2003 Placencia News Archive |
New Year's Happenings
(as of 28 December 2003).
- 31 December:
- Kitty's Place: Garifuna drumming by
Wumalali Beidi (Voices of the Bight) from 9:30 p.m. to midnight at the
Light Chop to Choppy Bar (formerly the Sand Bar)
- Luba Hati: New Year's Eve Party, including
live music, prix fixe dinner and holiday drinks
- Placencia Women’s Group – Dinner & Dance with
Inner Vibrations at the Placencia basketball court. Dinner from 6 – 9:30
pm & dance from 9 pm – 2 am.
- Miscellaneous
- Luba Hati's Restaurant is now open for lunch
from 11 am -2 pm daily. Lunch served poolside, weather permitting.
Menu includes fish tacos with special sauce, honey roasted turkey wrap,
jerked chicken sandwich on homemade bread, pulled pork BBQ sandwich with
black beans, grilled pizzas (chicken, shrimp, veggie, Hawaiian), conc
fritters and grilled quesadillas.
- Babysitting available, contact Merlene or
Shannen at 523-3421.
18 December 2003
Health Food:
Wallen's just opened Placencia's first ever
pharmacy. Daughter-in-charge is Nina Wallen, who has a pharmacological
degree from the University of Belize. In addition to bandages,
antibiotics and various and sundry medications and health supplies, Nina has
also laid in a good stock of handy items such as sunscreens and insect
repellant. Imagine, two banks and a pharmacy. Next thing you
know, we'll have a shopping mall.
Placencia's newest restaurant offering is
Trattoria Placencia, specializing in Italian cuisine (how'd you guess).
Opening is Saturday, 20 December. The restaurant is located on the
north side of Tipsy Tuna in the old Bella Beach spot. Hours will be
5-10 p.m.
Weather: OK, I
know nobody will take this seriously, but it's COLD in Placencia!!!
The National Meterological Service just issued an advisory that the
temperature tonight may get down to 56 degrees F. Banana plants will
suffer irreparable damage at 53F, so, guys, it really IS cold. This
front is expected to last until Saturday, with DAYTIME temperatures tomorrow
(Friday) in the 50s. Where's that fireplace when you need it? (Hope
Nina has stocked something for frostbite.)
16 December 2003
Money:
New Bank!!!! Who
would have thunk it when just a little over five years ago Atlantic Bank
opened the first bank ever in Placencia -- Scotia Bank opened for business
yesterday, 15 December 2003 -- meaning "sleepy" little Placencia now has two
major commercial banks!!!!!! Scotia promises an ATM machine that will
accept both Belize and international credit and debit cards for cash
advances by February 2004. Unlike Atlantic Bank which often has only
one teller during peak banking periods, Scotia has 3 tellers AND a separate
line for businesses.
On-Line Banking:
Atlantic Bank recently debuted on-line banking for businesses which allows
business customers to electronically check balances, transfer funds between
accounts and make on-line payments. Atlantic Bank reports that it is
negotiating with utilities and service providers to allow on-line payments
of BTL, BEL and water company bills. Atlantic Bank promises on-line
banking for individual customers in the near future.
Resorts:
Not confirmed, but too many
rumors to discount - major resort has just been sold. More info as it
becomes available.
Placencia Village Community
Center: GOB workers showed up to make some sort of repairs to
the Community Center. The Village Council had no notice of when, what,
where, why or how the repairs are to be made, but there are a lot of guys there
doing something.
5 December 2003:
Kitty's Place just announced a pool party every Sunday from 1-6 p.m. with
live music by Inner Vibrations.
4 December 2003
Road:
At a meeting of the Placencia Chapter of the Belize Tourism
Industry Association (BTIA) held today at Turtle Inn, Vildo Marin, Minister
of Works, promised that the Peninsula Road would be paved in the next four
(4) years. (Mark it on your calendar, folks.)
According to Cadet Henderson, Chief Engineer for
the Works Ministry, feasibility studies have already been completed.
Engineering work and design for the road will take 6-7 months and the tender
procedure will then take an additional 2-3 months, meaning road construction
should start in 12-13 months. Completion of construction will take
24-30 months. Henderson also stated that a unit of the national road
crew will be permanently moved into the Placencia area to maintain the road
until construction begins. The road will be 21 feet wide, providing a
running surface of 20 feet.
However, no loans or other funding have yet been
secured to pay for the cost of the road construction, estimated at BZ$19.2
million. Tolls and other forms of user fees are being discussed to
recoup the cost of construction. (Anyone want to bet which Placencia
receives first - approval for its By-Laws, or a new road?)
Police: At the
same Placencia BTIA meeting, Glen Eiley, Chairman of the Placencia Village
Council, reported that a new police station will be built across the road
from the new Scotia Bank building, near Blue Lagoon Apartments. Glen
reports that the land has already been purchased and engineers are now
designing the building and determining how much fill will be needed, etc.
The new station will be a two-story building to providing housing for police
officers on the second floor. Glen was not sure whether
the new station will house officers for the entire Peninsula, including
Seine Bight, or only Placencia Village.
1 December 2003
Residential Development:
Marbington Ltd. has submitted to
the Belize Department of the Environment an environmental impact assessment
(EIA) for the development of a residential subdivision on the Placencia
Lagoon adjacent to Playa di Piratas property on the south. Proposed
are 20 residential lots bordering a dredged canal connecting lots with the
Placencia Lagoon with space for boat moorings. Targeted market
for the lots are North American retirees and vacationers.
