The teaching of Jesus about what awaits believers and non-believers at the end of time has a surprise ending in Fr. Winston Welty’s sermon, “How Do We Respond?” during the 10 a.m. worship service on Sunday, November 23. The children’s bilingual Sunday School starts at 9:45 a.m. A coffee hour with time for welcome and fellowship follows the service.
The feeding program supported by St. Andrew’s welcomes non-perishables such as rice, beans, lentils, pasta, salt and oil; donations can be left in the baskets by the church doors.
St. Andrew’s annual Regalorama with fun, food and great bargains for holiday shopping will be on Saturday, December 6 at the church.
St. Andrew’s is located at Calle San Lucas 19, just a block south of the Carretera in Riberas del Pilar.
Christ Church
Christ Church Lakeside will observe the Feast of Christ the King on Sunday, November 23 with The Holy Eucharist Rite I at 9:30 a.m. in the Little Chapel by the Lake. Fr. Danny Borkowski will preside and Warden Jim Powers will present a message entitled “Having Compassion,” based on Matthew 25:31-46.
Christ Church and the Little Chapel share a coffee fellowship from about 10:35 to 11:10 a.m. in the Fellowship Hall.
Deacon Rob Wells leads a one-hour Bible study at 10 a.m. on Tuesdays in the Little Chapel’s Fellowship Hall. The group is currently studying the Gospel of Luke.
Wells is accepting donations for the Christmas posada planned for the village of San Juan Tecomatlan.
San Andrés English
On the Sunday of Christ the King, Fr. Everado Sanchez will preside over the 9 a.m. English Mass at San Andrés, the Ajijic parish church. In the message presented by Sanchez, he relates that Christ is a King on the model of the Homeric kings who called themselves “shepherds of the people.” As a royal shepherd he is leading us to the Kingdom of his Father.
The children of Villa Infantil will visit and participate in the English Mass at 9 a.m. on Sunday, November 30. Two of the boys will assist in serving at the altar and the other children will sing some of the responses and hymns. The next food drive to help stock the larders at Villa Infantil will be on Sunday, December 7.
Unitarian Universalist
On Sunday, November 23, those attending the Lake Chapala Unitarian Universalist service at 10:30 a.m. will share in the Taize Thanksgiving Service of readings and hymns led by Sue Kelley and Mardele Harland. The Taize Community is an ecumenical monastic order that invites people of different Christian faiths to worship together. They are well known for their contemplative hymns in many languages. A coffee hour will follow.
Unitarian Universalists search for truth along many paths and gather around common moral values that include the inherent worth and dignity of every person. This is a caring, liberal, open-minded community that encourages others to seek their own spiritual path wherever it leads.
The Unitarian Universalist Fellowship meets at Plaza de la Ribera, Rio Bravo 10A in Ajijic. For further information please either call 766-1458 or visit the web page at www.uuflc.org.
Heart of Awareness
The Heart of Awareness Buddhist Community meets at 4:30 p.m. on Wednesdays for meditation and dharma teachings at Encarnacion Rosas 9. The dharma talk on Wednesday, November 26 is “Eightfold Path, Part 2.”
Heart of Awareness is a non-sectarian Buddhist practice community grounded in the original teachings of the Buddha as preserved in the Theravada/Vipassana tradition. Membership in Heart of Awareness is open to those with Zen, Tibetan or Shambhala backgrounds, as well as people with no prior meditation experience. For information, call Karin Miles at (376) 766-0020.
Open Circle
Kat Miller, who has a M.A. in Spiritual Psychology, will present the 10:30 a.m. program at Open Circle on Sunday, November 23. Her message is entitled, “What Is Authenticity?”
Miller says, “When we are young we follow the social and familial script, but now in our third act, it is possible to draw on the wisdom gained from all of our past experiences and turn to authenticity. We can give our attention to what has meaning now and no longer suffer the story of who we were, who they are, what could or should have been. We can choose now to listen to what is most precious, nurturing, and deeply true for each of us and to reflect this in our lives.”
For 25 years Miller has been a counselor, teacher, and consultant. She is currently offering her services and teaching workshops at Lakeside and abroad.
Those attending Open Circle gather for fellowship and tea and coffee at 10 a.m. in the back patio of the LCS.