North Banderas Beat - January 19, 2012

Casino Night

The Vallarta Yacht Club is sponsoring Casino Night, featuring popular casino games such as blackjack, roulette and Texas hold-em, on Wednesday, January 30, 6 p.m.

Players will compete for prizes, including a  top prize worth 2,500 pesos, by exchanging chips for raffle tickets. The more chips you buy, the more raffle tickets you get and the better chance of winning a great prize. Patrons can also enjoy special themed drinks and hors d’oeuvres.  Dinner will be available for those who come early.

Contact the Vallarta Yacht Club for more information at (322) 297-2222

Bingo & schnitzel feast

A fundraiser to help support the operation of a no-kill cat shelter in the northshore area is set for Sunday, January 20, in Bucerias.  Paraiso Felino, located about 12 miles inland from Bucerias in San Juan de Abajo, is currently home to about 200 “residents,” available for adoption to a good home.

The event starts off with bingo games with prizes from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m., then schnitzel plate dinners will be served for 100 pesos.

The fundraiser will take place at Carmen Serdan 65, the home of shelter supporters Joanne Walsh and Franz Painer, about a half-block from Avenida Las Palmas, the road leading to the Decameron Resort Complex from Highway 200.

The plan, Walsh says, “Is to serve between 6 and 7-ish, about 50 Schnitzels, or till we run out. We’ve never done anything like this before.”

Sticky situation

Artists and non-artists alike will laugh, meet new people, as well as surprise themselves when they see what can be done when using duct tape as part of an artistic creation.

The “taping” will take place on Friday, February 8, from 10 a.m. to noon at the Bucerias Art Gallery & Drop-In Art Studio (Lazaro Cardenas 60A).

You can form a team of family or friends working together or representing an organization or a business or simply enter as an individual.

Grey duct tape is supplied, but there will be an opportunity to make peso bids for colorful duct tape to enhance each work of art being created. Scissors will not be provided.

Proceeds of the tape sales benefit Investours, a northshore non-profit organization.

The early-bird registration fee, 200 pesos for an individual and 300 pesos for a team, ends January 25. After this date, the registration fee is 250 pesos and 400 pesos respectively.

Entrants are allowed to only use duct tape and scissors to create the artwork.

Organizers supply each individual or team with the duct tape; entrants must bring scissors. Prizes will be awarded for the best works of art.

Go to the Bucerias Art Gallery & Drop-In Art Studio to register or for additional information, or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

Market moves

The Forever Spring Market has moved from its original day and location, Mondays at the Artwalk Plaza. It now takes place on Wednesdays in the gardens of Rosa Mexicana Restaurant (Lazaro Cardenas 90, near Abasolo).  The hours are 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The market had outgrown its home and vendors told market organizer Alison Doncaster that they wanted a break between the popular Sunday La Cruz market  and the Monday Forever Spring Market.

As a result, the market moved to a different day and a larger space. In the garden area of the restaurant is a seating area, clean bathrooms and the bar that is open for soft drinks and juice. After noon, full bar service is available.

Monday shoppers won’t be disappointed, however. At Bucerias Art Galleries, located behind Sweet Things at Lazaro Cardenas 62, there are currently over 20 vendors selling all hand-made arts and crafts from 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.  Due to the large demand and customers’ requests, they have also opened a Friday morning market, operating during the same hours.

Tastier second time

“We didn’t think you’d be able to out-do last year’s Taste of La Cruz, but wow, did you ever,” was overheard toward the end of the evening.

The second annual event, held January 12,  had its share of snags (gridlock during set-up on the Malecon with all the arriving participants and their vans and trucks), “threats” (the weather that looked like it was going to get very wet and wild) and misfires (the mariachi band to greet the visitors never showed).

Donations needed

Friends of the Banderas Bay Women’s Shelter say their bank balance has dwindled to a little over 50,000 pesos (4,000 dollars), so unless they receive additional funding, construction on the shelter will have to be suspended.

Pleas for construction materials have not met with great success and the local government so far has not provided any financial assistance, according to organizers.

Go to this link for more information on the shelter: www.banderasnews.com/1107/vl-womenshelter.

If you’ve been thinking about donating to Compassion for the Family/Vida Reavivida, now would be the perfect time. Every cent donated goes toward construction of the shelter. Donations received from U.S. citizens are tax deductible.

For more information contact David Zude at 322-103-2451 (cell) or at  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .