Genealogy Forum
A group of local residents fascinated with recording the history of their ancestors, the Genealogy Forum, will meet on Monday, December 29, 2 p.m. in the Lake Chapala Society (LCS) Sala.
Pamela Ames will give a special presentation, “A Picture is Worth 1000 Words: Preserving and Sharing Family Photographs.” Her talk will interest those who have photo albums and boxes of unsorted and unidentified photos saved for future generations. Ames points out that grandchildren won’t recognize the lady with the funny hairdo or their own great-grandfather if the names and relationships are not attached to the photos. She urges that this could be the best time to start on next year’s Christmas gift to the family.
Loss Support
The Loss and Moving Forward Support Group is designed for people who have lost a life partner through divorce or death, or are recovering from the death of a parent or child. Through a circle of support, the group will focus on the roller coaster of emotions experienced in times of grief and explore ways to positively harness those emotions towards creating a new life.
The group meets without charge with a professional counselor on the second and fourth Wednesdays of the month from 2:30-4 p.m. For information and to join the group, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call (376) 766-4522.
LCS Party
The Lake Chapala Society spread a generous dose of holiday cheer at back-to-back posada parties held on Saturday, December 20. Youngsters who attend the Saturday art workshops were feted early in the day with tasty snacks and a lively round of piñata bashing. The second gathering honored LCS volunteers, staff and VIPs.
LCS Closings
The Lake Chapala Society will be closed for the New Year holidays on December 30, 31, and January 1.
Villa Infantil
The staff and children of Villa Infantil de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe and San José were filled with mixed emotions when three young siblings who had lived in the south shore home for some time were adopted by a Guadalajara family and left just before Christmas. Just a week later, DIF personnel delivered three tiny new residents to the home. The three children, also siblings, are aged five months, two years and four years.
Lakeside residents and long-time supporters made sure the children at the orphanage were all remembered at Christmas with gifts and treats for their posada. Any area residents who would like to assist these children are encouraged to donate non-perishable food items, and with the arrival of the new tiny tots, diapers and MAM2 milk are needed. Those wishing to donate can email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to make arrangements.
Mexican Cooking
Expert cook and teacher Linda R. Harley returns with an all-new winter session of authentic Mexican culinary classes beginning Tuesday, January 6. Those who wish to attend must sign up and pay 300 pesos for each class at the LCS office by January 3.
The Tuesday, January 6 class will focus on the Rosca de Reyes and tamales, which are the food traditions on Dia de Los Reyes Magos (the arrival of the Magi) and Candlemas Day. Those attending the class will share a rosca, practice the tradition of making tamales and then sample some from the neighborhood.
This series of classes will continue through January. See a complete listing of the classes on the LCS Facebook page and at www.lakechapalasociety.com.
Mall Shopping
The next LCS bus trip to Guadalajara will head for the Plaza Galerias, departing from the sculpture in La Floresta at 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday, January 7. Stores in the mall include Liverpool, Sears, Sanborn’s, Best Buy, H&M, and dozens of other great shops. Shoppers can take a break or have lunch at the food court or one of the many restaurants, including PF Chang’s, Chili’s, The Cheese Cake Factory, Applebee’s, Outback Steakhouse and more.
Adjoining the mall are Costco, Super Walmart, Sam’s Club and a Super Mega store. Shoppers must sign up and purchase the 250-peso tickets in advance at the LCS office.
Women’s Disease Group
The Women’s Cancer and Life Threatening Disease Support Group meets without charge from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. on the second and fourth Monday of each month.
A professional counselor facilitates the group, which is a place for women to receive comfort and information from others who understand the feeling those dealing with serious illness experience. The group is open to women in treatment, and recent survivors. For more information, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call (376) 766-4522.
Trivia Quiz Afternoon
Niños Incapacitados still has tickets available for the fun Trivia Quiz fundraiser on Tuesday, January 13, 2 p.m. at the Hotel Real de Chapala. For tickets email Dawn McInnis at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .
Robbie Burns
Tickets are selling fast for the Niños Incapacitados fundraising Robbie Burns Supper featuring Scottish dancing, tartans and bagpipes. The event will be held on the bard’s birthday, Sunday, January 25, at the Hotel Real de Chapala. Tickets (375 pesos) can be ordered from This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .
Sunrise Rotary
The Chapala Sunrise Rotary Club meets every Thursday at 10 a.m. in the Montecarlo Hotel Ballroom in Chapala. For more information call (376) 763-5509, or (cel.) (331) 340-5280.
