CONSEJO DE DESARROLLO DE AKUMAL SA

The summer General Assembly meeting for the Akumal Council was held on Friday, September 7th in the newly remodeled Fidecaribe building (out by the parking lot) at ll:00 AM.  And, for the first time, there actually was an Agenda item voted on by the general assembly.

The informal minutes of the meeting can be found at Akumal Council 9-7-2007 Minutes, and the photos are located at Akumal Council 9-7-2007 Photos.
  

ROBIN'S BEST SHIRT AWARD, OCTOBER 5th

Come one, come all, to the Beach Bar, where we’ll have a ball.

It’s time for another "Best Shirt Award", which is held on the first Friday of each month during Happy Hour at the Lol Ha Beach Bar. 

This award is based on Robin's penchant for good, classy Beach Bar shirts, and his sister, Mary, is ready to once again be the judge and jury as she selects the "Best Shirt" worn by a male for October.  And, as we go to print the criteria are still somewhat nebulous, and they seem to be changing as we move into the summer months.

The September competition drew a huge number of contestants from all over the world, including the Guynes clan, who were holding a remebrance celebration for Bill Guynes at the Beach Bar just prior to the "Best Shirt Award".  As it turned out, Steve Guynes was the unanimous winner as selected by Mary and her esteemed assistant judges.

The photos are located at Best Shirt Award 9-7-2007.

WHAT’S NEW AROUND TOWN?

AKUMAL

Not much new around town.

 PLAYA DEL CARMEN

Another Furniture Store!
Have you been wondering about that construction next to Interceramic on MX307 in Playa?  It’s going to be an Actual Decoracion store with all the wonderful (expensive) furniture and accessories they have in Cancun.  It should be opening in early October.  See http://www.actualdecoracion.com/principal.htm  

ALSEC SA de CV
For those of you who have, or are thinking of getting, the DesJoyaux pool filtration system, there  now is a store in Playa del Carmen.  It is located right on the southbound side MEX 307, just south of the new Ford dealership.  And, they do make house calls to Akumal, albeit at $450 pesos travel charge. 

Pemex Gas Prices
The price for one liter of Pemex gasoline has finally topped $6.7 pesos at $6.71!  At $10.96 pesos per $1US, that comes out to be $2.32US per gallon of Pemex gasoline.

CANCUN
Rental Car Insurance at Airport
There's been a report that there's a new law that says you HAVE to take car insurance on rental cars in Mexico.  Here's the best I could find at one of the rental car sites.  "In Mexico, if CDW/TP/PLI(Collision Damage Waiver / Theft Protection / Personal Liability Insurance) is not included in the rate and is declined at time of rental, then PLI-(Personal Liability Insurance) is mandatory."
 

FULL MOON, OCTOBER 26th

The Full Hunter's Moon is on October 26, 11:52 apm. ADT.  With the leaves falling and the deer fattened, it is time to hunt.  Since the fields have been reaped, hunters can ride over the stubble, and can more easily see the fox, also other animals that have come out to glean and can be caught for a thanksgiving banquet after the harvest.  The Moon will also be at perigee later this day, at 7:00 a.m., at a distance of 221,676 miles from Earth.  Very high tides can be expected from the coincidence of perigee with full Moon.
 

DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME (DST), OCTOBER 28th

In Akumal and Europe, DST ends on October 28.  Do not forget to turn the clocks back one hour.

For the U.S., and only the U.S., DST ends on November 4.  Remember, On August 8, 2005, President George W. Bush signed the Energy Policy Act of 2005.  This Act changed the time change dates for Daylight Saving Time in the U.S.  Beginning in 2007, DST will begin on the second Sunday in March and end the first Sunday in November.  The Secretary of Energy will report the impact of this change to Congress.  Congress retains the right to resume the 2005 Daylight Saving Time schedule once the Department of Energy study is complete.
 

HALLOWEEN, OCTOBER 31st

Halloween is an annual celebration, but just what is it actually a celebration of?  And how did this peculiar custom originate?  Is it, as some claim, a kind of demon worship?  Or is it just a harmless vestige of some ancient pagan ritual?
 

The word itself, "Halloween," actually has its origins in the Catholic Church.  It comes from a contracted corruption of All Hallows Eve.  November 1, "All Hollows Day" (or "All Saints Day"), is a Catholic day of observance in honor of saints.  But, in the 5th century BC, in Celtic Ireland, summer officially ended on October 31.  The holiday was called Samhain (sow-en), the Celtic New year. 

One story says that, on that day, the disembodied spirits of all those who had died throughout the preceding year would come back in search of living bodies to possess for the next year.  It was believed to be their only hope for the afterlife.  The Celts believed all laws of space and time were suspended during this time, allowing the spirit world to intermingle with the living.

