10222014Wed
Last updateFri, 17 Oct 2014 1pm

Laguna Chapalac - October 18, 2014

History Club

The History Club of the Lake Chapala Society commences its 2014-15 season on Tuesday, October 21, 1 p.m. at the society.  The group will view one of the “Cosmos” series of famed astronomer and science communicator Carl Sagan. 

The episode is entitled “On the Shores of the Cosmic Ocean,” in which Sagan presents his explanation of the nature and structure of the galaxy in which we live.

Meetings of the History Club are open to all members of the Lake Chapala Society.

Bilingual Toastmasters

With many of the officers of the Lake Chapala Bilingual Toastmasters group out of town, Lucia Diaz and Manual Guzman stepped in to officiate at the October 13 Spanish Session. Tim Schubert’s talk included tips for speaking successfully in a second language. Arturo Gutierrez gave a stimulating Power Point presentation on caring for our bodies. Family alcoholism was the theme Mario Lopez chose for his insightful presentation.  Toastmasters helps members learn to be flexible and spontaneous.

Many of the local members plan to attend the October 19 regional competition in Guadalajara to support local winner Gutierrez. Call Guy Jobidon at (376) 766-5181 for more information (in English) about the carpools being organized. Spanish information is available from Marissa Urrutia at (33) 1600-5937.

Day of the Dead

Vivian Michel will lead a 90-minute Day of the Dead tour at the Ajijic cemetery on Sunday, November 2. Tours are planned at 1, 3:30 and 6 p.m. Proceeds from the 100-peso tickets will be used for community development projects in Ajijic, Tickets are available at the Casa de Cultura on the Ajijic plaza.

Fashion Feria Fundraiser

Distinctive jewelry by Gabriela Sanchez and lovely rebozos (shawls) by Lupita Zepeda will be featured in the fashion show on Wednesday, October 22, 3 to 5:30 p.m. at Ninette’s Restaurant in the Casa del Sol Inn at Javier Mina 7, Ajijic.

Many of the items modeled will be available for sale after the show being held to raise funds to help Mexican artisans attend this year’s November Feria del Maestros at the Chapala Yacht Club.

Tickets are 200 pesos and include appetizers and agua fresca. Wine and other beverages will be available at the no-host bar. Tickets are available from Linda Hendy or Casa del Sol Inn. Call the Inn at (376) 766-0050 or email info@ casadelsolinn.com. Call Hendy at (376)106-1281 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

Cruz Roja Golf

The 2014 Cruz Roja Golf Classic on October 30 is fully subscribed. The 24 teams of golfers are practicing their drives and putts in hopes of snatching a new Toyota or Lozano golf cart for holes-in- one. A myriad of other prizes are waiting for the golfer with the straightest drive or the one who can put the ball closest to the pin.

Additional golfers are queuing up on a waiting list should an opening arise for an additional team. Participants – both golfers and non-golfers – will join in the event’s traditional mixed grill with this year’s addition of homemade sausage. Other highlights of the fundraiser to benefit Cruz Roja Chapala include a full range of door prizes, including a raffle for a week at a luxurious Puerto Vallarta villa or a two-night stay at Manzanilla’s renowned Las Hadas resort (including two green fees), a 50/50 draw and a silent auction featuring works of many local artists and craftsmen. The auction items can be previewed at https://flic.kr/s/aHsk4ZyJmy.

Tickets for the barbecue at the Country Club de Chapala (in Vista del Lago) are limited and available at the Lake Chapala Society Cruz Roja table or at the Country Club pro shop. For more information call (376) 766-4990 or the pro shop at (376) 763-5136.

LCS Bus Trip

The Lake Chapala Society (LCS) bus trips are resuming with a Thursday, October 23 visit to explore the crafts hub of Tlaquepaque and the enormous artisanal bazaar (tianguis) in Tonala.

The bus will leave from the sculpture on the Carretera in La Floresta at 9 a.m. Those attending must sign up in advance at the LCS. Tickets are 250 pesos.

Upscale Resale

To celebrate the launch of their new website, www.upscaleresalebazar.com, the Riberas del Pilar resale shop is hosting huge sale of book and bargains from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Thursday, October 23.

