Don’t miss our shortest parade
By Lou Christine
February 20, 2009 San Miguel de Allende

Fat Tuesday Parade
Tue, Feb 24, 6–6:22pm
Mardi Gras party until midnight
Harry’s New Orleans Café & Oyster Bar
Hidalgo 12

Queen Myrl D’Arcy with King Lou Christine in 2006. Mardi Gras, also known as Carnival, is the brightest, most fun and at times outrageous celebration prior to the austere season of Lent.

Harry’s New Orleans Café and Oyster Bar maintains the spirit with an annual parade and the crowning of a King and Queen. The local fiesta includes crushing confetti-filled eggs on innocent passersby.

Harry’s owner Bob Thieman dubbed it, “The sixth and possibly last Harry’s ‘Don’t blink’ Mardi Gras parade.” Each year Thieman, with permission from city hall, closes calle Hidalgo, from Mesones to Canal, for 22 minutes on Fat Tuesday.

It’s not a spectacular extravaganza to brag about. This year’s newly crowned King and Queen stand in all their fineness on the back of a broken-down, billowing-smoke jalopy of a pickup truck, throwing gifts to the hoi polloi of ragamuffins, shills and merrymakers, with perhaps street dogs and a lone drummer.

The parade’s route is all of 50 yards, a march that comes to a nondramatic halt at Harry’s door, where the King and Queen and their new-found entourage enter their “Kingdom” to celebrate their one-week reign.

This year’s King and Queen, anointed by Thieman himself, are David Bossman and Rebecca Fass. In the past, a number of the town’s rogues and misfits have had the honor, usually for their panache and penchant to take things over the top.

Prior to the grand Poo-Bah and during the time up to the beginning of Lent, Harry’s offers an array of Cajun and Creole seasonal dishes not normally carried on its daily menu. Hurricanes, the vodka kind, are two-for-one at any time during Harry’s Mardi Gras celebration. 

As usual on Fat Tuesday evening itself, Maria Sanchez will rock the house belting out her standby songs while gyrating atop Harry’s bar.

Like Thieman says, it’s always possibly the last, so he likes to see as many attend as possible to party down New Orleans-style before the fasting begins.

Monthly teas benefit Casa de los Angeles
By Kay Miller

Benefit Tea 
Casa de los Angeles
Thu, Feb 26 & Thu, Mar 26, 4–6pm
Casa de la Cuesta
Cuesta de San José 32 (east of Mesones and Núñez)
100 pesos 

This month’s benefit tea for the Casa de los Angeles daycare center will be held at the Casa de la Cuesta bed and breakfast, with its spectacular views over San Miguel and its famous folk art collection.

Of particular interest is a rare opportunity to see the world-class collection of Mexican masks, known as The Other Face of Mexico, which the owners of Casa de la Cuesta, Bill and Heidi LeVasseur, have gathered during their 20-plus years of living in Mexico. Both Bill and Heidi have extensive knowledge about the folk items and artists they have collected and Bill will be on hand to conduct tours of the mask museum—a not-to-be-missed treasure of San Miguel.

The tea, and another to be held at Casa de la Cuesta next month, not only provide an opportunity to explore the multiple patios and beautiful spaces of this colonial-style house but also a chance to become familiar with the mission and comprehensive work of Casa de los Angeles.

Casa de los Angeles was founded in 2000 as a free daycare center in the heart of San Miguel de Allende. It is a safe haven for the children of mothers, many of them single, who come from the outskirts of town to work or to sell their wares at the local mercado.

Often these children were being left home alone before this center was established.

Casa de los Angeles has grown to be a community center in which mothers find the support they need to make a better life for their families. Besides help with their children, these families receive medical care, scholarships, home and bathroom construction, transitional and emergency housing, summer camp, food bank—all done in a relationship of mutuality that respects the dignity of each individual. 

Heidi LeVasseur became involved with the work of Casa de los Angeles as an artist for the “Rocking With the Angels” rocking chair auction held at the opening of the second daycare center in August 2008. The second center, near the top of Colonia Santa Julia, provides childcare and two nutritious meals a day to over 70 children and their families. This is in addition to the original center in Colonia San Antonio, which cares for another 50 children and their families.

The upcoming teas will also feature music and entertainment by well-loved San Miguel musical groups and artists. The February 26 participants will be treated to entertainment by a true San Miguel troubadour group called Tuna Tradicional, which plays and sings a repertoire of Mexican and Latino songs. Norberto Godinez Estrada, a San Miguel contractor and engineer, and his brothers and friends have delighted San Miguel audiences for years. Tea party-goers are in for a treat!

