Jaltemba Times

Los Amigos de La Peñita (Los Amigos) is a community service organization comprised of residents of the local community. Los Amigos exists to serve the people of La Peñita, the surrounding Colonias, and the community at large through it's participation in activities designed to improve the lives of area residents.

Working, whenever possible, with other community organizations, Los Amigos will focus its efforts on activities that provide broad benefit to the community and involve a high degree of citizen participation.

All members of the greater La Peñita community are invited and encouraged to participate in planning and implementing these activities. Decisions regarding the affairs of Los Amigos are made by members in attendance at official meetings of the organization.

Los Amigos meets the second and fourth Monday of each month at La Palapa de Guty on Circuito Libertad #4.

For more information on Los Amigos, please go to: http://www.losamigosdelapenita.com/en/index.html

NEWS ON LOS AMIGOS:

Helping the Parents of La Peñita Improve the Condition of Their Schools

Concluding A Successful Year and Planning for Another

2nd Annual Fundraiser - La Fiesta de La Peñita

Working With Other Partners to Give the Children of La Peñita a Safe and Friendly Place to Play

Helping the Community Beautify its Beach

Los Amigos de la Peñita Honours the School Directors

The general meetings of Los Amigos normally held the second and fourth Monday of every month will not be held until November.  Instead general meetings will be scheduled, as needed, in conjunction with the meetings of the Education Committee, which will continue through the summer.  Dates and locations will be posted here.

Meeting of April 12

Estrella Galindo was introduced as the new Los Amigos bookkeeper; she the current president of the parents association at Las Cabras Kinder.

The economic development group provided a power point presentation on the group’s objectives. 

Two volunteer groups working to improve the lives of the citizens of Jaltemba Bay have agreed to join together.  At it’s meeting of April 12th, Los Amigos approved a motion to expand its services to the community to include economic development initiatives and to form an Economic Development Committee that will initially be led by Agneta Dyck, Marilyn Miller, Piedad Ayón Velasco and Laura Aguilar – the Executive of the Jaltemba Economic Development Initiative, which was formerly known as Martes Women.

The March 29, 2010 meeting of Los Amigos de la Peñita – the last meeting of our fiscal year - proved to be a great opportunity for the group to celebrate the successes it had achieved over the last year and to approve a budget and action plan for the year ahead.

Our Education Committee, which was just in its infancy a year ago, was particularly active this past year. They were able to complete a number of projects: leveling the schoolyard and building a bathroom at J. Cruz Bautista Primaria, building a shelter for the play area at Miguel Hildago Kinder, repairing the washrooms at Juan Escutia Primaria and building the new Patria Kinder. The completion of the Patria Kinder, which was inaugurated just last week, was greatly assisted by contributions from the Rotary Club and the Fashion Show Committee through the Jaltemba Bay Foundation. Los Amigos was also able to make a contribution to the Las Cabras Kinder project in La Colonia, which was spearheaded by the Rotary Club. Our Education Committee also operated a successful art contest for students.

But perhaps more importantly, the Committee has empowered parents by having them set the priorities in terms of funding as well as assisting them to initiate their own local fundraising activities. They held two major fundraisers last year: the first El Gran Bazar, which drew almost a thousand people, a Kermes - an afternoon of entertainment and food in the park - and they also sold coupon books for local restaurants to help support their work. A second Gran Bazar is scheduled for April 24.

A budget of 415,000 pesos has been approved for the Education Committee for next year, with the bulk of it going to three new construction and maintenance projects: replacing the dangerous entry cupola at Kinder Manautou, building a new kindergarten in Las Rosas and repairing the perimeter wall at Justo Sierra. They are also planning on supporting another art contest and an essay contest to provide an opportunity for local students to showcase their talents. The Committee has projected raising 265,000 of the budget amount through their own fundraising activities.

