Featured Presentations Scheduled for Your Enjoyment in the LCS Gardens

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Open Circle Ajijic

December 4, 2022
Presentation by Mariachi School Beginners — Danny Medeles School: Our first Step in Mexican Music
YouTube link: Coming Soon!

Escuela de Mariachi Pedro Rey arises from the need to teach and spread to a new generation the real mariachi style and preserve Mexican traditions in this way to offer an alternative for the musical study focused on mariachi for children, youth and adults from Ajijic and the lake side.

Our Director Daniel Medeles who has great experience in teaching music for children, without a doubt a musical family legacy supports him as a person trained to perform this job.

From the hand of Pedro Rey a legend in Mariachi music, Daniel Medeles, Mark Fogelquist and the entire team of teachers perform the task of teaching and motivating each student for the correct execution of their instruments such as guitar, violin, trumpet, vihuela, guitarrón and children´s choir.

Activities days are Mondays and Tuesdays and you can find the school in Constitution Street #147 in Ajijic, Jalisco.

We feel so honored and exited to perform for first time ever “Our first step in Mexican music” a special concert were we´ll play some mariachi lessons for you and a couple of traditional Mexican songs that we were working on.

Open Circle Ajijic

December 11, 2022
Presentation by Roland Palencia: “UNIDAD: Gay & Lesbian Latinos Unidos” documentary film screening
YouTube link: Coming Soon!

“UNIDAD: Gay & Lesbian Latinos Unidos” - Trailer (2022) [a href="https://vimeo.com/689009028" target="_blank"]can be seen here[/a]

The Gay and Lesbian Latinos Unidos (GLLU) organization was founded in 1981, only a dozen years after the Stonewall rebellion, and a year before the HIV/AIDS pandemic began to ravage LGBTQ communities. GLLU was the greater Los Angeles area's first major Gay and Lesbian Latino organization, and the UNIDAD film chronicles events surrounding GLLU at a pivotal time in the history of the convergent equality, feminist, and civil rights movements that shaped the destinies of GLLU's multiple and overlapping communities for decades thereafter.

GLLU was revolutionary for its time as it affirmed the multiple identities of being LGBTQ+, Latino, immigrant and undocumented, political and economic refugees, class and color, Latin American and U.S. Chicano heritage, while becoming trailblazing pioneers who empowered the blossoming Latino and Queer movements. The 40 minute film seeks to recount and reclaim this history and stories.

Roland Palencia (he/him) is a Professor at California State University Northridge (CSUN)’s Tseng College in the Diverse Community Development Leadership Master of Arts program. He is the Executive Producer of two documentary films: “TransVisible: Bamby Salcedo’s Story,” a documentary depicting the life and activism of the nationally renowned Trans Latina activist Bamby Salcedo; and “UNIDAD: Gay &' Lesbian Latinos Unidos,” which chronicles the founding and legacy of the largest Queer Latine organization active in the 1980s.

 

 

If You Missed an In-person Presentation, You Can Still Enjoy It On-line.

Open Circle Ajijic

November 27, 2022
Presentation by Lila Wells: Lila Reads Again
YouTube link: Coming Soon!

Lila Wells shares the story of The Snow Goose, by Paul Gallico, a parable on the regenerative power of friendship and love, set against a backdrop of the horror of World War II.

Critics called the book overly sentimental. Gallico made no apologies, saying “in the contest between sentiment and 'slime,' sentiment remains far out in front”.

In 1971, a performance of The Snow Goose was broadcast on BBC television, winning a Golden Globe and an Emmy. It was shown in the US on the Hallmark Hall of Fame.

Lila has acted in community theatre from age 16. Since coming to Lakeside in 2015 she has been involved in many aspects of the local theatre scene. Her goal with this reading to make you weep, so bring your hankies.

Open Circle Ajijic

November 20, 2022
Presentation by Randy Brutsche: An Illegal Gringo in Old Mexico
The story and the publication process
YouTube link: Coming Soon!