Utilities:
Email:
Belize Telephone Ltd. BTL continues to be unable to
correct problems with its new email servers. Local businesses,
especially hotels, have suffered as a result of the inability of prospective
guests to reach them via email to reserve lodging for the 2003-2004
Christmas and New Year's holiday season. Many businesses with btl.net
email addresses are shifting to Yahoo and Hotmail accounts. If you
have been trying to contact someone in Belize via email and have received no
response, a phone call may be necessary since BTL's email problems show no
signs of abating.
Electric: BEL is
now constructing a substation for the Placencia/Independence area to provide
better and more stable electric service to the area. That's great.
However, BEL chose the Thanksgiving holiday to pull the plug on power to the
Placencia area from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. last Wednesday and Thursday to work on
the substation. BEL claims notice was given, but as yet, we've spoken
to no one who had heard any of the purported radio announcements.
Previous requests for notices to be published in the newspapers and through
the Placencia Tourism Center have been ignored. Vice President of
Operations, Felix Marin, now promises that both forms of notices will be
given for planned work and maintenance of lines.
Water: The new
generator for Placencia Village's water supply is working well, and
instantly began providing power to pump water to Village residents when BEL
switched off the power.
Education: The
formal opening of the new Placencia Children's Library will be on Saturday,
23 December 2003 from 4-6 pm at the new Library located next to St. John's
Memorial Anglican Church and the Placencia School in Placencia Village.
Guests at the opening are requested to donate one new children's book per
family. The donor's name will be placed in the donated book. The
Library is a project of
The Iris
Foundation for Education, with assistance from the Placencia
Parent-Teachers Association.
Placencia Village Bylaws:
Once again, empty promises. The Bylaws have still not been
approved, although "we're working on them" is the now familiar and
getting-old-quick refrain.
Resorts:
Kitty's Place had the grand opening of its new swimming pool
yesterday. Only problem was that it was around 68 degrees at 5 p.m.,
so it was a little cold for swimming. (Weather has been REALLY goofy
for the past 6 weeks. What we're experiencing now is like a late
December norther.)
7 October 2003:
Resorts.
Swimming pool construction started at Kitty's Place on Monday, 6
October 2003. Projected date of completion is mid-November 2003.
Turtle Inn has constructed a stone wall running east to west from the beach
up to its front entrance, and extending south to the southern property line
of the resort. (Height of the wall is 8-10 feet.) Let's hope
this is the first and last one we see on the Peninsula.
Restaurants. The
new restaurant at Luba Hati is outstanding -- best lobster we've had in
Placencia (and that's saying a lot). Jake's Purple Space Monkey
Internet Cafe re-opened Saturday, 4 October 2003. Mango's in Maya
Beach has added quite a few new items to its menu. Rumor is that Omar
Sierra is on his way back to Placencia to resume management of Omar's
Restaurant. A new restaurant is being built over Wallen's Market and
will be located next to the new Wallen's pharmacy.
Fishing. A fly
shop has opened next to Jake's Purple Space Monkey. Earnest Turner
Garcia is at the helm and turning out some nice local flies. A few
lures are in stock also, with more lures, and rental flyfishing gear soon to
come.
22 September 2003:
Road.
According to Area Representative Rodwell Ferguson, the Government of
Belize does not have the funds to pave or improve the Placencia Road.
However, a private firm is attempting to obtain a long-term loan from a
European organization for the paving, with loan repayment from tolls imposed
on the Placencia Road, and possibly portions of the Southern Highway.
When asked whether the Government had a back-up plan if the loan was
unavailable, Mr. Ferguson said that it did, but that he didn't know what the
back-up plan was.
Police Station.
One is still promised, and Mr. Ferguson says that the Government has the
funds to build the station from the proceeds of the sale of the old police
station property on the beach north of Tradewinds. (The old police
station was destroyed by Hurricane Iris.) This week, the planned
location is near the Placencia Water Tower.
Bylaws.
Mr. Ferguson claims that approval of the Placencia Village Bylaws is
near. Apparently, Caye Caulker Village has already obtained approval
of its Bylaws and has implemented them. The Placencia Village Council
is considering a visit to Caye Caulker to discuss Bylaws implementation with
the Caye Caulker Village Council. The Placencia Village Bylaws include
regulations related to building codes, litter and animal control, vagrancy,
parking and business licensing, among others.
BTL. BTL is
still dragging its feet on negotiating interconnection rates so that Intelco
can begin providing competitive telephone and Internet service. The
Belize Public Utilities Commission gave BTL and Intelco until early June to
complete negotiations, but the issue remains unresolved. The PUC has
apparently developed its own rate structure, and BTL filed suit to prevent
the rate structure from being implemented. BTL's suit was dismissed as
premature since the court found no evidence that the PUC rate structure was
final. In Placencia, digital cell service quality has improved - we
think somebody at BTL finally remembered to flip a switch that should have
been flipped about a year ago.