For more information contact me at kcmiller0611@msn.com  or call 154-4805.

Elections for the Biblioteca Board
By Atención staff

Annual Meeting Biblioteca Pública 
Fri, Feb 27, 11am
Sala Quetzal

Elections Biblioteca Board, 
Fri, Mar 6, 11am-4pm
Sala Quetzal

Biblioteca Pública
Insurgentes 25
Voting requisite is a valid library card

The Biblioteca Publica de San Miguel de Allende, A.C. holds its Annual General meeting next Friday, February 27. President Gregory Diamant will present the annual report, the meeting is open to the general public.

On Friday, March 6 the institution, one of the city’s largest and oldest non-government organizations, will hold elections for Board members. All members over the age of 18 with a valid library membership are eligible to vote. Positions to be filled are vice-president, treasurer and directors-at-large.


Dale Eby, candidate for Vice President

Dale Eby comes to us from Alberta, Canada. His professional career has mostly been spent in sales and marketing. He has extensive knowledge of software and its application in planning and marketing. Most recently, he has been working with Atencion in forward planning. In San Miguel he is also an advisor for a rural coop project and is teaching students basic English skills. In Canada, Eby was also a volunteer working with at risk youth in a "restorative-justice" program. 

For Eby, the Biblioteca plays a central part in the San Miguel community because it offers diverse and unique services provided by different enterprises. He hopes to help the organization to grow and develop programs and services, and to better serve the Mexican and expat community in San Miguel. 



Dr. Ricardo Gordillo, candidate for Director-at-large

Ricardo Gordillo is a practicing doctor educated at the Autonomous University of Guadalajara. He has worked internationally in Spain and Germany and in different rural areas all around Mexico, such as San Miguel, San Luis Potosí and Sonora. Dr Gordillo is married with a young family, runs a private medical clinic and is developing an organic farm. 

For Dr Gordillo, the role of the Biblioteca in San Miguel is to support cultural and intellectual diversity, to broaden the horizons of children and young adults and to contribute to society books, cultural activities and scholarships. He intends to encourage the participation of the Mexican community in non-profit organizations and support internal changes in the Biblioteca to adapt it to the current changes in the country. 



Rita de Brito, candidate Director–at-Large

For over thirty years Rita DeBrito has worked in education—as a teacher, teacher trainer, staff developer, Title VII Project Direct and mentor for the New York City Board of Education. She also worked with school systems throughout the United States, Puerto Rico and Guatemala establishing second language learning programs through Science Education. In 1998 she became a National Board Certified Teacher, and met with Vice President Al Gore and Director of Education Richard Riley for a round table discussion on urban education.

De Brito’s focus here in San Miguel, where she has lived for the past six years, has been the creation of Science Camp San Miguel a bilingual camp, which provides children, ages 8 to 12 with opportunities to learn and use science concepts and explore the natural environs. 

The Biblioteca, for de Brito the Biblioteca provides the community with the opportunity to learn and to inculcate literacy and an appreciation of literature within the community. 

She particularly hopes to make the children room grow and expand and to see reading become a part of their daily life.



Patric Ellsworth, candidate for Treasurer

Patric Ellsworth has been a full-time resident of San Miguel de Allende since 2005. He has served on the Board of Directors since 2007, and holds the office of Assistant Treasurer. In addition, he is Secretary-Treasurer of the Park Street Foundation, a non-profit entity which promotes affordable housing. In the past, he has served on various non-profit Boards in several capacities, including Youth Homes, Inc. (President), Kiwanis Club of Grand Lake-Oakland (Treasurrer), and Park Business Center Condominium Owners Association (Treasurer). 

Rotary Citizen of the Year

On Tuesday, February 10, Donna Quathamer the founder of the two Casa de los Angeles Day Care Centers became the second recipient of the Citizen of the Year Award from the Rotary Club of San Miguel–Midday.

After raising five children of her own, Donna has added a few hundred more over the last eight years. “The question I asked of the women in the area was, What would be a helpful program to offer your family? The answer was “day care” every time. The work of Casa de los Angeles was decided by the women of the community,” said Donna as she accepted the award.

