March 2008 Issue 63

INTRODUCTION

Thank goodness February is over!!  It was one very busy and hectic month, as seen by the number of "Events" we had in Akumal.  Scroll down to "Events" on the last page.

With Easter and Daylight Saving Time (US only) coming in March this year, it looks like March could be just as busy and hectic, albeit without the defined social "Events".
 

EASTER SALE OF '98 FORD EXPLORER, EDDIE BAUER     

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.  

Contact clouther@prodigy.net.mx for more information.
 

IMPORTANT MESSAGES FROM THE STAFF

This has more to do with the distribution of The Akumalian than anything else, and hopefully, some of these messages will sink in if they are read here, versus in the e-mail that announces the availability of The Akumalian.

 The Akumalian is hosted at www.theakumalian.com as most of you are probably aware.

 Subscribe: On most of The Akumalian's pages, including this one,  there is a Subscribe box in the top left hand corner.  This is for anyone and everyone to easily subscribe, or unsubscribe, to The Akumalian.  This also is for those of you who accidentally unsubscribe yourself from the distribution.  You do not have to send an e-mail to The Akumalian, all you need to do is go to the home page and subscribe yourself.


"It's right up there in the corner."

 Changing e-mail Address: Each month The Akumalian gets a number of "non-deliverable" message back for e-mail addresses that have elapsed or changed.  If you change your e-mail address, refer to the previous paragraph and change your e-mail address with The Akumalian.  It’s quite easy.

 Add Your Friends: A number of subscribers forward the URL for The Akumalian to family, friends, and neighbors – maybe even enemies for retaliation – each month for one reason or another, and because of this, the subscription list now exceeds 725.  However, we have a goal to reach 1,000 by the end of this year, so now that you know all about the Subscribe box, you can use it to get others informed of a new monthly issue of The Akumalian.

 Distribution Date: The Akumalian has finally gotten around to a fairly regular schedule of delivering a new issue on or about the 1^st of each month.  This simplifies looking at dates that are coming up in the next calendar month, it gets the message out before the monthly "Best Shirt Award", and it sets a deadline for The Akumalian staff.
 

IMPORTANT MARCH FACTS

Pisces:  February 19 - March 20
         Aries:   March 21-April 19

 March Birthstone:  Aquamarine
This lovely blue-green crystal is a semi-precious stone and looks terrific wrapped up in silver wire, set in a ring or pendant, or loose in a special display. This March birthstone is big enough to make a display by itself.  Aquamarine is mined primarily in Brazil, Nigeria and Zambia.

March Flower:  Jonquil
A daffodil is also known as a jonquil or narcissus.  It is a symbol of rebirth - a sign of spring.  It is the flower for March, because that is when the spring equinox begins.

MARCH BIRTHDAYS

Birthdays and Anniversaries    ¡Feliz cumpleanos!

1          Jorge Vera
1          Alma Ovada
3          Demetrio
5          Bart Smith
7          Greg & Karen Goudy Anniversary
8          Steve Clouther
8          Rick Tompkins
8          McKinlee Anne DePaola
12        Paige Clements
12        CeCi Chiosso
13        Lydia Pontius
13        Karen Goudy
15        Bob Doebert
22        Sherwood Anders
24        Rhett Schobert
25        Rocio Cue Romero
26        Tom & Judy Baxter Anniversary
28        Marisol Danu is 1 year old

There must be more than this.  Let's hear about YOUR birthday before it happens.

 Missed February Birthdays / Anniversary
25        Jim Farrell

FRANCYS, CHRIS AND BUTCH

This was completely overlooked for the last issue of The Akumalian, probably due to the technical problems at The Akumalian offices.  So, while this may be a bit tardy, it still is very appropriate.  

Steve & IngridC drove back to Akumal from Massachusetts in early January, and on the way they stopped in to see Francys, Chris and Butch at their "new" place at Brazoria, TX, outside Port Jackson/Clute, about halfway between Galveston and Houston.  We had some drinks at their house and then went out to dinner with Francys and Butch, while Chris remained at home with the cats.

We won't go into details about the visit, the house and PanGarden (see Chris' web site at http://www.pangardenstudio.com/ ), but let it be known that Francys is still sharp as a tack and remembers Akumal in great detail.  They send everyone a very big "HELLO".
 

LEAP YEAR

We almost missed this, but it was hard to avoid yesterday.