 Placencia
Calendars. The Placencia Humane Society has received its
shipment of the first-ever Placencia Humane Society calendar focusing on
Placencia people and their pets. The calendar was professionally
printed in the United States, with a portion of the printing cost donated by
Printech Unlimited of San Francisco (which also prints the SAGA calendars
for San Pedro). The calendars look GREAT, and among the Placencians
featured are Miss Louise and Roley, Daneisha Lozano Cabral, Miss Myra and her
pet birds and Lola. The calendars are BZ$25 each and will be available
at area gift shops in October. Calendars can can also be ordered from
Mary Toy, Treasurer, Placencia Humane Society, General Delivery, Placencia,
Belize -
mtoy@destinationsbelize.com. Payment can be made by mailing a US
check or money order in US funds to this address, OR payment may be made by
MasterCard and Visa through the Destinations Belize credit card account.
(Belize banks will not approve merchant accounts
for not-for-profits. If you would like to order calendars and pay by
credit card, contact PHS by email to let them know how many calendars you
want so that they can determine mailing charges. You will then need to
fill out the credit card authorization at
http://www.destinationsbelize.com/credit.htm and fax it to the
Destinations Belize US fax number of 1-603-452-4797 - note clearly on the
authorization form that the payment is for the appropriate number of
calendars, plus shipping. Destinations Belize will notify you by email
that your fax has been received, and Marcia Fox, Secretary of the Placencia
Humane Society will confirm your order and email a receipt to you for the
purchase of the calendar(s).)
4 September 2003:
.jpg) Placencia
Queen of the Bay: Jasmin Robinson
was crowned Placencia Queen of the Bay on Saturday night, 30 August 2003, at
the Placencia Village Community Center.
The Pageant was sponsored by the Placencia Women's
Group, which raises funds to assist community members with unexpected
expenses such as medical care.
Therese Sierra gave her usual stellar performance
with an original poem, and Henry Young, as Master of Ceremonies, led the
audience in a rousing rendition of the Belize National Anthem.
More pictures.
Plantation Development.
In August, the Plantation Development (Belize Land and Development Ltd)
submitted an Environmental Impact Assessment for a marina in the Plantation
Development to the Belize Department of the Environment. The proposal
has purportedly been rejected on procedural grounds for failure to properly
notify the public of the proposal, and failure to make copies of the
Environmental Impact Assessment available to Placencia Village residents.
Road and Weather.
The road through Maya Beach is in awful shape due to evening rains (which
have made for some good sleeping weather, but have played havoc with the
road.)
Restaurants and Resorts.
Jake's Purple Space Monkey will close on Monday, 8 September, for 3 weeks.
Turtle Inn will be closed all of September and the first two weeks of
October. Kitty's will be closed in September (rooms will be available
but no restaurant or tour services). Maya Breeze Inn will be closed
through September 30. The Moorings will also be closed for six weeks
until the middle of October.
Placencia Learning Center. The Placencia
Learning Center, funded by The Iris Foundation, and located on the grounds
of St. John's Memorial School in Placencia Village, will open this month
with a brand new library, organized and catalogued by Corol Bevier, of Rum
Point Inn. Donations of children's books, teacher's instructional
materials, educational software, computers and other educational materials
are greatly appreciated. For more information, contact
Marilyn Beckstead, the founder and executive director of
The Iris Foundation for
Education.
2 August 2003:
As of 1 August, Carolyn Logie and Clifton Sprague are the new owners and
operators of Luba Hati Resort. Mariuccia Levoni and Franco Gentile
(former owners and operators) will continue to reside in Belize, splitting
their time between the Peninsula and the Cayo District.
5 July 2003:
Shakey was buried today, along with his wheelbarrow and a few empty Belikin
bottles.
Shakey, whose real name was Gilbert Leslie, was one
of Placencia Village's most memorable characters. He was a familiar
sight with his wheelbarrow full of empty Belikins and soda bottles, which he
collected and returned to Wallen's as a source of income. (A group of
Irish clients once gave Shakey all their empty Belikin bottles at the
end of the week, and Shakey collected enough from the returns to open a
savings account at Atlantic Bank. Of course, he later got angry at the
bank and withdrew all of his money - but that's pretty par for the course
for nearly everybody in Placencia.)
Shakey was also an endless source of fairly
accurate information since he spent most of his time in Placencia
circulating in the Village to collect his treasures. And, if you
hankered for a bottle of homemade coconut oil when the grocery stores had
none, or a bottle of shark oil, Shakey was your man. (He rendered the
shark oil himself.)
But, Shakey was happiest at the cayes, and he
regularly spent weeks on different cayes as a temporary caretaker.
When he returned, he always came with more treasures, such as the
beautifully cleaned conch shell he brought to me at the end of one trip.
Shakey was 68 years old (I think), but had many
more than 68 birthdays. (He often announced a birthday when he needed
some spending money.)
This from Jake Roberts (of Jake's Internet Cafe)
who attended today's funeral
Gilbert "Shakey" Leslie was buried with full honours
today at 12:00 noon. Along with his purple crushed
velvet coffin, he was buried with his wheelbarrow and
several empty pints, just in case he
needs a little cash on the other side. Several
people, Netty, Sonny, etc are having lunch and
telling Shakey stories, so it's all very sad but
a lot of laughter as well. Sonny says the
crack heads better watch out because that will
be Shakey's first order of business for
Placencia.
Jake
The police have confirmed that Shakey was killed by
a hit and run driver and have arrested a female foreign national.
Rest in peace, Shakey.
 3
July 2003: I am in the States right now and just received the
news that Shakey was killed last night sometime before 11 p.m.
