Panorama food fest
Maru Toledo, Jalisco’s leading authority on regional culinary traditions, will be among the top chefs featured at Festival Gourmet Panorama, running Saturday, May 14 and Sunday, May 15, at the Chapinaya events center, located off the Chapala-Jocotepec highway, a few kilometers west of Ajijic.
Toledo will be accompanied Mujeres del Maiz old-school cooks on Saturday, Noon to 4 p.m., to prepare a traditional Jalisco-style mole. She will be back on Sunday to offer a workshop on techniques for converting dried corn into tortilla dough, Noon to 1:30 p.m., open to 30 participants, by reservation at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..">This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
The foodies fest will also showcase guest chefs from a half dozen Guadalajara and lakeside restaurants, along with top label wines and liquors, craft beers and mixed cocktails, with live music and an art show adding to the ambience. Look for ticket pricing and other information at www.gourmetpanorama.com.
Skateboarding tourney
Skilled skateboarders from all over the state will congregate at Ajijic’s waterfront skate park Saturday, May 14, from 11 a.m., to compete for positions team that will represent Jalisco at the 2016 national Juegos Populares (Popular Games). Openings will be filled in the 14-16 and 17-19 year-old age groups.
LCS history matters
The Lake Chapala Society (LCS) is looking for vintage photographs to enhance its historic archive collection which is now being reviewed and catalogued. There is special interest in images dating back to the 1970’s when LCS was headquartered in Chapala, as well as early photos of Neill James. If you have snapshots of significant LCS events that happened prior to 2010, and know the names of the people in the pictures, those too would be excellent additions to the project. Interested parties are asked to contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..">.
Open Circle
Author Alejandro Grattan presents “Fateful Chance Encounters” at the Open Circle meeting on Sunday, May 15, 10:30 a.m., held in the Lake Chapala Society garden.
This award-winning novelist and screenwriter makes his second visit to Open Circle, talking about his career in the film industry. This time his personal story resumes in 1987, when he retired to Ajijic. He’ll drop names, describe the Lakeside life then, the founding of the Ajijic Writers Group, and his role in shaping the Ojo del Lago we know today. He says his favorite theme in fiction is how, if we’re lucky, we may get not what we so desperately craved but rather what we truly need. It’s fateful chance encounters that brought him here and gave him the rich life he had searched for elsewhere.
Alex Grattan wrote and directed the first movie about Mexican-Americans, “Only Once in a Lifetime,” which was recently purchased with another film of his, “No Return Address,” by Turner Classic Movies. He has been editor-in-chief of El Ojo del Lago for the past 21 years and established the Ajijic Writers Group in 1988.
For more information see opencircleajijic.org.
Lakeside Singers
The Lakeside Singers will meet at Abbbeyfield rest home Wednesday, May 18, for a “Fun with Music” sing-a-long time at 4 p.m. Call 766-0156 for information. The group will be at OHana’s in San Juan Cosala on Wednesday, May 25, 4:30 p.m. If you want to join in, just show up.
Lake Chapala Garden Club
The Lake Chapala Garden Club is launching its first “Bring Your Gardener To Lunch” event Wednesday, May 18, noon, at La Nueva Posada Hotel in Ajijic.
Club organizers hope this invitation will demonstrate how much garden lovers here appreciate their gardeners. Over lunch a talented bilingual expert gardener will create a living sculpture.
The Garden Club welcomes the public. Non-members who want to join in should contact Sandy Feldmann at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..">This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. See www.chapalagardenclub.org for more information.
Buddhists
The Heart of Awareness Buddhist Sangha meets on Wednesdays. Noble Silence begins at 4 p.m., followed by a formal meditation, dharma teachings and discussion at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 18, the third of five Tricycle video presentations, “Strengthening Meditative Attention,” will be shown.
Drop-in meditation is on Sunday and Monday, May 15 and 16, from 9 to 10 a.m., and Thursday, May 19, from 11 a.m. to noon. A Drop-in Practice/Study group meets every Friday from 2 to 4 p.m. All are welcome.
A yoga class suitable for all levels of experience is offered at Heart of Awareness on Wednesdays from 9 to 11 a.m. A donation of 50 pesos is requested for the class.
Registration is open for a Live Stream Retreat with Pema Chodron on May 20-22. The weekend includes talks, guided meditations and questions and answer sessions with Chodron. The registration fee for sangha members is 350 pesos and 450 pesos for non-members. Deadline for registration is Wednesday, May 18. To register email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..">This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
The sangha’s location is at Guadalupe Victoria 101, Suites A&B, in Ajijic. For further information on the community and scheduled activities, visit www.heartofawareness.org, or call Janet Reichert at (376) 766-6069.
LCS bus trip
Thursday, May 19, the Lake Chapala Society (LCS) bus heads to Galerias Mall in Guadalajara. Major retailers include Best Buy and Sears, while restaurants include Cheesecake Factory and PF Chang. You can also shop at Costco, Sams and Super Walmart.
Cost for the trip is 300 pesos for members and 350 pesos for non-members. The bus departs promptly at 9 a.m. from the sculpture in La Floresta.
LCS fashion show
Designs by Alma Gutierrez will be on display at a fashion show to be held at LCS on Saturday, May 28, 12:30 p.m. Lunch will be catered by Roberto´s Restaurant with a cash bar. Surprise raffles and the exhibition and sale of pieces by the LCS Children’s Art Program are also planned. Tickets at LCS and Diane Pearl are 200 pesos.
Memorial Day pig roast
American Legion Post Seven in Chapala will host a Memorial Day dinner Monday, May 30 with a social hour beginning at 1 p.m. and dinner at 2 p.m. The menu features pit roasted pig, corn on the cob, homemade baked beans and bananas Foster. Noe and the Men in Black will provide the music. Tickets are 160 pesos, available at the Legion. Email Vince Britton for more information: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..">This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..