This is the true-life story of an American tourist seeking a retirement lifestyle as an Ex-Patriot in Mexico. While traveling via bus to see the countryside, Mr. Brutsche had seen many instances of immigration agents entering the bus to randomly check a few passengers for proper travel documents. When it finally happened to him, he quickly found out he did not have what was required. As an illegal alien without a visa or tourist visitation form, he was taken off the bus, his luggage pulled out, and the bus drove away. What followed was a hair-raising ordeal thrown at him in a language he did not speak that included being imprisoned for six days in an immigration detention facility in Acayucan, Veracruz, Mexico. It ended when he was accompanied by two Mexican immigration agents and deported to Houston, Texas.

Randy Brutsche was born and raised in a small, football crazy town in northwestern Illinois, was stationed in Germany from 1975 to 1978 in the US Army, then moved to Alaska in 1981 and lived in the Anchorage to Wasilla area for 35 years. His first book, his own true-life story, An Illegal Gringo in Old Mexico, is available on Amazon as an e-book with a paperback edition coming soon. He is currently wrapping up the editing of a fiction novel, A Man and the Way of the Bear.

Open Circle Ajijic

November 13, 2022
Presentation by Steve Taylor: FoodBank: Grandmas, Children, the Disabled & More
Perilously Close to the Edge
YouTube link: [a href="https://youtu.be/rnJ-3AXbZXA" target="_blank"]** CLICK HERE **[/a]

By end of this year – within just weeks – FoodBank Lakeside could run out of money.

Hundreds of local families count on the organization's monthly food donations to not only feed themselves, but free up precious pesos to afford rent, electricity, cooking fuel, water, kids' clothes, and other items.

Losing this monthly help could lead to familial displacement, hunger, utility loss, or financial ruin.

Between now and Dec. 31, Lakeside ex-pats and others who are better off are being challenged to put FoodBank on sturdier financial footing. Increase the number of FoodBank supporters. Add those who auto-donate small sums a month for 12 months.

The One Million Peso Challenge seeks the public's help from new supporters and more help from current supporters – or from supporters' friends, neighbors, tourists, ex-pats or the public. The need is immediate. The crisis is critical. The Challenge is ours.

Open Circle Ajijic

November 6, 2022
Presentation by David Ellison: Complicating the history of the US Civil War
Abraham Lincoln, and The Emancipation Proclamation
YouTube link: [a href="https://youtu.be/-gUIPyh8ek4" target="_blank"]** CLICK HERE **[/a]

There has been an insidious movement on both the political left and right to revise and simplify history. This has been especially true recently with the US Civil War and The Emancipation Proclamation (probably the most misunderstood document in US history). Dave Ellison, who fell in love with history only when he finally recognized its "messiness" (and then taught it for 36 years), will recomplicate the War Between the States in a somewhat controversial but most fascinating way.

Open Circle Ajijic

October 30, 2022
Presentation by Loretta Downs: How to Live Forever
YouTube link: [a href="https://youtu.be/YDs-jYX55ds" target="_blank"]** CLICK HERE **[/a]

The Disney animated film, “The Book of Life,” takes the viewer to The Land of the Remembered and The Land of the Forgotten. How we live and how we die influence which land we remain in forever.

Loretta Downs returns to Open Circle with her inspiring and uplifting views on making friends with Death, supporting the end-of-life experience together, and facilitating healthy grieving.

In this presentation, Loretta will plant guideposts to The Land of the Remembered, should you choose to walk that path. All of us will face Death with many loved ones before we meet her ourselves. She is a better friend to those who prepare.

Loretta holds a Master’s Degree in Gerontology. She is a Certified Senior Advisor, Advance Care Planning Facilitator, End-of-Life Doula, and past president of the Chicago End-of-Life Care Coalition. Loretta has over 35 years of sacred service to the dying.