The police apparently believe Shakey's death was
caused by a hit and run driver because he was found on the side of the road
(don't know where yet) with severe head and body injuries (including
lacerations on his head and legs, broken ribs and a broken hand).
Shakey died just after midnight at the Placencia
Health Center. Shakey's real name was Gilbert Leslie, and I last saw
him yesterday morning about 8:30 a.m. when I told him I'd see him when I got
back from St. Louis. 19 June 2003:
Resorts and Restaurants. Turtle Inn will
have soon have a new manager, Ian Lizarraga, who is moving to Placencia with
his family. Glenn Neel has resigned his position as the manager of the
Turtle Inn Dive Shop, and Jan Neel has resigned her position as Turtle Inn
manager. Kitty Fox is seeking a new general manager for Kitty's Place.
Candy Power has leased the Serenade Island Resort restaurant located on the
Sidewalk just south of Beach Bazaar Gift Shop. Bella Beach Restaurant
on the beach in Placencia Village has closed permanently. (Former
owner, Sandro Colvinitti has moved back to Italy, whether permanently or
temporarily is unknown.) DeTatch Restaurant is no longer open for
breakfast. Jake's Purple Space Monkey Internet Cafe is now closed on
Wednesdays. Nautical Inn's chef completed a chef's training course,
and we hear the food at Nautical is now excellent! Saturday night
buffets at The Inn at Robert's Grove no longer include beef, lamb or veal -
the buffet entrees are now primarily chicken, shrimp and fish nuggets.
Weather. Finally
some much needed rain. Some fairly theatrical thunder and lightening
storms at night during the last week. Days have been calm and still
(good for diving, snorkeling and fishing).
Road. In pretty good shape. The
unpaved portions were recently graded, so the going isn't too tough.
School.
The Iris Foundation for Education
is completing the Learning Center for the Placencia school. Work
necessary to renovate a Mennonite house for the Center included jacking up
and reinforcing the building, new stairs and railings, insulation and
paneling of ceiling and walls, rewiring, interior painting, and installation
of new lighting, fans, furniture and bookcases, at a cost of a little over
$8,000 BZD. The Foundation also purchased almost 1,000 new books at a
cost of $11,017 BZD.
Books have been donated by
Jake Roberts (Jake's Purple Space Monkey Internet
Cafe), Mariucci Levoni (Luba Hati), Rebecca
Justesen (Toucan Lulu Rental House) and
visitors to Placencia, including the Gay
family from Richmond, Virginia
and Vic Conforti from Sonoma, California.
Jake Roberts additionally
contributed the proceeds from the Purple
Space Monkey book exchange to the library project
for the past several months. Chris Moorhouse
of Placencia donated the labor
for the electrical work.
In addition, fifteen computers have been
promised to the school by a company in the UK and
will arrive over the summer, thanks to Noreen
Farrow, a frequent visitor to Placencia.
Further upgrading of the electrical system
will be required when the computers arrive,
and air conditioning will be installed if the
school can afford the cost of operation.
NECTAR Foundation (Canada) has donated a full set of educational
software including language arts, math, science, creative writing and
problem solving programs for Infant 1 to Standard 6. Teachers will
receive training this summer in the use of the programs. In addition,
word processing and encyclopedia software will be installed on the
computers.
Marilyn Beckstead of Placencia and Ottawa is the
Director of the Iris Foundation
for Education. Marilyn can be contacted at
nskry@yahoo.com.
Placencia Humane Society.
DeTatch Restaurant and Sugar Reef Sunset Lounge donated $408 BZD to the
Placencia Humane Society from the proceeds of meals sold at the First Annual
Father's Day Bashment, held at DeTatch Restaurant on Sunday, 15 June 2003.
(Pictures)
30 May 2003:
Placencia Sidewalk Fund. And the Winners ARE . .
.
The students of St. John's Memorial School in
Placencia Village raised an amazing $2,739.71 BZD
to help complete the last sections of the Placencia Sidewalk.
The Infant 2 class raised the most funds -- $842.31
BZD! In addition, Sidney Neel, an Infant 2 student, raised the most
money of any student at the school -- $509.25
BZD!!!!!!!
Standards 2 and 4 raised over $500 BZD and
will have the name of their class and date inscribed in the Sidewalk along
with the name and date of the Infant 2 class.
Because it raised the most money of all classes, the Infant 2 class
will also be treated to a picnic at Kitty's Place in addition to its
inscription on the Sidewalk.
The students who raised the most money in each class and who will have
their individual names inscribed in the Placencia Sidewalk are:
- Sidney Neel
- Brenton Ferguson
- Brandon Rogers
- Leisha Faux
- Shelika Ferguson
- Heydi Nunez Lopez
- Omar Sierra
Donations are still needed and can be made
at Wallen's Hardware or the Placencia Water Board.
All donors who contribute $500 or more will have their names
inscribed in the Sidewalk. For more
information, contact Graham Cabral at 523-3316,
Kammie Westby at 523-4036 or email
info@placenciasidewalk.com.
Placencia Humane Society.
Hold off on buying your 2004 calendars! The Placencia Humane Society
will be publishing a full-color calendar featuring area residents and their
pets. The mock-ups we've seen look great, and the cover will feature
original photographs of professional photographer, Neil R. Brown. (We
have some of Neil's Placencia photography on this
site, and the "Cat Overboard" photo is one of two that will be on the
Humane Society's calendar cover.)