Complimentary coffee and sweets will be available for early shoppers looking for anything from plumbing snakes to antique dolls, Halloween costumes, curtains and game boards. Customers who don’t find what they need can register their desires in the wish book the volunteers keep to match buyers and newly donated items

The profits from Upscale Resale, a charity operated by a volunteer staff, help support more than 50 children aged three to 17 living in Hope House in Ixtlahuacan and the Love in Action complex in Chapala.

Upscale Resale Bazar regularly lists newly arrived items on the Lake Chapala Society bulletin board. In addition, photos of the latest items will be posted on the website. The shop, which is between Maskaras Clinic and Dr. Pinto’s office on the Carretera in Riberas, is open Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. For more information or directions call 106 l882.

Dine with Shrine

The Lake Chapala Shrine Club is greeting the busier fall and winter season with a new series of their popular Dine with the Shrine meals in popular area restaurants.

First up will be either grilled sea bass fillet or barbecue chicken at Maria Isabel Restaurant in Ajijic.  Restaurant hosts Leo and Maria report that these entrées, accompanied with rice and mixed vegetables, will be served from on Tuesday, October 28, from noon to 8 p.m. for 130 pesos. Revenue from these specials is donated to the local Shriners to benefit their charitable activities.

The fixed price of these meals does not include the tip, salad, dessert or beverages. Restaurant Maria Isabel is at Calle Morelos 1. For lunch or dinner reservations call (33) 3676-4042.

Quilts

A local group of eight international award-winning quilters will host their second annual textile and fabric show on Saturday, November 8, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., at Paseo de las Canoas 29 in La Floresta.

Attending the specialty needle art show will be members of Mexico City’s Quilters de Mexico, including the group’s head Eduardo Ramirez Cato.

Lakeside’s  Kindred Quilters expect more than 100 attendees at their four-hour display of traditional and modern art quilts, bags, wall hangings and other textile art, including spinning and weaving. Many of the displayed pieces will be for sale during the show.

Area fabric enthusiasts will enjoy meeting a Guadalajara vendor of quilting fabrics and supplies. For more information call Linda Sherman at (376) 766-2086 or Gethyn Soderman at (376) 766-0773.

 Marine Corps birthday bash

Calling all hands to salute the U.S. Marine Corps on its 239th birthday.  The celebration is squared away for Monday, November 10, 3 p.m. at La Trattoria di Axixic, Carretera Oriente 30 at Calle Galeana, opposite OXXO.  The admission price for attending the event is set at 180 pesos per person, including a full meal and tip for service. Menus offerings features salad bar, an entrée option of chicken, fish, steak or pasta, and cake for dessert.

The program will include a reading of the USMC Commandant’s official message, a trivia contest, and the ceremonial slicing of the birthday cake. Guests taking part in the trivia quiz will have eight minutes to answer 25 questions related to Marine Corps history and lore, with a commemorative tee-shirt to be awarded to the winner and the Maggie’s Drawers traveling trophy handed out as a consolation prize to the loser.

For additional information or reservations contact John Pence by email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

Open Circle

The attendees of Open Circle meet at the Lake Chapala Society at 10 a.m. each Sunday for coffee, tea and sandwich bites. Following the social time, the presentation begins at 10:30 a.m.

On Sunday, October 19. Otto Rand, 82, will present a program entitled “God or No God.”

Rand was born in Czechoslovakia. After the Second World War, the surviving members of his family migrated to Israel. Rand, his wife and children moved on to Canada, where they lived for 45 years before coming to Ajijic.

Rand received a bachelor’s degree from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and then studied at the University of Chicago and the University of Toronto, and received M.A. and M.E. degrees, as well as completing all the requirements for a Ph.D in ancient Near Eastern history and history of early religions.

Rand founded The Toronto Heschel School, where he was the first principal, and also taught courses in the history of religion at the McMichael’s College of the University of Toronto.

Lakeside Presbyterian

In his seventh and final sermon in the “Return to Narnia” series, Pastor Ross Arnold will introduce the meaning in the concluding story in C.S. Lewis’ classic series of children’s books to the congregation of the Lakeside Presbyterian Church during the 10 a.m. worship service on Sunday, October 19.