Open Circle Ajijic

October 23, 2022
Presentation by Keith Lindauer: Earthships and Rainwater Harvesting A Gateway to Sustainable Living
YouTube link: [a href="https://youtu.be/vu7lSQWpt2w" target="_blank"]** CLICK HERE **[/a]

Earthships are off-grid homes constructed from recycled and repurposed materials generally discarded from society. Old car tires, glass bottles and aluminum cans are the primary building blocks of these homes. Powered by the sun, heated and cooled by the earth’s abundant and free energy sources, with all domestic water harvested from the rain and snowmelt, Earthships are affordable to build, attractive and perhaps the healthiest homes you can build.

Renegade architect Mike Reynolds, aka the Garbage Warrior is father of the Eartship and the gladiator for change and salvation of the planet. I am a soldier in Mike’s army. I will show you what Earthships are, how they are built and how and why they could change your life - and the environment - for the better.

Rainwater Collection Lakeside

As water continues to be a serious problem in the Lake Chapala region, RainManMx has stepped outside the box and designs and installs rainwater collection systems for homes business and schools. RainMan will tell you how it’s done, and why you and your environment will benefit from drinking the rain.

Keith Lindauer is a traditionally educated and trained architect gone rogue.

In 1996, after an encounter in Colorado with New Mexico architect, Mike Reynolds, Keith’s life took a left turn. He discovered Earthships and sustainable building, including straw bale houses, cob and adobe. The next 25 years was devoted to green building, planning and developing sustainable communities and off-grid homes across the Americas.

Open Circle Ajijic

October 16, 2022
Presentation by Toastmaster Club: Facing our Stereotypes Together
YouTube link: [a href="https://youtu.be/5ySVINVn-UA" target="_blank"]** CLICK HERE **[/a]

Two Americans and two Mexicans will discuss the stereotypes that exist about citizens of our two countries and how they distort and affect the relationships between our peoples. Questions such as these will be explored:

- Do these stereotypes affect our ability to create friendships?

- Do these stereotypes affect how we treat our neighbors and for NOB expats how we treat people hired to help us or do work for us?

- Is language our only barrier to closer ties with our sister countries?

Attendees are invited to participate in the discussion.

Presenters: Alfredo Pérez Aldana is a native of Guadalajara and is currently the Director of Education at LCS. Marissa Urrutia Martinez is a native of Monterrey, Mexico and has lived in the Chapala area for the past 17 years. Ken Knittel is a native of Texas and has lived in the Chapala - Jocotepec area for the past 13 years. Sarana Donaldson is a native of the northeastern United States and has lived in San Antonio Tlyacapan for 5 1/2 years. All four presenters are members of the Lago de Chapala Toastmasters Club.

Open Circle Ajijic

October 9, 2022
Presentation by Lucky Dog: Rescue and Adoption Center
YouTube link: [a href="https://youtu.be/zJlATAR2spw" target="_blank"]** CLICK HERE **[/a]

Lucky Dog Rescue and Adoption Center is a non-profit volunteer organization dedicated to the rescue and adoption of abandoned and abused dogs in the Lake Chapala area. Lucky Dog is a no-kill shelter run solely by a group of dedicated volunteers, led by a volunteer board. Their only income is from private donations.

Our volunteers ensure our dogs are walked, fed and loved daily. Vet appointments, routine vaccinations, worm and flea treatments, and adoption services are also handled by volunteers.

Lucky Dog has expanded a lot since its inception in 2012, adding additional runs, a playing/training field, safety doors on the kennels, shade coverings for the play yards, and more.

Lucky Dog is its own entity and relies on private donations to cover costs. Services provided for the dogs include spay/neuter, emergency services, long-term recovery care, special foods and medicines, and of course, the loving care from volunteers. For most dogs the costs are low, but costs for injured or sick dogs can be much more, including surgery, other medical needs and the time and care required for healing. Our current vet is Dra. Laura Medina Gomez, who visits weekly, generously offers her time and services at a generous price.

To view additional presentations from our Open Circle 2022 series, ** CLICK HERE ** to visit the on-line archive. Archives of presentations from 2014 - 2021 are also available for viewing under the Videos tab on the Open Circle menu above.