28 May 2003:
Changes. Rory and Michelle McDougall are
no longer with The Moorings - they're striking out on their own, plus
building a house on the Placencia Lagoon. Michelle has been replaced
by Kristin Leslie and Rory's replacement should be arriving in the next
few days. Sheila Knox is now the General Manager of Rum Point Inn, and
husband, Tom Knox, joins her as head of Operations. Brad and Kerrie
Turton of Jake's Purple Space Monkey Internet Cafe have headed out to Canada
and then Australia where they'll settle permanently. Natalie Young
joins the Placencia Tourism Center as a summer intern. Natalie is Miss
Lucille Villanueva's granddaughter. Robert Marlin is the new manager
of Calico Jack's.
Plantation Development and Nova Laguna Shrimp Farm. The Belize
Department of the Environment says that no permits have been issued for any
dredging or a marina. The Placencia Chapter of the Belize Tourism
Industry Association has officially asked the Department of the Environment to
require both the Plantation Development and Nova Laguna to update their
Environmental Impact Assessments, both of which were initially completed
over three years ago. (Nova Laguna proposed dredging a canal to the
sea to provide saline water for its shrimp farm operation. The canal
will require the same kind of works to be built in the sea to prevent siltation of the canal. Placencia Peninsula residents believe any such
works will result in the loss of beach for all properties south of the a
canal.) Police
Station. The Belize government is promising a police station
and a bigger (better?) police force for the Peninsula because it says it
recognizes that additional security is necessary because of the growth of
the Peninsula. The location of the police station remains undecided
after Area Representative Rodwell Ferguson was able to successfully head off
a plan by the national government to take several lots and fill in the
Lagoon canal in the new subdivision behind the ball field to create land for
the police station. This plan was developed without consultation with
the Placencia Village Council or any local organization.
Airstrip. Dave Burgos,
the current Minister of Transportation says that plans are in the works at
the national level to expand the Placencia airstrip 500 feet into the
Placencia Lagoon so that it will have a 3500' x 40' runway.
Purportedly plans are also afoot to install barriers along the roadway to
prevent vehicular traffic from rounding the curve at the end of the runway
when planes are taking off. However, Minister Burgos was unable to
provide a timetable for these improvements -- or the installation of
emergency runway lights purchased at least 6 months ago through donations
from local businesses after a donation drive spearheaded by Placencia Village Councilmember Graham
Cabral. (After purchasing the lights, the Civil Aviation Department
refused to install the lights or allow them to be installed, as promised by
then Area Representative, Henry Canton.)
Road. Minister Burgos reports that the
national government is aware of the need for paving of the Placencia road,
but that the final decision rests with Area Representative Rodwell Ferguson
who has a budget for Stann Creek West, the district in which Placencia is
located. Mr. Ferguson must determine whether the road work can be
completed within that budget.
Placencia Village Bylaws.
Area Representative Rodwell Ferguson told Placencia BTIA members that the
Placencia Village Bylaws (ordinances) are in the Solicitor General's office.
That office has promised to finish review of the proposed Bylaws within 2
weeks, and then to transfer them to the Attorney General's Office which has
the responsibility for enacting them into law.
Caracol. We understand
that the national government has plans to install a runway at the Caracol
ruins. No timetable is available. 5 May 2003:
Janet Eiley. Our
sincere apologies for failing to report
Janet Eiley's
death on 12 April 2003. Miss Janet was born on
6 November 1955 and is survived
by her husband, Anthony
Eiley, daughters,
Reina Eiley and Lovelia Rowland, son, Chen,
daughter-in-law, Jane Eiley, son-in-law, Steve Rowland, grandchildren,
Alyssa, Nicolas, Aiden, Imoni and Shadine, and her father, sisters, brothers,
nieces, nephews and many, many dear friends - all of whom will miss her
deeply.
The following was
contributed by her daughter-in-law, Mrs. Jane Eiley:
"Miss Janet
was just such a beautiful person. She was a person that found it hard
to let the word "NO" come out of her mouth. She is everything I could have
ever asked for in a Mother-in-Law. She was a gem. I will always appreciate
and cherish all the moments we spent together --
even if it was a simple moment it was always special.
"Mrs.. Janet left an imprint wherever she went
and on whomever she came across. She had a
blossoming grin that stays in ones mind. She left a great lasting memory
in my life. I will always remember the talks we had and the laughter we
shared. She was gentle with her children and her
grandchildren. Her face lit up when she spoke about them in a way a proud
parent's face would light up. She always was
involved in their growing stages. I will definitely let my two sons know
what a great grand mother they had."
| Don't Grieve For Me For Now I'm
Free
Don't grieve for me, for now I'm free
I'm following the path God laid for me.
I took His hand when I heard Him call;
I turned my back and left it all.
I could not stay another day,
To laugh, to love, to work or play.
Tasks left undone must stay that way;
I found that place at the close of day.
If my parting has left a void,
Then fill it with remembered joy.
A friendship shared a laugh, a kiss;
Ah yes, these things, I too will miss.
Be not burdened with times of sorrow
I wish you the sunshine of tomorrow.
My life's been full, I savored much;
Good friends, good times, a loved ones touch.
Perhaps my time seems all to brief;
Don't lengthen it now with undue grief.
Lift up your heart and share with me,
God wanted me now, He set me free.