Like all Narnia books, “The Last Battle” deals with major Christian themes – in this case, the coming of the Antichrist, the end of the world and the Last Judgment. This week, Arnold reintroduces the magnificent lion Aslan who represents Jesus.

One character says,“But courage, child: we are all between the paws of the true Aslan.” Aslan responds, “Beloved, unless thy desire had been for me, thou wouldst not have sought so long and so truly. For all find what they truly seek.”

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

St. Andrew’s Anglican

During the gospel reading of the 10 a.m. worship service on Sunday, October 19 at St. Andrew’s Anglican Church, Jesus issues a command that has frequently been misunderstood and used to justify slavery and the oppression of women. Father Winston Welty’s brief sermon, “To Whom Do I Owe What?” insists that the meaning of the command is the opposite of how it has been misinterpreted.

The children’s bilingual Sunday School program begins each week at 9:45 a.m. A time of welcome, fellowship and refreshment follows the worship service.

The annual Harvest Comida on Friday, October 24 commemorates Canadian and U.S. Thanksgiving. The menu includes turkey, stuffing, mashed and sweet potatoes, green beans and a variety of pies with ice cream. Tickets at 200 pesos are available in the garden on Sundays.

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

Little Chapel by the Lake

The interdenominational congregation of The Little Chapel by the Lake will share a refreshment period from 10:45 to 11:10 a.m. on Sunday, October 19 with the members of Christ Church Lakeside.

During the 11:15 a.m. worship service, Rev. Gene Raymer will deliver a message titled “Attitude.” Raymer points out that while two people can do exactly the same thing, one can be a service to God and the other not. The attitude with which each performs the task is the essential element.

Following the worship service, members of the congregation will go to La Taverna del Quattro Mori for fellowship and lunch.

Congregation leaders are working in conjunction with Christ Church Lakeside to plan their annual posada (Christmas party) for the children of San Juan Tecomatlan to be held in early December. This event is always appreciated by the small children of this poor fishing village.

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

San Andrés English

Rev. Basil G. Royston, D.Min., has selected “The Lord of History” as the title for the Sunday, October 19, 9 a.m. English Mass at San Andrés Parish Church in Ajijic.

“God is king. Earthly rulers, political regimes, Cyrus or Caesar, are called by God to reveal something of His power and majesty and His plan for the human race,” says Royston. “But they only hold their power for a day. Our concern is not with them, but with God whom we worship in this celebration.”

Unitarian Universalist

The Lake Chapala Unitarian Universalist Fellowship meets every Sunday at 10:30 a.m. at Plaza de la Ribera, Rio Bravo 10A in Ajijic

The Sunday, October 19 service will feature “Rebirth,” a video presentation by Rev. Meg Riley, Senior Minister of the Unitarian Universalist Church of the Larger Fellowship. The video focuses on emotional and spiritual growth and change.

Unitarian Universalists search for truth along many paths. The lakeside group gathers 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 a personal spiritual path wherever it leads.

Christ Church

Christ Church Lakeside’s service on Sunday, October 19 begins at at the Little Chapel by the Lake at 9:30 a.m. when Deacon Rob Wells will present the sermon “You Hypocrites,” based on Matthew 22:15-22.  This week is the monthly “bring a friend to church” Sunday.

Christ Church Lakeside and the Little Chapel by the Lake enjoy a common coffee fellowship from about 10:35 until 11:10 a.m. between the two services.

Wells also leads a Tuesday morning Bible Study from 10 until 11 a.m. at the Little Chapel by the Lake. The group is currently studying the Gospel of Luke, using “The Jerusalem Bible” as his main text because of its rich footnotes, cross-references, and commentary.

Buddhist Community

The Heart of Awareness Buddhist Community meets in Ajijic for meditation and dharma teachings at 4:30 p.m. on Wednesdays at Encarnacion Rosas 9 in Ajijic. The film planned for October 22 is from Shambhala Acharyaa Fleet Maul and entitled “Social Virtuosity: Developing Confidence and Resilience Through the Discovery of Basic Goodness.”

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 is open and includes people with Zen, Tibetan, and Shambhala backgrounds as well as those with no prior meditation experience. For more information, call Karin Miles at (376) 766-0020.