The year 2008 is a leap year.  If you look at a 2008 calendar, you will see that February has five Fridays–the month begins and ends on a Friday.  Between the years 1904 and 2096, leap years that share the same day of week for each date repeat only every 28 years.  The most recent year in which February comprised five Fridays was in 1980, and the next occurrence will be in 2036.  February 29, the leap day, has been associated with age-old traditions, superstitions and folklore.

A leap year is a year in which one extra day has been inserted, or intercalated, at the end of February. A leap year consists of 366 days, whereas other years, called common years, have 365 days.

Leap years are needed to keep our calendar in alignment with the earth's revolutions around the sun.

The vernal equinox is the time when the sun is directly above the Earth's equator, moving from the southern to the northern hemisphere.  The mean time between two successive vernal equinoxes is called a tropical year–also known as a solar year–and is about 365.2422 days long.

Using a calendar with 365 days every year would result in a loss of 0.2422 days, or almost six hours per year.  After 100 years, this calendar would be more than 24 days ahead of the season (tropical year), which is not desirable or accurate.  It is desirable to align the calendar with the seasons and to make any difference as insignificant as possible.

By adding a leap year approximately every fourth year, the difference between the calendar and the seasons can be reduced significantly, and the calendar will align with the seasons much more accurately.

(The term "day" is used to mean "solar day"–which is the mean time between two transits of the sun across the meridian of the observer.)
 

ROBIN’S BEST SHIRT AWARD MARCH 7th

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" for January. 

 Leroy Wiedman won the contest for February, and those photos are at February Best Shirt.

It has been reported, with a good degree of authenticity, that Bart Smith will be attending the March event with a shirt that is a "definite winner".  Sounds like a challenge to me.  But then again, we still have not had a female winner yet, as they sit on the sidelines crying "Foul" against the 'shirt' restriction.
 

DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME (DST), APRIL 6th (MEXICO)

In Mexico, DST is defined as from the First Sunday in April (April 6) to the Last Sunday in October (October 26).  In Akumal, turn your clocks ahead one hour at exactly 2:00 am on April 6th.

During DST, clocks are turned forward an hour, effectively moving an hour of daylight from the morning to the evening.

The main purpose of Daylight Saving Time (called "Summer Time" in many places in the world) is to make better use of daylight.  We change our clocks during the summer months to move an hour of daylight from the morning to the evening. 

The idea of daylight saving was first conceived by Benjamin Franklin (portrait at right) during his sojourn as an American delegate in Paris in 1784, in an essay, "An Economical Project."   Some of Franklin's friends, inventors of a new kind of oil lamp, were so taken by the scheme that they continued corresponding with Franklin even after he returned to America.

The idea was first advocated seriously by London builder William Willett (1857-1915) in the pamphlet, "Waste of Daylight" (1907), that proposed advancing clocks 20 minutes on each of four Sundays in April, and retarding them by the same amount on four Sundays in September.  As he was taking an early morning a ride through Petts Wood, near Croydon, Willett was struck by the fact that the blinds of nearby houses were closed, even though the sun was fully risen.  When questioned as to why he didn't simply get up an hour earlier, Willett replied with typical British humor, "What?" In his pamphlet "The Waste of Daylight" he wrote:

"Everyone appreciates the long, light evenings.  Everyone laments their shortage as Autumn approaches; and everyone has given utterance to regret that the clear, bright light of an early morning during Spring and Summer months is so seldom seen or used."

Beginning in 2007, most of the United States begins Daylight Saving Time at 2:00 a.m. on the second Sunday in March and reverts to standard time on the first Sunday in November.  In the U.S., each time zone switches at a different time.  This year it's March 9 to November 2.

In the European Union, Summer Time begins and ends at 1:00 a.m. Universal Time (Greenwich Mean Time).  It begins the last Sunday in March and ends the last Sunday in October. In the EU, all time zones change at the same moment.  This year it's March 30 to October 26.
 

PI DAY, MARCH 14th

Pi, Greek letter π, is the symbol for the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter. Pi = 3.1415926535.  Pi Day is celebrated by math enthusiasts around the world on March 14th.

With the use of computers, Pi has been calculated to over 1 trillion digits past the decimal.  Pi is an irrational number meaning it will continue infinitely without repeating.  The symbol for pi was first used in 1737 by William Jones, but was popular after it was adopted by the Swiss mathematician Leonhard Euler in 1737.