Anon |
30 April 2003:
In General.
April was a quiet month on the Peninsula news-wise - no new restaurant
openings, hotel closings, new potholes in the road or major scandals (that
we've heard about -- or at least feel safe talking about, anyway).
Weather was beautiful for most of the month and the whale sharks showed up
right on schedule - week of the full moon (April 16) -- next scheduled
arrival should be May 16. (We hope the sharks have marked their
calendars.)
Pictures. We've
started a new feature - the Placencia picture of the day. So, if
there's no news, friends can at least get their Placencia hit for the day
through a picture (worth a thousand words, so better than the news maybe).
Pictures can be accessed at
http://www.destinationsbelize.com/pic_of_day.htm, and the archives at
http://www.destinationsbelize.com/archive_pic_day.htm. Enjoy! 2 April 2003:
Restaurants.
DeTatch Restaurant, on the beach next to Sea Spray Hotel, and Sunrise
Restaurant, on the Sidewalk, re-opened in March. Serenade Guesthouse
formally opened Serenade-by-the-Sea on the Sidewalk next to the Guesthouse.
(Pictures)
Plantation Development. Golf course
designers were in the Village this week (we saw them at the Tropic Air
terminal at the airstrip yesterday), affirming rumors of at least one golf
course as part of the Plantation Development. New Area Representative,
Rodwell Ferguson, publicly refused to help local residents determine what
approvals have already been given to the Plantation Development by the
Government of Belize, or what approvals are pending. The refusal
occurred at a public meeting at the Placencia Village Community Center on 26
March 2003.
Weather. March brought unseasonably hot weather for most of the
month, with temperatures topping 100F in the western part of the country.
April opened with unseasonably cool weather - down into the 60s last night.
Tourism. The number
of tourists visiting the Peninsula this year seems to be up quite a bit over
last year (which makes sense because of the area's continuing recovery from
Hurricane Iris in 2002.) Most hotels are completely booked for Easter
weekend (April 20).
Sidewalk.
$14,000 BZD is now needed to completely finish rebuilding the Sidewalk after
students from St. John's Memorial School raised over $2,000 in donations
from local residents and visitors. February 27 2003:
Plantation Development.
Rumors are again circulating that the Plantation Development has
received approval for a cut of the Peninsula, effectively turning the
southern part of the Peninsula into an island. Additional rumors about
approvals received by the Plantation Development include:
- Two 18-hole golf courses, one on the Lagoon side
of the Peninsula one on the Caribbean side
- A 160-home gated community
- Airstrip
- Marina
- Private customs and immigration installation
Bill Nidiver, the local Plantation Development
representative, denies that a cut has been approved, but does say that
approval has been given for a "canal." (What's the difference between
a canal and a cut? Maybe just two letters.)
Placencia Tourism Industry
Association. The Placencia branch of the Belize Tourism
Industry Association (BTIA) elected new officers on 26 February 2003.
The new officers are:
- Gillian Eyles, Chairperson
- Fiona McFarland, Vice Chairperson
- David Vernon, Secretary
- Adriane Taylor, Assistant Secretary
- Hannah Cowell, Treasurer
- Steve Christensen, Assistant Treasurer
The Chapter has established a committee to deal
with Plantation Development issues and to attempt to discover exactly what
approvals have been issued by the government. Chapter members also
requested the assistance of the national BTIA and the Belize Tourism Board
(BTB) in dealing with these issues.
February 24 2003:
Scarlet Macaws Return to Red
Bank! Scarlet Macaws have returned to Red Bank Village --
twelve were sighted on a tour from Placencia on Sunday, February 23 2003.
(More info on tours.)
Golf Courses on the Peninsula.
Plantation subdivision developers were in the area this past week
claiming that two 18-hole golf courses, a marina and a cut through the
Peninsula north of Seine Bight had been approved by the current government.
We have been unable to verify the claims.
Lobster Season Closed. Lobster season
closed on February 15 and will not re-open until June 15. PLEASE do
not buy, accept or eat lobster during this period. We saw quite a few
undersized lobster beings sold at the Placencia docks during the week of
February 9 -- and buying undersized lobsters or lobster out of season does
nothing but deplete the stock for next year and the year after and the year
after . . .
Suicide. Bernard
Valerio, a local police constable, committed suicide on 16 February 2003 in
Placencia Village.
Restaurants. Sam Burgess is opening a new open-air thatched
restaurant on the Sidewalk near Tipsy Tuna - a new embodiment of the old
Sunrise Restaurant formerly housed at the same location. (The old
Sunrise Restaurant was destroyed by Hurricane Iris.) Carrie
Fairweather's new thatched restaurant and conference center is now open
(further south on the Sidewalk next to Serenade Hotel, also owned by Miss
Carrie). The status of Bella Beach Italian Restaurant next to Tipsy
Tuna is uncertain. DeTatch Restaurant is again operating in its former
location next to Sea Spray Hotel (north of Tipsy Tuna). Julian
and Beverly Cabral have a new bar and restaurant on Whippary Caye,
approximately a 25 minute boat ride from Placencia.
February 8 2003:
Road. In case we
failed to report it earlier, the road is paved from the Placencia Village
docks up to the southern side of the airstrip.
Mysterious Maya. George Erickson is a noted
anthropologist and author of several books concerning the Maya and other
ancient Mexican, Central and South American cultures.