A memorable Sunday 
By Keith Wall

Unitarian Universalist Fellowship 
Sun, Feb 22, 10:30am
La Posada de la Aldea
Ancha de San Antonio 15

Members and guests crowded into the meeting room at the Aldea Hotel Sunday for a concert by the Carlos Chávez String Quartet and presentations by two local scholarship programs, Mujeres en Cambio and Jóvenes Adelante, which turned out to be inspiring and more than a little emotional.

To launch the event, Beata Kukawswa, Mikhail Gourfinkel, Omar Guevara, and Alain Durbecq of the Chavez Quartet performed sections of two Haydn quartets on violin and violincello. The playing was exquisite, seamless, energizing and as deeply reassuring as fine chamber music can be.

The first scholarship program speaker, Merrily Beyreuther, the event coordinator, briefly described the organization, which started as a small effort to help rural young woman finish prepa (high school) and which last month celebrated its 14th anniversary. It presently supports 158 young women from dozens of communities in el campo. Thirty-three of their supported students are now in college.

Merrily turned over the podium to two of the Mujeres university scholarship recipients: Karla Pizana Tapia from Rancho Viejo, who is studying architecture at the University of León and works at Mega, and Sandra Guadalupe Munoz Alvarez from Laguna Escondido, who is studying accounting at the University of Guanajuato in Celaya. Sandra works on Saturdays for a local CPA.

Both students talked about their homes and families, their studies, ambitions and the cost of their tuitions, supplies and transportation to school and jobs, and expressed heartfelt gratitude to Mujeres en Cambio for finding and caring about them and for providing the encouragement and funds to stay in school and pursue their dreams. 

Marge then called upon Jóvenes Adelante Scholarship Chair Sue Leonard to speak about that organization, which started within the Unitarians eight years ago. A year ago Jóvenes Adelante had a five-member board and about 40 fully supported students in a dozen universities throughout Mexico and had just begun pairing its scholarship recipients with mentors. Today the volunteer board has grown to eight, with the addition of scholarship, mentor, and fundraising chairs, and supports 57 students in 19 Mexican universities. The goal for this August is to grant another 25 scholarships.

Virginia Wheelwright, founder and President Wearing-Many-Hats during the formative years, is now Past-Past President and is stepping down from the Board, to the delight of retired UU Minister Farley Wheelwright, who regains his sweetheart after eight years of unsuccessful competition with Jóvenes Adelante students. But in no way is Virginia going to curtail her support or her personal friendships with the students she’s nurtured—she’ll have more time now that there are fewer meetings to attend.

Two of the organization’s scholarship recipients then spoke: Luis Enrique Robles Lopez and Xochitle Mendoza Vasquez, both students at the University of León in San Miguel. “Xochi,” who spoke first, is studying for a law degree.

She talked expressively and in very good English about her ambitions and the difficulty of achieving them due to the costs of higher education in Mexico. Her plan was to become a doctor, and she hasn’t abandoned it. In the meantime, however, she decided to get a law degree, which is more affordable. With the help of her scholarship, and a job, she is managing. Next she’ll get a medical degree, master English and then learn another language—she thinks French or German. One of the criteria for qualifying for a Jóvenes Adelante scholarship is ambition; no one doubts that Zochi is ambitious and will achieve the goals she has set for herself.

The last, and most emotionally affecting, speaker was Luis Enrique, who is studying communications. In fine English, he said there was one person responsible for his being there that day, for being a university student and not just a worker somewhere or someone looking for a job. He looked around, teared up and for a moment could not speak.

He located Virginia Wheelwright in the audience and haltingly said her name, then again choked up. When he regained his composure he said it was Virginia who encouraged him to go to the university, who made him believe in himself and who helped him get a scholarship. He went on to point out two English teachers and a mentor in the audience to whom he was greatly indebted. Enrique said, “I don’t think of these wonderful people as officers, members, teachers or mentors, I think of them as friends and angels.” 

After applause, and tears, the presentations and service ended and the student speakers joined members and guests for lunch. 

The Unitarian Universalist Fellowship meets at 10:30am Sunday upstairs at the Aldea Hotel. People of all, some, or no faith are welcome. The organization donates more than 80 percent of its outreach funds to ongoing financial support of Centro Infantil, Anyel and IREE, as well as to Mujeres en Cambio and Jóvenes Adelante. Last year the amount donated exceeded US$8,000.

For more information about the featured scholarship programs, visit their websites: mujeresencambio.org and jovenesadelante.org.

Keith Wall is a mentor and English teacher with Jóvenes Adelante. He is also Fundraising Chair. He says, please buy a raffle ticket for our spring fundraiser!