The ratio of the circumference to the diameter of a circle is the same for all circles, and that it is slightly more than 3, was known to ancient Egyptian, Babylonian, Indian and Greek geometers.  The earliest known approximations date from around 1900 BC; they are 25/8 (Babylonia) and 256/81 (Egypt), both within 1 percent of the true value.  The Indian text Shatapatha Brahmana gives π as 339/108 ≈ 3.139.  The Books of Kings (600 BC) appears to suggest π = 3, which is notably worse than other estimates available at the time, although the interpretation of the passage is disputed.

Archimedes (287-212 BC) was the first to estimate π rigorously.   He realized that its magnitude can be bounded from below and above by inscribing circles in regular polygons and calculating the outer and inner polygons' respective perimeters.

By using the equivalent of 96-sided polygons, he proved that 223/71 < π < 22/7.  Taking the average of these values yields 3.1419.  In the following centuries, most significant development took place in India and China.  Around 480, the Chinese mathematician Zu Chongzhi gave the approximation π = 355/113, and showed that 3.1415926 < π < 3.1415927, which would stand as the most accurate value for π over the next 900 years.
 

ALBERT EINSTEIN’S BIRTHDAY MARCH 14th

Albert Einstein, the first child of the Jewish couple Hermann and Pauline Einstein, was born on March 14, 1879 in Ulm, Germany.  Einstein learned to speak at a late age, he was considered a slow learner as a child, and he showed no particular aptitude for formal schooling.  In June 1880, his family moved to Munich where Hermann Einstein and his brother Jakob founded an electrical engineering company.  After the failure of his father's business in 1894 the Einsteins moved to Pavia, Italy.  Young Albert remained in Munich to finish school, but moved to Pavia to join his family after completing only one term.  Upon reaching Italy, he renounced his German citizenship, possibly to avoid obligatory military service, and became stateless.  At about the same time, Einstein "renounced his legal adherence to the Jewish religious community."
 

ST. PATRICK'S DAY MARCH 15^th

In 2008, St. Patrick's Day has been changed to March 15 by the Roman Catholic Church to avoid conflict with Holy Monday that falls on 3/17.

St. Patrick is revered by Christians for establishing the church in Ireland during the fifth century AD.  The precise dates and details of his life are unclear, but some points are generally agreed: as a teen he was captured and sold into slavery in Ireland, and six years later he escaped to Gaul (now France) where he later became a monk.  Around 432 he returned to Ireland as a missionary and succeeded in converting many of the island's tribes to Christianity.  Late in life he wrote a brief text, Confessio, detailing his life and ministry.  His feast day, March 17, is celebrated as a day of Irish pride in many parts of the world.

A popular folk tale says that St. Patrick chased all snakes from Ireland, but there is no historical basis for this story.  Another folk tale, that he used shamrocks to teach about the holy Trinity, is also generally agreed to be a myth.  In Gaelic the saint's name is Padraig.

The day is the national holiday of the Irish people.  It is a bank holiday in Northern Ireland, and a public holiday in the Republic of Ireland, Montserrat, and the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador.  In the rest of Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, the United States and New Zealand, it is widely celebrated but is not an official holiday.

It became a feast day in the Roman Catholic Church due to the influence of the Waterford-born Franciscan scholar Luke Wadding in the early part of the 17th century, and is a holy day of obligation for Roman Catholics in Ireland.  The date of the feast is occasionally moved by church authorities when March 17 falls during Holy Week; this last happened in 1940 when Saint Patrick's Day was observed on 3 April in order to avoid it coinciding with Palm Sunday, and will happen again in 2008, when it shall be held on 15 March for the novus ordo liturgy and April 2 for the traditional Latin Mass to avoid the second day in Holy Week.
 

COMINGS AND GOINGS

Comings:

• Bob & Sherwood Anders returned to celebrate Bob’s birthday on Feb. 23.
• Jana Simpson & Greg Franta were back for a brief stay.
• Lydia Pontius was back for the CEA event.
• Myrna Sparks was here too.
• Sam & Sharon Goby arrived at Playa Caribe on February 15, for a long overdue vacation.
• Paige, Gary, Hagen and Ellie Clements were visiting Diane & Denny in N. Akumal in the middle of February.  Hagan celebrated his birthday at the Lol Ha Beach Bar on Feb. 22^nd.
• Diane's other daughter, Kelly, was also here.
• Tony, Joan, Cassie, and Alex Gonzalez were in South Akumal for Ski Week.
• Lisa Combs arrives in Tankah on March 3, and Phill comes in on the 7^th for Best Shirt Award.
• Bob & Diane Mather arrive back at Casa Zama on March 13.