George has thoughtfully agreed to a conduct a lecture to benefit the
Placencia Humane Society, and the subject of his lecture will be alternative
theories of the development of the Mayan civilization.
The fundraiser will be held on 12 February, from 5-7 p.m. at the
conference center at The Inn at Robert's Grove. Risa and Bob will host a
reception afterward including appetizers and a cash bar.
The cost is $25 BZD per person, and seating is limited, so
reservations must be made in advance by calling or emailing either
Mary Toy at 523-4018
(mtoy@destinationsbelize.com)
or Marcia Fox at 523-4069
(foxbuddy@btl.net).
School Days. The
Iris Foundation for Education just received a shipment of over 800 new
children's books to start a learning center for St. John's Memorial School
in Placencia Village. The learning center will be located in a
converted Mennonite house on the school grounds. Computers should
arrive soon. Donations of new children's books and educational software
are greatly appreciated. Contact Marilyn Beckstead at
nskry@yahoo.com for more information.
Elections. National
elections will be held on March 5 2003. Glen Eiley is running as the
UDP (United Democratic Party) candidate again Rodwell Ferguson as the PUP
(People's United Party) for Area Representative. (An Area
Representative is similar to a member of the US House of Representatives.)
Restaurants, Hotels and
Resorts. All rooms and cabanas at Kitty's are now
air-conditioned and a swimming pool is planned for this summer. Blue
Crab is celebrating Chinese New Year this month with a special Chinese menu
(reservations are required).
Weather. We're
back in the tropics again, with sunny days, highs in the mid-80s and
pleasant evenings in the upper '70s.
January 21 2003:
BTL: BTL
Internet (including email) and phone service continue to be erratic.
Please continue to re-send emails if you do not receive a response within a
few days. (Chances are that the recipient either didn't receive your
email, or responded and it didn't get through.) People are
experiencing steadily busy lines when trying to call into Placencia.
That's BTL, not us. Please keep trying.
Weather. Cold!!! Down into the low '60s this weekend at
night and the mid-70s during the day. (Don't laugh, that's COLD for
us!) Whale Shark
Interaction: No decisions have been reached yet on proposals by
Friends of Nature to regulate whale shark interaction tours, including a $25
USD per person per trip usage fee.
New Weekly Events Schedule for Placencia Peninsula:
Mondays:
Jungle Juice - Garifuna
Drumming & Dancing from 6 - 8 PM
Wednesdays:
-
Sugar Reef: Croon on the Lagoon
(karaoke) from 8:30 pm - Midnight
-
Nautical Inn: Beach Barbecue and
Coconut Bowl, starts at 6:30 p.m.
Thursdays:
-
Jungle Juice: Margaritaville with
$25 BZ pitchers of margaritas and live music from 6-8 pm
-
Sugar Reef: Cultural Night with
Garifuna dancing, drumming, singing and punta lessons from 8pm to
Midnight
-
Tipsy Tuna: Ladies Night & Karaoke,
8 pm to ?
Fridays:
-
Kitty's Place: Happy Hour at the
Sand Bar from 5-7 p.m., and the Chicken Drop at 7 p.m., live music
with Inner Vibrations
-
Sugar Reef: Juke Box from 8 p.m.
to Midnight - music by request, bring your own CDs
Saturdays: Sugar
Reef - Horseshoes competition, 3 pm - ?
Sundays:
-
Jungle Juice: Live music by
Inner Vibrations from 2 pm - ? (weather permitting)
-
Sugar Reef: Ring Game from 2
p.m. - ?; Chicken Drop from 9 p.m. - ?
-
Miller's Landing: Live music
with the Caribbean Cowboy, 2 p.m. poolside
January 13, 2003: BTL
-- AGAIN! PLEASE NOTE: BTL Email is NOT working. Emails
sent to or from btl.net addresses are NOT reaching the recipients.
Complete Internet access failed from Friday afternoon (10 January through
Saturday mid-morning 11 January). Also, telephone calls could not
reach Placencia through the entire weekend, either by land-line or cell.
Please try to re-send all emails sent to btl.net addresses.
Following are three emails sent out this weekend and
this morning, the first two to everyone in Placencia, the second to the
Belize Culture list. Of course, anyone still relying on btl.net for
their email access will not receive the emails anytime soon, but those of
you with other email servers, please contact Brenda Vaccaro at BTL with
complaints. BTL email has not been going
through most of the morning.
I called BTL and they didn't know it either!
They "fixed" the server, and it worked one time. It doesn't work now.
So, for those of you still relying on BTL for Internet access, I now have a
name, email address and fax number you can use to complain in writing.
(Please save your written complaints, they may come in handy.)
Please make complaints to:
Kim Vaccaro, kvaccaro@btl.net, fax number is 227-0965. I suggest that you
fax AND email since she's on btl.net, so she probably is not getting her
email.
And, for those of you who can afford it, here's the contact information for
a couple in **** who have received training in the US in setting up
satellite systems, and have the hardware available for sale:
(Name and email address removed for their protection.)
Cost is about $2,000 USD installed.
When you have telephone or Internet problems, please not only call BTL
or the Internet office (direct phone number 227-7333), but ALSO send a fax
or letter to Liston Hall.
The problems we're having need to be documented because BTL is trying
to maintain that the problems we're having are isolated ones "because no one
else is complaining." They've told me this several times -- AND they've told
other people in the area the same thing.
