Kim LeMieux
Email: kimslakesideliving@gmail.com
The Lake Chapala Society host Open Circle every Sunday at 10:30am, a popular community gathering in Ajijic, to enjoy a diverse range of presentations.
Entrance by the side gate on Ramón Corona, opens at 9:30am. We recommend bringing a hat and bottled water, and please remove containers upon departure. Use of mask is optional.
Check their website for upcoming presentations, make your reservation if you want to attend and if you missed a past presentation, you could still enjoy it online: https://opencircleajijic.org/
JANUARY PRESENTATIONS INCLUDE
January 8th The Four Desires?
By David Bryen
In his 1950 Nobel acceptance speech, philosopher Bertrand Russell claimed that — once survival needs have been met — all human behavior is motivated by acquisitiveness, rivalry, vanity, and love of power. In this presentation, David will invite us to evaluate whether these motivators alone are sufficient to illuminate the yearning for fulfillment of our deepest human longings and lift the veil that shrouds our truest desires. David promises to provide no answers but invites us to explore the hungry nature of the complex human soul, in the hope that this inquiry will encourage and equip us for dialogue with others and thereby heal rather than feed the divisions that increasingly separate us.
In his published books, his poetry, his love for wood, David has long been a voice working to awaken the sensations of the soul. He retired to Ajijic from his psychotherapy practice in 2012. He’s raced sailboats, built his own house, been a lifetime motorcyclist, motorcycle safety instructor, master wood craftsman, and for 5 years served as the coordinator of Open Circle. This will be his 11th presentation at Open Circle.
January 15th Dr. Benjamin Franklin Report to the citizens of Philadelphia
By Steve Nousen
It is October 1785 and Dr. Franklin is settling back into life in the United States following a nine-year absence. The last time Franklin appeared at Open Circle, he bid farewell to the citizens of Philadelphia as he and his grandsons embarked for a diplomatic mission to an unnamed European country. That country turned out to be the Hereditary Monarchy of France.
Now, only three months shy of his 80th birthday, Dr. Franklin will recount the arduous work he put in to win the alliance with the government of King Louis XVI. Without the assistance of French finances and direct military aid, it is unlikely that the newly formed United States could have defeated the armed forces of Great Britain. Dr. Franklin is also anxious to address some of the scurrilous rumors that have spread about his personal conduct while acting as the United States’ first ambassador to a foreign power. These rumors have been perpetuated by one of Franklin’s fellow diplomats.
This presentation is the fourth of a planned five-part series on the life and times of the most important of the Founding Fathers. Steven Nousen has been interpreting Benjamin Franklin for most of this century. He has appeared at venues across the United States including the National Geographic Society and the Library of Congress. He is an award-winning teacher and lobbyist.
January 22nd Lights out in . . . the City of Lights.
By Yann Kostic M.B.A
Unthinkable, but it happened December 8 in Paris. A harbinger of things to come? Don’t think this affects your investments? Think again, get a fresh perspective with our annual Open Circle Presentation, and see what is in the offing for your retirement portfolio in 2023 and beyond.
January 29th
Journalism and Democracy by Patrick O’Heffernan and Domingo Flores
 Patrick O’Heffernan |  Domingo Flores |
Why a free, independent bilingual press is critical for Lakeside.
January 11 1:00 to 3:00 p.m.
A memoir-writing workshop to benefit the Lake Chapala Society, by Doris Gallan. This two-hour workshop is designed to get you started writing your memoirs, to teach you discipline in writing so that you complete your book, and to share with you many tips on finding inspiration, getting organized, and overcoming some of the challenges of writing.
Doris has been teaching and coaching creative writing to dozens of authors, many of whom have published their books. I provide a safe and creative space to write your stories through exercises completed during the workshop.
Just bring your laptop or pen and paper.
You must register in advance at the Lake Chapala Society in Ajijic. Non-members $650 pesos; LCS members $500 pesos. All proceeds to benefit the Lake Chapala Society and its programs.