Goings:

With the exception of the visitors leaving, it looks like everyone else is staying put or sneaking out under the cover of darkness.
 

EQUINOX, MARCH 20th

An equinox in astronomy is that moment in time (not a whole day) when the center of the Sun can be observed to be directly above the Earth's equator, and this month it occurs on March 20 at 5:48 EST.

There is either an equinox (autumn and spring) or a solstice (summer and winter) on approximately the 21st day of the last month of every quarter of the calendar year.  On a day which has an equinox, the center of the Sun will spend a nearly equal amount of time above and below the horizon at every location on Earth, and night and day will be of nearly the same length.  The word equinox derives from the Latin words aequus (equal) and nox (night).

In reality, the day is longer than the night at an equinox.  Commonly, the day is defined as the period that sunlight reaches the ground in the absence of local obstacles.  From Earth, the Sun appears as a disc and not a single point of light; so, when the center of the Sun is below the horizon, the upper edge is visible.  Furthermore, the atmosphere refracts light; so, even when the upper limb of the Sun is below the horizon, its rays reach over the horizon to the ground.  In sunrise/sunset tables, the assumed semi-diameter (apparent radius) of the sun is 16 minutes of arc and the atmospheric refraction is assumed to be 34 minutes of arc.  Their combination means that when the upper limb of Sun is on the visible horizon its center is 50 minutes of arc below the geometric horizon, which is the intersection with the celestial sphere of a horizontal plane through the eye of the observer.  These effects together make the day about 14 minutes longer than the night at the equator, and longer still at sites toward the poles.  The real equality of day and night only happens at places far enough from the equator to have at least a seasonal difference in daylength of 7 minutes, and occurs a few days towards the winter side of each equinox.
 

FULL MOON, MARCH 21st

The Full Worm Moon is on Friday, March 21, at 5:41pm AST.

In this month the ground softens and the earthworm casts reappear, inviting the return of the robins.  The more northern tribes knew this as the Full Crow Moon, when the cawing of crows signals the end of winter, or the Full Crust Moon because the snow cover becomes crusted from thawing by day and freezing at night.  The Full Sap Moon, marking the time of tapping maple trees, is another variation.  This is also the Paschal Full Moon; the first full moon of the spring season.  The first Sunday following the Paschal Moon is Easter Sunday, which indeed will be observed two days later on Sunday, March 23.  This will, in fact, be the earliest Easter since 1913.

Full moon is a lunar phase that occurs when the Moon is on the opposite side of the Earth from the Sun.  More precisely, a full moon occurs when the geocentric apparent longitudes of the Sun and Moon differ by 180 degrees; the Moon is then in opposition with the Sun.  At this time, as seen by viewers on Earth, the hemisphere of the Moon that is facing the earth (the near side) is fully illuminated by the Sun and appears round.  Only during a full moon is the opposite hemisphere of the Moon, which is not visible from Earth (the far side), completely un-illuminated.
 

EASTER SUNDAY, MARCH 23rd

On Easter Sunday, Christians celebrate the resurrection of the Lord, Jesus Christ.  It is typically the most well-attended Sunday service of the year for Christian churches.  Christians believe, according to Scripture, that Jesus came back to life, or was raised from the dead, three days after his death on the cross.  As part of the Easter season, the death of Jesus Christ by crucifixion, is commemorated on Good Friday, always the Friday just before Easter.  Through his death, burial and resurrection, Jesus paid the penalty for sin, thus purchasing for all who believe in him, eternal life in Christ Jesus.

In Western Christianity, Easter marks the ending of Lent, a 40-day period of fasting, repentance, moderation and spiritual discipline in preparation for Easter.  Lent begins on Ash Wednesday and ends on Easter Sunday.

 The Annual Easter Parade and Easter Bonnet Festival

On Easter Sunday, (March 23, 2008) you have the opportunity to see Easter bonnets to the New York City extreme as "paraders" wander along Fifth Avenue from 49th to 57th Streets.  The area around St. Patrick's Cathedral is the ideal place to see the parade.  The Easter Parade and Easter Bonnet Festival runs from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m.

When and Where is the Easter Parade and Bonnet Festival in Akumal?  There’s three weeks to organize something.
 

EASTER IN MEXICO

For Mexico, Easter is a combination of Semana Santa (Holy Week - Palm Sunday to Easter Saturday) and Pascua (Resurrection Sunday until the following Saturday).  For most Mexicans, this 2 week period is THE time of year for vacation; good time to not be on the highways - just stay put and enjoy Akumal during this holiday season.

Semana Santa celebrates the last days of the Christ's life, and Pascua is the celebration of the Christ's Resurrection.  It is also the release from the sacrifices of Lent.

In many communities, the full Passion Play is enacted from the Last Supper, the Betrayal, the Judgement, the Procession of the 12 Stations of the Cross, the Crucifixion and, finally, the Resurrection.  In some communities, flagellation and/or real crucifixion is included.  The enactments are often wonderously staged, costumed and acted, with participants preparing for their roles for nearly the full year leading up to Semana Santa.
 

HOW EARLY IS EASTER?

Do you realize how early Easter is this year?  As you may know, Easter is always celebrated on the Sunday immediately following the Paschal Full Moon date of the year.  This dating of Easter is based on the lunar calendar that Hebrew people used to identify Passover, which is why it moves around on our Roman calendar.

Found out a couple of things you might be interested in!  Based on the above, Easter can actually be one day earlier (March 22) but that is pretty rare.  Here 's the interesting info.  This year is the earliest Easter any of us will ever see the rest of our lives!  And only the most elderly of our population have ever seen it this early (95 years old or above!).  And none of us have ever, or will ever, see it a day earlier!  Here's the facts:

The next time Easter will be this early (March 23) will be the year 2228 (220 years from now).  The last time it was this early was 1913 (so if you're 95 or older, you are the only ones that were around for that!).

The next time it will be a day earlier, March 22, will be in the year 2285 (277 years from now).  The last time it was on March 22 was 1818.  So, no one alive today has or will ever see it any earlier than this year!

Thanks to Rene Gower
  

WHY DOES THE DATE FOR EASTER CHANGE EVERY YEAR?

Why does the date for Easter change every year?  Have you ever wondered why Easter Sunday can fall anywhere between March 22 and April 25?  And why do Eastern Orthodox churches celebrate Easter on a different day than Western churches?  These are all good questions.

In Western Christianity, Easter is always celebrated on the Sunday immediately following the Paschal Full Moon date of the year.  It has somewhat erroneously been believed that, "Easter is always celebrated on the Sunday immediately following the first full moon after the vernal (spring) equinox."

In actuality, the date of the Paschal Full Moon is determined from historical tables, and has no correspondence to lunar events.  In the year 325 AD astronomers approximated the dates of all the full moons in the year for the Western Christian churches.  These were called the Ecclesiastical Full Moon dates, and they have been used ever since 326 AD to determine the date of Easter.  So, the Paschal Full Moon is always the first Ecclesiastical Full Moon date after March 20 (which happened to be the vernal equinox date in 325 AD).  The Paschal Full Moon can vary as much as two days from the date of the actual full moon, with dates ranging from March 21 to April 18.  As a result, Easter dates can range from March 22 through April 25 in Western Christianity.

Western churches use the Gregorian Calendar to calculate the date of Easter and Eastern Orthodox churches use the Julian Calendar. This is partly why the dates are rarely the same.
 

AN OPEN LETTER FROM THE AKUMAL COUNCIL

Dear Akumal Community, 

As 2008 starts to pick up momentum, we'd like to let you know what all we have planned for the coming year.  First, it's important to point out that the municipality just elected a new mayor, and that means that until he takes office in April, not much happens governmentally. 

 Fidecaribe Building
On the local front, the fidecaribe building is almost finished and when it is, we will need to add the details and furnishings to the new Akumal Council office.  In addition, we will have some responsibility in getting the police settled into their new quarters.  The biggest expense involved for the police is that we need to buy them a new motorcycle so that they can resume regular patrolling of the area.  The rest of the fidecaribe building has been rented by the municipality to a business that will provide a number of useful services such as accounting and legal services.  Their agreement with the municipality requires that they help support the entire building, so the Akumal Council and community benefit from this arrangement.