February 25, 2010 was a great day for both the community of La Peñita and Los Amigos. It was on that date that Señor Gobernador Ney González Sánchez, Governor of the State of Nayarit officially opened "Unidad Deportiva Corazon de La Riviera", formerly (and still unofficially) known as the EcoPark. It has now become a focal point for the community and a centre for community events. Less than two years earlier, the 'park' was a rock strewn field with a beat-up basketball court and some rusted playground equipment, but Los Amigos - working in cooperation with the merchants who contributed supplies, the Delegación, the newly founded Rotary Club and many dedicated neighbours - provided financial support, as well as manpower, to help the community get this project off the ground.

Our plastics recycling community has also been a great success. Over the past year, we took over the collection and compacting of the recyclables and established a compacting facility in La Peñita . We also expanded our coverage area to include Guayabitos and Los Ayala. A network of drop off points was established across the community and we provided businesses and individuals with an opportunity to purchase their own recycling baskets for their business, residence or neighbourhood. We have been able to establish good working relationships with the Guayabitos Hotel Owners Association and the Municipality and would also like to especially acknowledge Colegio Siquieros and Abarrotes Hernandez of La Peñita for their exceptional participation in our recycling program. Los Amigos has set aside 108,450 pesos to operate the program for next year. Our plan is to find a contractor to run the program for us, with the organization providing a subsidy to ensure it keeps going.

Last year saw the first round of scholarships being awarded under our Scholarship Fund. Six full-year scholarships were provided to high-school aged students who, in return, committed to become involved in community projects. A budget of 48,000 pesos has been set aside next year to continue to provide support to the five students who remain in the program, to support ten additional students and to provide support for participants in terms of their expenses for books.

Now that the two abandoned buildings in the middle of La Peñita beach have been demolished and removed, our Clean-up Committee is anxious to continue work on our "Clean La Peñita Beach Campaign" and Los Amigos has set aside 10,000 pesos for the campaign next winter.

Los Amigos has also set aside 100,000 pesos for the 2010/11 fiscal year for community projects. Our objective is to work with the Ejido on the development of a community center where the basketball court currently is located near the plaza. Our vision is that the centre would be used for a variety of purposes such as public meeting space, cultural activities/events for the community and adult and youth education and activities.

None of this would, of course be possible without our fundraising activities. Fiesta 2010 was our most successful yet, attracting a crowd of more than 200 people and resulting in net proceeds of almost 390,000 pesos. A new initiative was the establishment of a regular Los Amigos booth at the Tianguis every Thursday. Besides providing a venue for selling Los Amigos T-Shirts and bags, it had another important benefit: raising awareness of the organization and providing an opportunity for members of the community to drop by and find out more about what we are up to. Our major fundraiser for next year will be held on January 30, with the format still to be determined, but rest assured it will be a memorable event so mark the date on your calendar.

We would like to take this opportunity to thanks all those who help us achieve our goals this year: our volunteers, our contributors, the other organizations we worked with and the media who helped promote our activities. We look forward to working with all of you next year.

For more information on Los Amigos, please go to: http://www.losamigosdelapenita.com/en/index.html

A little bit of rain couldn’t dampen the spirit of the more than 200 people who attended Los Amigos de La Peñita’s Fiesta 2010 on Sunday, January 31 at Hacienda La Peñita – Thomas Bartlett’s internationally acclaimed estate.

Entertainment for the event was provided by the Puerto Vallarta Chamber Players, the talented East Indian dancer Adriana, flamenco guitarist Oscar Christian and his dance partner Rosabla and the Perez Brothers. Latitude 21 provided Oscar Christian and Rosabla and the remaining musicians generously donated their time. The event also featured our first live auction, as well as a silent auction, a hosted bar and finger foods.

[

The fundraiser exceeded our expectations. Although final figures are still being calculated, it is expected that the event will generate net proceeds of almost $390,000 pesos, well in excess of our goal of $300,000 pesos.