Wednesdays January 18th, 25, February 1 and 8, 1:30 to 3:30
A series of four two-hour memoir-writing classes Whether or not you attend the introduction to the memoir-writing workshop (above), this series of four two-hour classes may be of interest to you. We’ll be digging deeper into the topics introduced at the workshop including learning writing discipline to ensure you finish your book, professional tips to get started, and how to keep writing when the writing gets tough. Exercises will be completed in class in a fun and safe space.
Just bring your laptop or pen and paper
You must register in advance at the Lake Chapala Society in Ajijic. Nonmembers: $1,170 pesos; LCS members: $900 pesos. LCS hours of operation Monday to Friday 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. or send anemail todirectoreducation@lakechapalasociety.com
January 14 – 10am to 3pm
Art in the Garden shows have returned to Lake Chapala Society gardens for the high-season months January through March 2023!
This month, the theme is “Inspire Your Heart with Art Day (Jan 31) Profits from the artist participation fees will benefit the LCS community outreach programs.
Since 2017, LCS has hosted art shows during the high season in its famous gardens. Given that LCS has a commitment to local community support, these shows highlight artists from the Chapala and Ajijic area. They are also not restricted to members of art groups, but exhibit art from all artists, and give a needed location for local Mexican artisans and artists who do not typically have opportunities to sell their art. Also, the LCS Children’s Art Program will be selling original art, plus their art cards featuring the kids’ work (including their acclaimed Christmas cards – no, it’s not too late!). This provides important income for the young artists and their families, as well giving them a lesson about the “business of art.”
Please come to the show and support local handicrafts and art, as well as children’s art, during a pleasant day in the LCS gardens. You can refresh yourself in our café for a snack, a cold drink, or lunch. Don’t miss out!” There’s free admission and ample parking on the lake front.
For more information, please contact Danielle Pagé at 333-808-0324.
January 27th – 29th
Friday, Saturday & Sunday 4:00
Daniel MacIvor’s Marion Bridge
Directed by Darlene Sherwood
A well-known practitioner of Canada’s theatre of the avant-garde this is a fascinating version of Daniel MacIvor’s most successful play to date. It is a character-driven drama set in Cape Breton. Three deliciously different adult sisters gather to await the death of their mother. Agnes “the unconventional one”, has returned from Toronto where she has found more disappointment than success as an actress. Theresa, “the good one”, still lives at home and has found religion to ease her bitterness, while Louise, “the strange one” and the only one of the three not to be named after a saint, lives her life through her favorite TV programs.
In this humorous and touching story, the three sisters attempt to sort out their lives and to come to terms with what they wanted to be and what their mother wanted them to be.
The Marion Bridge of the title is a rural community in Cape Breton and its bridge crosses the Mira River, one of Nova Scotia’s longest and widest rivers and was made famous through a popular Canadian song written by Allister MacGillivray, entitled “Song for the Mira”
Darlene Sherwood is making her directing debut with Bare Stage. Prior to this, she has performed in Paradise Lost and Assisted Living. Her cast, Linda Goman, Sharon Jarvis, and Gisele Phipps have each performed with Bare Stage this season. Their dynamic as sisters promises fireworks as they work through old conflicts and reveal family secrets. Marion Bridge was nominated for the Canadian Governor General’s Award.
Tickets are $200 to join in the fun. Sales are brisk so RESERVE NOW at barestagetheatre2018@gmail.com
We are located at #261 on the mountain side of the Carretera in Riberas del Pilar across from the Catholic Church. Door and Bar open at 3:00 pm. Seats are held till 3:50 pm. Auditorium curtains will be open for air flow.
Please Like, Follow & Share our Facebook Page: BareStageTheatreMexico, but PLEASE RESERVE using our gmail address above.
January 13 – 22.
“The Quality of Life.”