Last night, the Internet technician even tried to tell me that BTL was
not aware of any problems with Internet access during the last 3 or 4 days!
Liston Hall's fax number is 227-2262. (Note,
someone from Placencia was today given another fax number for Liston Hall,
which was 227-0965, apparently the main fax number
for BTL - please send to both.)
All of BTL's systems, land lines, cell systems and
Internet access seem to be failing.
Sure, personal cable or satellite helps solve the email problem, but what
about the phones?
Friends tried to call me in Placencia for 3 hours on Sunday and couldn’t get
through.
A friend from the States tried all weekend to call and received only busy
signals on BOTH my land line AND my "incredible" new Digicell. (That's a
joke, by the way - the Digicell is WORSE than the analog, something I
certainly wouldn't have thought possible.)
Another friend north of me in Maya Beach told me that people in Placencia
could call her, but she couldn't call out of Maya Beach.
What is going on (or NOT going on) here?
Well, I've just developed a new theory that I think explains it all, and
here is it --
BTL is really a radical environmental/native cultural organization that
wants to stop ALL development and business in Belize so that Belize remains
the pure, unpolluted place that we all know and love.
After all, what other reason makes sense for an organization that nets over
$100,000,000 per year in a country with about 250,000 people, with probably
less than 15% of them subscribing to phone or Internet service.
So, it has to be true, and I'm sure what BTL is really trying to do
includes, but is not limited to the following:
--Preserving the reef and fish/lobster conch stocks by making everyone in
Belize go back to fishing by sail boat for their own meals (if the shrimp
trawlers don't get all the fish first, that is), milpa farming, and begging
international aid organizations for aid to our poor, backward,
non-technologically advanced backwater country
--Stopping the Challilo Dam since Belize without reliable telecommunications
Belizeans would no longer need all that power because all the hotels would
be empty and no one could any longer afford electrical appliances
--Preserving the Mayan, Garifuna and Creole heritages by forcing all road
work to stop -- after all, without reliable telecommunications, nobody would
need to go anywhere since there would be nothing to buy, and tourists
wouldn't need transportation since they wouldn't know we existed anymore
--Maintaining air quality by forcing Tropic and Maya out of business -- no
telecommunications, so no tourists, so nobody that would need or be able to
afford to fly, no vehicles either for the same reasons
--Increasing water quality on rivers and in the Sea by forcing all motorized
vehicles off the water - no telecommunications, no tourists, no money to buy
fuel.
Of course, since this is Belize, we know that BTL's motives can't be purely
altruistic. But, there would be benefits that BTL could monopolize (and we
know how good it is at monopolization), such as:
--Monopolization of contests for Belizean kids to be on those Save the
Children commercials with Sally Struthers and for small villages to be on
UNICEF Christmas cards
--Monopolization of the importation, sales and distribution of canned goods,
strings and drums that we would use to communicate with each other
--Monopolization of mental health care clinics to treat Belizeans suffering
from BTL rage.
And we thought BTL was just incompetent, avaristic and opportunistic, when
all along they are really the saviors of the true way of life in Belize.
Thank you, BTL for looking after our welfare so well!
January 10, 2003
Deaths:
- George Bevier died
of complications from cancer at 8:30 a.m. in Belize City on Sunday,
January 5, 2003.
A wake was held on
Monday, January 6, at the Rum Point Inn at 5:00 PM. The ceremony for his
funeral was on the beach
at Rum Point at 11:00 AM on Tuesday morning,
and was followed by a private interment.
For over thirty years, George and his wife, Corol,
owned and operated Rum Point Inn on the Peninsula. Together, they
pioneered many of the aspects of the Peninsula that residents and visitors
enjoy today, including introducing the area to divers, the exploration and
documentation of ancient Mayan cultures in the area, and the photographic
history of Placencia.
At the wake, one of George's former next-door-neighbors told me that he
had ordered a phone when BTL first made phone service available to the
Peninsula. The BTL installation crew showed up to install the phone,
but their first question was, "Where is the telephone pole?" The
neighbor immediately ran to find George because "George was the kind of
guy who could come up with a telephone poll on the spur of the moment."
Sure enough, George found the trunk of a large tree that had just fallen
on the property, and George, the neighbor and another friend quickly cut
off the remaining branches, dragged the tree next door, dug a hole -- and
voila! a telephone pole. (The BTL employees apparently watched
with great amusement.)
George will be much missed by all of us.
-
Mr. Maurice Villanueva (Mr.
Maja), Miss
Lucille Villanueva's husband, died on Saturday, January 4, 2003 in New
York where he had traveled for medical treatment. His wake was held
on Thursday, January 9 at the home of
Tuca and Karen Young (his
daughter) here in Placencia. Funeral service will be
this morning (Friday) at 9
a.m. at St. John's Memorial Church in Placencia
Village.
Together, Miss Lucille and Mr. Maja were two of the pillars of the
Placencia Village community -- active in every aspect of the community
from the school and church to the Belize Tourism Industry Association.
Mr. Maja was a very kind man who often took the time to listen to and
comfort people in the community in need (as he did with me one bleak
twilight at the docks during a particularly hard period in my life).
We'll all miss Mr. Maja's warmth, his sparkle and humor, and his
compassion.
January 1, 2003:
Happy New Year!!!!!!!! Pictures of Placencia
Village on New Year's Day. |