St. Andrew’s
For many people, joy is always temporary and conditional. Fr. Winston Welty’s sermon, “The Fullness of Time,” during the 10 a.m. worship service on Sunday, December 28 suggests that when God is born in human flesh, the only appropriate response is a joy that banishes every reservation. The children’s bilingual Sunday School is at 9:45 a.m. A coffee hour follows the worship service in the garden.
On the last Sunday of each month, St. Andrew’s Anglican Church receives offerings in support of a lunch program for school children in Mezcala. Those attending are encouraged to also continue their weekly donations of non-perishables such as beans, rice, pasta, salt and oil for the feeding program. Donations can be left in the baskets by the church doors.
The men of St. Andrew’s will meet for their monthly lunch on Tuesday, December 23, noon at La Misión Restaurant in Ajijic.
St. Andrew’s Anglican Church is at Calle San Lucas 19, a block south of the Carretera in Riberas del Pilar.
Unitarian Universalist
The Lake Chapala Unitarian Universalist Fellowship meets at 10 a.m. every Sunday at Plaza de la Ribera, Rio Bravo 10.
During the Sunday, December 28 service, Trudy Crippen will present “But Isn’t This A Good Thing?” which draws largely on Rev. Aaron Wolf’s sermon, “A Tender Unitarian Christmas.” Wolf, a Lutheran minister, argues that Unitarians are largely responsible for making Christmas a secular, not religious, celebration. A coffee hour will follow the service.
Unitarian Universalists search for truth along many paths gathering around common moral values which include the inherent worth and dignity of every person. They are a caring, liberal, open-minded community that encourages others to seek their own spiritual path wherever it leads.
Christ Church
Christ Church Lakeside will observe the first Sunday after Christmas by celebrating the Holy Eucharist Rite at 9:30 a.m. on Sunday, December 28 at the Little Chapel by the Lake. Danny Borkowski will preside. His message theme is “The Word Made Flesh,” based on John 1:1-18.
The congregations of Christ Church Lakeside and the Little Chapel share a common coffee fellowship in the fellowship hall between their respective services, from about 10:35 a.m. until 11:10 a.m.
The Little Chapel is at Carretera 10 near the entrance to Chula Vista.
The Little Chapel
The interdenominational congregation of the Little Chapel by the Lake will take a respite between the Christmas and New Year’s holidays. Normal midweek activities have been suspended for the holidays.
Following the 10:45 a.m. coffee time that is shared with members of Christ Church, the Little Chapel’s regular worship service of music, scripture and prayer will begin at 11:15 a.m. on Sunday, December 28. Rev. Gene Raymer’s message has the working title, “When Will It End?” Following the service, the congregation will continue the fellowship over lunch at a local restaurant.
The Little Chapel is at Carretera 10 near the entrance to Chula Vista.
San Andrés English
“On the first Sunday after Christmas we celebrate Jesus, Mary and Joseph, that Holy Family of Nazareth, which is the model for all who fear the Lord and walk in God’s ways,” says Rev. Basil G. Royston, D.Min., who will preside at the English Mass at San Andrés Catholic Church on Sunday, December 28, 9 a.m.
Thursday, January 1, 9 a.m., the English-speaking congregation of San Andrés Catholic church will meet to celebrate the New Year with a Mass.
The congregation is reminded to bring their first Sunday of the month non-perishable food donations for the Orphanage La Villa Infantil to the 9 a.m. Mass on Sunday, January 4.
Buddhist Community
The Heart of Awareness Buddhist Community meets at 4:30 pm on Wednesdays for meditation and dharma teachings. The dharma talk on Wednesday, December 31 will be “The Brahma Viharas” at Paseo de los Velaros 60 in Lower La Floresta.
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 previous meditation experience. For further information, call Karin Miles at (376) 766-0020.Karin Miles at (376) 766-0020.
Open Circle
Local artist and author Janice Kimball will read “Discovery” from section one of her newly released book, “The Joy of Art,” at the Sunday, December 28 meeting of Open Circle. Attendees will gather in the back gardens of the Lake Chapala Society for fellowship over coffee, tea and sandwich bites at 10 a.m.
During the 10:30 a.m. program Kimball will delve into a number of topics, including discovering the artist in your soul which is seeking release, the key to creating art, the art of seeing, generating art and the journey of art.
Kimball has supported herself through the past 30 years with her art. She has degrees in the arts from Columbia College in Chicago and the University of Illinois. She taught on many college campuses, including Columbia College, Marygrove College and Henry Ford Community College, as well as in Illinois and Michigan.