•  Help Others in Vallarta

Aside to Vallarta's natural beauty and fascinating developments, lie the needs of many people less benefited by the town's recent economic upsurge. Thankfully, there are also people who care; these are only two examples where you can also help others help:

Feed the Children Vallarta:
A non-profit organization that works to feed needy children in Puerto Vallarta by providing healthy breakfasts practically all year long and during special holidays. Volunteer work and donations are always needed; look for the teddy bear recollection bins around the city or call 221-2793 for more information. All donations are tax deductible in Canada, the US and Mexico.

Centro de Audiología:
Stefan Fridriksson, after clearing his way out of painstaking local red tape, has finally established his audiology clinic. The focus of this project is to help some of Mexico's 80% of hearing-impaired people who go unattended due to low family incomes. The deal he offers is impossible to resist: buy your hearing aid at 50% less than you would have to pay in the US or Canada, and help from 2 to 4 needy people in Vallarta receive their own hearing aids, virtually free.

Stefan sees around 25 patients a week with income ranges of $100 to $300 USD a month. At the moment, patients pay only $4.00, while the city donates another $35; the rest he has been paying for himself at a $450 - $2,300 retail price. So please help maintain this important project running, before the Fridriksson's bank account runs dry! The clinic also performs diagnostic testing for all kinds of hearing problems. Contact 225-1149, or visit them at 137 Liverpool, 3rd floor, Colonia Versalles.

•  Can Beer Race?
You bet. At the Beer Can Race weekly sails. Every Thursday at Marina Vallarta, five or six boats compete to achieve the best marks out to Nuevo Vallarta and back. Boats leave the docks as early as 4:00 PM and come back around 7:00 to discuss the race over beer and snacks at Yukon Jack's. So if you're looking for an occasion to introduce yourself to the local sailing action, this time around the Marina is where you need to be.

•  Day of the Dead Holiday: a Good Start!
Albeit the morbid theme of this traditional holiday, early November is marking a cheerful beginning for the high season of tourism with handsome prospects. These past weekend, hotel occupation averaged 66%, already 7.5 points above last year's. Carlos Rizo, president of the local Chamber of Commerce, informed that several businesses saw their sales rise considerably in the last days. With this, it is expected that the upcoming high season will be a particularly exciting one, both for tourists and business owners, as activities during this month keep on increasing and getting better. For this reason, visitors and locals can expect a tremendously active and fun end of the year.
See: The Millennium in Vallarta.

•  Tourism Authorities Seek Lower Air Fares
Raúl Alejandro Joseph Aguirre, the region's Tourism coordinator, invited air transport companies to sign agreements with this office pursuing a lowering of air fares. The Department of Tourism is pushing for these agreements in its efforts to increase the number of visitors to this destination. Aeromexico and Mexicana are key to these proposal, as flights coming from Mexico City and Guadalajara constitute a priority within this scheme. In other notes on this front - the Department of Tourism announced that agreements have been reached with Continental Airlines to raise their flight frequency from 8 to 11 daily arrivals. Also, Alaska Airlines announced that it increased its frequency to 6 flights per day.

•  In Search of the Lost Dogs (and Cats)
If you've walked around Vallarta's old town, surely you've noticed a number of stray dogs and cats running hungry without owners. This problem had been heightened by the impossibility of providing proper living conditions for all of them. Thus, an ecological group known as the "Iguana de Puerto Vallarta" gave itself to the "dirty" work of providing these animals with a painless, more honorable death. However, after strong criticism from the Asociación Protectora de Animales, a local animal's rights defense group, street dogs and cats will be channeled to this association in Basilio Badillo #295.

•  Local Art Focuses on the Current Millennium
Pedro Tello, an artist from San Jose del Mosco (a small village near Mascota), recently presented his project for a city fountain to be entitled "Origin and Destiny of Man." If city officials approve his proposal, this 45-square meter monument would be placed in the central plaza next to the kiosk before the year 2000 is over. There, eight figures are to represent what Tello distinguishes as humanity's basic stages of development such as origins, primitiveness, technology and the constant variable of time: its transformation. The piece is to have an interactive play with its surroundings: a special mechanism placed underneath Juarez street would have one of the pieces, a whale, breath every time a car is to pass by. The fountain carries a 900 thousand-peso estimate, for which Tello has already started to gather some support from friends, fellow artists and business people.

Also at the entrance of Marina Vallarta, bronze artists Claudio Garcia, Jose Manuel Lino and Francisco Reyes, worked under a scorching sun and hard rain in order to construct sculptor Ocatvio Gonzalez' four-ton whale design. The 2.5-million-pesos sculpture will be inaugurated with the Boat Show in November and is set to establish a world Guinness record.

•  Vallarta in the Limelight
From Broadway to Hollywood, during Christmas or Valentine's Day celebrations, the vibrant talents of Spotlight Productions is here to dwell under the splendor of the sun during the day, and the glory of the limelight during the evenings. This group of retired and semi-retired foreigners living in Vallarta is here to steal the show with a wide array of musical and theatrical performances. So forget Tina and Diana (Ross, that is): the pack of energy found bursting in this crowd of performers promises to keep audiences on the edge of their seats... and memories. Their season begins on December 21 until the 23rd with an ample rendition of traditional Christmas songs. The second event is scheduled for February 11, 12 and 14, with a special Valentine's Day play entitled Love Letters. Performances are to be staged at the Auditorio Cultural Agustin Flores Contreras (formerly CECATTUR). More information at 221-5157 with Kathleen Hennen, or at 223-2291 with Ed Murphy.

•  Early Action - Effective Response
Effective ecological action starts early in life. For this reason, the Bay and Beach Clean-Up group completed its Environmental Education Workshop last October at the local library. This workshop helps teachers teach their students about ways they can help to protect the environment. Along with this magazine, other sponsors keep the project alive: the International Friendship Club, Mayan Palace, Cafe Vallarta, Construyendo Nuestro Futuro, Club Regina, DINE, Enrique Aldrete, Lans, Vallarta Adventure, No Problem, Cruceros Princesa, Gutierrez Rizo, Radio Shack and Caruso.

•  Heavy Beauty
As you may now, Vallarta is also a favorite destination for Humpback Whales. Unidos para la Conservacion, together with Corporativo Ambiental and Club Regina, have released a special booklet with text, photos and illustrations by Astrid Frisch Jordan. This publication outlines this magnificent creature's morphology, physiology, sociology, life and migration patterns, and even includes some legends and poems! Partial proceeds from the sale of Humpback Whale will go to Unidos para la Conservacion, A.C., a local non-profit organization that promotes education and research related to environmental issues. The booklet is available at Sr. Books, Ecotours, Sierra Madre and Westin Regina stores. Other sponsors for this project include MVS Radio and Ecotours de Mexico.

•  Fight Abuse
Public security officials in Vallarta have issued a special communique to invite visitors and residents alike to report any type of abuse perpetrated by city officials, namely regular police, tourist police and transit authorities. Defilement includes unjustified searches, intimidation and ill treatment. For the report to proceed with greater effectiveness, it is recommended that you present the unit's id number, time and place of occurrences and if possible, the name of the official. Irregularities in this service can be reported by phone by dialing 060 or 221- 2585, 87 and 88.

•  Hotel Mini News
170 people attended the Westin Regina's first turtle release fin accordance with the conservationist project first launched in 1993 by Ricardo Diaz Borioli, and where several other local hotels participate. If you discover any turtles spawning, please phone Unidos para la Conservacion at 222-4700.

Another hotel that has successfully begun its turtle program is the Marriott CasaMagna.

The Westin Regina also announced its delivery to DIF (a public center for children aid) of a check of $3,500 pesos. The money came from a local fund-raising campaign organized by the hotel staff; another check for the same amount followed as a match-up donation by the hotel.

The Philharmonic Orchestra of Jalisco and the Los de Nati Cano mariachi group took their arts into unexpected harmonies when they performed together at the Sheraton Buganvilias, as a side event to the 6th International Mariachi and Charreria Festival.