Naturally, the still-living did not want to be possessed.  So on the night of October 31, villagers would extinguish the fires in their homes, to make them cold and undesirable.  They would then dress up in all manner of ghoulish costumes and noisily paraded around the neighborhood, being as destructive as possible in order to frighten away spirits looking for bodies to possess.

Probably a better explanation of why the Celts extinguished their fires was not to discourage spirit possession, but so that all the Celtic tribes could relight their fires from a common source, the Druidic fire that was kept burning in the Middle of Ireland, at Usinach.

The custom of Halloween was brought to America in the 1840's by Irish immigrants fleeing their country's potato famine. At that time, the favorite pranks in New England included tipping over outhouses and unhinging fence gates.

The custom of trick-or-treating is thought to have originated not with the Irish Celts, but with a ninth-century European custom called souling.  On November 2, All Souls Day, early Christians would walk from village to village begging for "soul cakes," made out of square pieces of bread with currants.  The more soul cakes the beggars would receive, the more prayers they would promise to say on behalf of the dead relatives of the donors.  At the time, it was believed that the dead remained in limbo for a time after death, and that prayer, even by strangers, could expedite a soul's passage to heaven.

The Jack-o-lantern custom probably comes from Irish folklore.  As the tale is told, a man named Jack, who was notorious as a drunkard and trickster, tricked Satan into climbing a tree.  Jack then carved an image of a cross in the tree's trunk, trapping the devil up the tree.  Jack made a deal with the devil that, if he would never tempt him again, he would promise to let him down the tree.

According to the folk tale, after Jack died, he was denied entrance to Heaven because of his evil ways, but he was also denied access to Hell because he had tricked the devil.  Instead, the devil gave him a single ember to light his way through the frigid darkness.  The ember was placed inside a hollowed-out turnip to keep it glowing longer.

The Irish used turnips as their "Jack's lanterns" originally.  But when the immigrants came to America, they found that pumpkins were far more plentiful than turnips, so the Jack-O-Lantern in America was a hollowed-out pumpkin, lit with an ember.

EVENTS

Besides the usual Robin’s "Best Shirt Award", September saw numerous other "Events" which have been recorded in The Akumalian's Photo Gallery under Events. 

Bill Guynes Remembrance
There was a gathering of the extended Guynes clan on Friday, September 7^th to remember Bill – it was Bill’s birthday – with old friends at the old beach bar watering hole before they took Bill for one last catamaran ride across Akumal Bay, where they spread his ashes.  Go to Bill Guynes Remembered for the photo gallery. 

Jesse Richardson's Bachelorette Party
On September 11^th, the young ladies of Akumal gathered at Casa Tourquisa in South Akumal to have a bachelorette party for Jesse, and the photo gallery can be viewed at Jesse's Bachelorette Party. 

September Birthdays
On September 14^th, a huge crowd gathered at the Lol Ha Beach Bar to celebrate all the September birthdays, with an emphasis on Mary Henderson.  The photo Gallery can be viewed at September Birthdays. 

Macon Gravlee’s 65^th Birthday Party
On September 27^th, Susan Gravlee threw party to celebrate Macon’s 65^th birthday, and it was hosted at the Lol Ha Restaurant, where guests had a MMMMaahhhh-vellloussss time.  See photos at Macon's 65^th Birthday.
 

Macon Gravlee's 65^th Birthday Party, Continued
Susan & Macon Gravlee hosted a Mexican type dinner at their house on Friday, September 28^th, and it was basically the same crowd as from the night before, but with a change of clothes.  Again, a good time was had by all, and the food was fantabulous.  See photos at Susan's Mexican Dinner. 

Turner's Texas Barbecue
The festivities continued on Saturday, September 29^th when Terry & Lisa Turner hosted a Texas barbecue on the beach at their house in South Akumal, and as all the attendees were leftovers from the previous two nights, it must have been a continuation of Macon Gravlee's 65^th Birthday Party.  Take a look at the photos at Texas Barbecue Party and you’ll see what I mean.

FOR SALE     

1998 Ford Explorer Eddie Bauer Edition in excellent condition with no body rust.  This vehicle has always been parked overnight in a garage.

 The Explorer Eddie Bauer is 4WD and has leather seats, air conditioning, cassette and CD player, roof rack, tilt steering wheel, power sun roof, power steering, power front seat adjustments, keyless entry system, and split fold-down rear seats.  Standard on the Eddie Bauer is the 4.0 liter SOHC 205 horsepower engine.

New features for 1998 models included a new liftgate with a larger liftgate glass and revised handle, new tri-colored tail lamps, a new rear bumper, revised paint colors and a new wheel line-up.  Also new are the soft release parking brake, standard full size spare tire, and the available SecuriLock passive theft deterrent system.  

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