Directed by Collette Clavadetscher
“Playwright Jane Anderson explores a myriad of ethical, religious, and moral beliefs, as well as (some would say) personal rights issues concerning life and death in her remarkable and completely engrossing play, The Quality of Life.” – TheaterMania
Set in Berkeley, CA after a major fire, “The Quality of Life” features Jeannette (Maureen O’Hern), an earthy, free-spirited woman and her husband, Neil (Nathan Zassman), who is dying of cancer. When her cousin Dinah (Sally Jo Bartlett) from Ohio comes for a visit with her husband, Bill (Ted Tessier), the two couples – one ‘west coast left’, the other entrenched in their conservative Christian beliefs – are made to confront their contrasting worldviews. “I believe the coastal personality and the Midwest personality are so different,” Anderson says at an ACT rehearsal space on Grant Avenue. “What I’m interested in doing is finding a way for these two sides to make peace. Our country is horribly divided between the left and the right, and it’s my belief that if we relate to each other on a deeply human level, that somehow, we can learn from each other.”
Show times: Evenings 7:30 pm Matinees 4:00 Saturday and Sunday shows are matinees only.
Purchase tickets online: www.lakesidelittletheatre.com Box Office: 376 766 095
“GOTTA SING, GOTTA DANCE”
Director Barbara Clippinger and Producer Michael McGrath, was performed November 16th-18th at Club Exotica at the Ajijic Plaza. It was an amazing show and far more successful than anyone thought it would be.
After months of planning and rehearsing, the show raised the unheard-of amount of $188,000 pesos for the School for Special Children, the only local school that provides programs tailored for children who are deaf, blind, affected with Downs syndrome, Cerebral Palsy and Autism or have neuromuscular disorders. And the Turning Pointe Project, a program that provides free classes and education in the art of dance to local children who can’t afford to pay but want to learn. “This was the most money they have ever raised from putting on a show at lakeside”. Many thanks to the cast and crew who donated months of their time working on the show. And most important…. a million thanks to those wonderful people “the audience” who bought their tickets and helped make this happen.
January 28, 2023, 3:00 pm, THE “ROOFTOP” ROMEO’S” GET BACK… to January 1969” for a commemorative ROOFTOP concert at El Bar Co Ajijic, one of Lakeside’s most popular bands, THE ROMEO’S, will perform a number of Beatles songs, along with their own repertoire of popular rock and roll classics in support of NIÑOS INCAPACITADOS who provide financial assistance to those families whose financial means are limited with very sick children to help cover the costs of medical diagnosis, treatments and medicines. These costs are increasing rapidly, as are the numbers of families requiring such assistance. The need never ends. Our current roster is 145 children. NIÑOS INCAPACITADOS has been serving the Lakeside community since 1974. In 1993 ‘A.C.’ status was achieved. We are one of the featured charities in the December 2022 issue of The Ojo del Lago, center section.
We try to make our events ‘unique’ in the community and worthwhile (financially) to the Program. Our Board and supporters are all volunteers. Except for annual accounting and/or legal professional fee’s, all the funds we raise are devoted to the program.
“GET BACK… to January 1969” The Beatles performed their final public performance and after weeks of debate, they decided to hold their now iconic concert on the ROOFTOP of their Apple Corps headquarters at 3 Savile Row, London, England. Recall? They sang “Get Back” in public, for the first time that day.
Seating is limited to 100.
Doors open at 2:00 pm Each ticket purchased includes one glass of wine or beer, or margarita. (Compliments of El Bar Co) and ALL proceeds support the on-going work of Niños Incapacitados.
Full bar and menu will be available.
Purchase your ticket(s) in advance BEFORE January 24, 2023, $250 pesos per person. Contact Carlos at El Bar Co 376-766-0452, on Facebook @El Barco Ajijic or Bill at 376-766-5829
Your support is needed and appreciated. Don’t forget to “propina” the band. Please, join us. Thank you.
- Lakeside Living – April 2023 - March 30, 2023
- Lakeside Living – March 2023 - February 27, 2023
- Lakeside Living – February 2023 - January 30, 2023