We would like to thank our host, Thomas Bartlett for providing the inviting and welcoming ambience of his Hacienda La Peñita. Thanks are also due to the following special sponsors who stepped forward with generous donations to ensure that all of the monies raised through ticket sales and the auctions will go to support the work of Los Amigos: Casa Escaleras; Aceros Malboro; Ken Snyder and Mary Alice Ranta; Ben and Louisa Ussery; Bob Tripp and Peter Martin; Marco Antonio Meza Echevarria; Deb and Dana Drew; Friends from Saskatoon, Sask; Muro de La Penita; Ferremateriales Jaltemba and Ferreteria Peña.

Our thanks also go out to all of the individuals and businesses who donated items to the live and silent auctions, Chef Pablo and his staff at the Xaltemba Restaurant who prepared the food, Don Pedro who donated the liquor at cost and Mateja who donated the coolers. A list of the auction donors can be found at http://www.losamigosdelapenita.com/en/fiesta10-ackknow.htm

We also owe a dept of gratitude to the business and individuals who served as ticket outlets: Xaltemba Restaurant, Daniel’s Backstreet , Latitude 21, Bold Development, Hidden Paradise Real Estate, Casita de La Peñita, Posada Las Flores, Beach Dog Boarding & Salon, Allyson Williams, Christina Stobbs and Jerry Aschenbrenner.

A number of media outlets have been invaluable in helping to promote not only Fiesta La Peñita but the other activities that Los Amigos has been involved in over the winter. We would like to take this opportunity to thank Jaltemba Bay Folk, Jaltemba Sol, Jaltemba Times, Vallarta Lifestyles, Vallarta Tribune and the Banderas News for helping us get the word out.

This event would not have been possible without the Los Amigos members and other volunteers who worked tirelessly to ensure the event was a success:
- Sydney Richmond, Gail Gafuik, Deborah Drew and Susan Schrandt for organizing and producing an extremely successful silent and live auction;
- Our ticket committee – Jeanie Mintzmyer, Bruce Hilton, Allyson Williams, Joyce Vanderstaak, Nora Dixon, Ian Richmond, Nelson Gothie and Christina Stobbs;
- The individuals who staffed our booth at the Tianguis, selling t-shirts, cookbooks and tickets and generally promoting Los Amigos – Bob Tripp, Ken Snyder, Vern Porter, Johan Nielsen, Peter Martin, Phil Champagne, Eric LeBlanc, Julianna Bay, Marion Rogers, Karen Martin, Paul Leger, Sherri Nordin and Olga Porter;
- Bob Gibbs and Zobeida Barrera Lozano for helping to recruit corporate sponsors;
- Peter Martin and Sherri Nordin who chaired our bar/set up committee and Sarah Walker, Ralph Reichert, Yvonne Brewster and Natalie West who helped out in this area;
- Eddie Dominguez, who did an admirable job as master of ceremonies and Vern Porter who served as our auctioneer;
- Karen Martin, who coordinated the food service in cooperation with the Xaltemba Restaurant;
- Deborah Drew for designing our tickets, pamphlets and posters and Dave Easby for helping to market the event;
- Tom Plattenberger and Jeanie Mintzmyer who helped capture the event on film; and
- The check out committee who handled the electronic credit card machine and cash and sorted out all the smears on the bid sheets: Bruce Hilton, Nelson Gothie, Dave Vaught, Allyson Williams and David Thompson; and
- The Planning Committee who held it all together – Bob Tripp, Ken Snyder, Jeanie Mintzmyer, Karen Martin, Peter Martin, Sherri Nordin, Deborah Drew, Sydney Richmond, Gail Gafuik, Bruce Hilton, Bob Gibbs, Tara Spears and Ralph Reichert.

And last, but certainly not least, we want to offer our heartfelt thanks to those of you who attended or just made donations and showed your support for Los Amigos.

Muchas, muchas gracias a todas!

Ken Snyder, International President

Zobeida Lozano Barrera, National President

Bob Tripp, Chairman, Fundraising Committee

More pictures of the event are posted on the Los Amigos Website (www.losamigosdelapenita.com).