Our police presence has diminished over the past year and moving them into the new space and providing them with a new motorcycle for patrolling will mark a renewed presence.  In addition, we are looking into a surveillance system that would place a camera at the arch and would record all incoming and outgoing traffic.  In case of any problems, this could then be reviewed at any time to determine who came and went during any period of time.  The municipality is beginning to utilize this system in Playa del Carmen.

North Akumal Road Project
As you all know, the North Akumal Road project was a great success.  The community rallied and we were able to meet our goal.  When all accounts are settled, we will determine if or how far we can continue the pavers on the west end, starting at Las Casitas and moving toward the arch.  A STANDING OVATION to all the generous contributors to this project!  There is a spreadsheet of the contributors attached to this document.

Regularization of North Akumal
The Regularization of North Akumal is another project that needs to be furthered and we will be looking into how to advance it.  As always, funding is the principal obstacle.  The first two steps have already been completed and the new access road to North Akumal is also a step toward the ultimate goal.  The next phase will entail preparing the final project and presenting it to the authorities.  It will include placing services underground (where possible) and getting required permits and authorizations in order to do so.  The ultimate phase will be the implementation of the plan.

Government Issues
Despite the temporary lull in government activity, we have a couple of significant government issues to contend with this year.  The first is that it is almost certain that within the next 4-5 months, Akumal will become part of the new municipality of Tulum.  This is not necessarily a good thing for us, and will require a great deal of vigilance on our part to make sure that we establish ourselves from the beginning.  This job will fall to Gonzalo and Sergio to develop the necessary relationships so that Akumal is properly recognized by the new municipality.

Master Plan of Development
Secondly, the Master Plan of Development, which has been of major interest to us for the past several years, has been officially accepted by the municipal government and will start to be implemented over the next year.  This, potentially, could have a great deal of significance to Akumal in that it will determine the future of our immediate area in terms of population and the development of Akumal Pueblo.  Our input to this is that a representative from the Akumal Council has been granted a seat (with vote and voice) on the vigilance committee that will oversee this growth and development.  We anticipate this taking more attention of the council as time passes.

Transformation of the Akumal Council
For this reason, we feel it is time to start looking at the future of the Akumal Council and how it is going to grow and change to reflect the growth and change around us.  For this reason, we'd like to see a shift over the next year with the Akumal Council starting to move toward the 'big picture' and letting other community organizations take over the community projects.  We would like to see things like the road project or the ongoing maintenance of the public areas taken over by the community, leaving the Akumal Council free to focus on the general development of the area and how that affects us.

General Assembly Meeting
We are planning a General Assembly meeting the end of July and would like to address the issue of transforming the organization at that time.  We will be electing new officers and making decisions about how to proceed.  Please give it some thought and try to be there to help decide what direction we will take.

Regardless of how the Council evolves, there is still much to be done and ALL of the items mentioned require funding (you will find a 2008 budget attached).  The Akumal Council has had strong and loyal support from a good number of business and property owners, but there is still a very large segment of our community who reaps the rewards of our efforts but does not contribute towards them.  We all benefit from any improvement we make to our area and from any advances we make with our government.  Please be a team player and choose to support the Akumal Council in 2008 and help us to continue to improve Akumal.

 Contributions can be made by sending checks (payable to the Akumal Council and marked for 'Membership 2008') to:

Akumal Council
5810 Santa Maria Ave. #205
PMB 522
Laredo, TX
78041-3055

 Contributions in Akumal can be made by delivering a check to the TSA money exchange.  Please put your check in an envelope marked Akumal Council and note on your check that it is for 'Membership 2008'.

We appreciate your support,

Akumal Council

PICTURE OF THE MONTH

A number of photos just happened to pass through the mail slot this month, and it seemed like a good idea to share one of them with the community, because, most, if not all, of you have had an experience with Customer Support at a foreign call center.

WHAT'S NEW AROUND TOWN?

AKUMAL

There were so many people here and so many things going on, there wasn’t any time for anything "new".
 

EVENTS

Once again, Robin’s "Best Shirt Award", was the first "Event" of the month, on the 1^st, Then:

Music Night on February 2.

Super Bowl Party on February 3.

Super Tuesday on February 5.

CEA Festival Gala Event on February 21.

Academy Awards Gala on February 24.