PZIWC MEETING MINUTES
Date: April 12, 2016 Place: Dos Pinos Restaurant Attendees: 35
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President Cathy Carrolan Mata welcomed 35 members, guests and visitors to our April 12th Monthly Meeting held at Dos Pinos Restaurant.
In Carol McKeon’s absence (she is presently stateside), Cathy introduced today’s guests and visitors: Carol Vaughn, special guest and friend of Jack Donnelly Makela Lynch, first time visitor and new full-time resident Anna Mollenkopf, guest of Linda Beasley, also a new full-time resident Delphine Touron, aunt of Michelle Touron Lydie Touron, step-mother of Michelle Touron. Both ladies are visiting from France.
Welcome to all our visitors, guests, and returnees. We are happy you could join us and look forward to seeing you again in the future.
Next, Cathy asked for the April birthdays and everyone sang “Happy Birthday” to all the birthday gals.
Member Updates: Suzie Humphrey will be returning to the U.S. for some follow-up treatment. Her recovery is progressing well. Helen Rivers-Moore is slowly getting over a problem with her ankle and is on the mend. Sandy Hiebert’s brother, who has been ill for a while, has passed away. Sandy will need to spend some time in the U.S. as the executor of her brother’s will. Marcie Morrison-Bogorad, after a long waiting period, now has a functional hearing aid and is joining us today. Nancy Kruel, who has been to some meetings in the past, has been in an unfortunate automobile accident. Sadly, Nancy passed away on April 5th as a result of her injuries. Heartfelt condolences to Nancy’s husband, James, and her family and friends.
PRESIDENT’S REPORT
During our recent Board Meeting, we discussed and agreed to the following:
Reviewed progress on 2016 goals stated in the January meeting. All are moving in the right direction. Approved review and update of Membership Directory (Rosi and Sheelagh) Approved Mobile Library Project Plan. The Board approved paying for magnetic vehicle plates out of the membership account. This is good PR for the club and a demonstration of support and pride in the project. The PZIWC plates can be used on future occasions. A great first step of publicity strategy.
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Approved three months projection for Monthly Meetings. During one of the next meetings, our own Nancy Gibbons will enlighten us about bees (she used to be a beekeeper). Beginning with the May meeting, we will have a 'Book Fair' during the meetings where we can all sell and buy each other's books (in reasonably good condition) with funds going to the Mobile Library project. Suggested prices for paperback books 500 colones and 1 mil for hard cover books.
First U.S. Consular Outreach Event in Perez Zeledon – This event is co-sponsored by Carol’s Costa Rica Club and Perez Zeledon International Women’s Club and will take place on Monday, April 25th at the Best Western Hotel Zima Conference Room in San Isidro. Passport Renewal Applications Acceptance & Notarial by appointment only (from 12:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.). RSVP to ACSSan [email protected] or call 6036-4283 for appointment and respective fees.
There will be a FREE Town Hall Question & Answer session from 2:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. It is very important that we attend this event and let our presence be known.
TREASURER’S REPORT
Michelle Touron reported that all accounts are in good order and balanced. Following is a summary of current status.
Membership Account CRC 812,413.80 Projects Account CRC 77,224.00 Total CRC 889,637.80
Anticipated costs for 2016: Go Daddy annual fee and magnetic plates for Mobile Library.
SECRETARY’S REPORT – N/A
SERVICE CHAIRMAN’S REPORT
Mobile Library Project
Sheelagh Richards reported that the project development plan has been updated to incorporate “phase two”, which has been approved by the service committee. The concept for “phase two” was to develop ‘starter’ libraries for isolated rural schools where children did not have access to books. Over the next two years, we would maintain the mobile service and focus continued fund-raising on providing a ‘mini starter library’ to as many schools as possible. At the end of the project, the ‘mobile library’ book stock would be divided and donated permanently to participating schools.
Linda Smith has designed a small bookcase for the mini libraries and two husbands have already volunteered to make them, for which we are very grateful.
We have about 150 books in stock, some cash in hand plus a $100 donation coming from Cloudbridge, which should enable us to do 2-3 mini libraries in the short term
As for Fundraising, the board has agreed to:
Having a “change jar” at the monthly meetings where members can donate their change when paying for their lunches. The accumulated monies will buy more books for the children Holding a “Book Fair” where members can buy and sell each other’s books. Suggested prices for paperbacks are 500 colones and 1 mil for hardcover books.
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Directory of Service Providers
Sheelagh has requested additional information within the next 24 hours. After this, the door will be closed, revisions will be made and the directory will be published in the near future.
UPCOMING ACTIVITIES
Saturday, April 16th -- Arts & Crafts Group
The next workshop will be held at the home of Sheelagh Richards from 10:30 AM to 2:30 PM. Please check the PZIWC website for detailed directions.
This time and space is open for any activity that you wish to work on (painting, drawing, knitting, macramé, jewelry making, etc.) and some quiet camaraderie. Bring your supplies and your lunch.
For more information, feel free to contact Kai Harper at [email protected] or [email protected]. Please make sure you put “Arts & Crafts Group” in the subject line.
Sunday, April 17th – Book Discussion Group
This second gathering will be again at Shannon Ford’s house at 10:30 a.m. The book that will be discussed is titled “The Memory Keeper’s Daughter” by Kim Edwards. Please bring future book suggestions. Lunch at Papa de Paramo after the meeting (optional). For detailed directions to Shannon’s house, please go to the PZIWC website. For questions, please contact Shannon via her personal email: [email protected]
Tuesday, April 19th -- Walker’s Group
The next walk is scheduled to take place in the Santa Rosa area. The walk generally takes about 2-3 hours. Pack a picnic lunch to enjoy afterwards around noon. Make sure you wear your insect repellent, sunscreen and appropriate shoes and clothing.
Please give advance notice if you plan on attending, so that in the event plans change, we can contact you, and we can identify car-pooling needs.
If you have any questions, please contact Sheelagh Richards at [email protected].
Tuesday, April 26th -- Game Day
The April games will be held at El Mangostan Restaurante in San Isidro. Players meet at 11:00 AM with informal game selection and seating. Over the next 3 hours members and guests share laughs, stories, information, and lunch.
If you have any questions, please contact Joan Ulmer at [email protected]
Please note that all upcoming events as well as other noteworthy items are posted on the Club’s website at www.pziwc.org. Be sure to visit this site frequently!
OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS
Jessica Manley and her boyfriend Eduardo have created a very extensive hiking trail in San Jose de Rivas. The walk can be an easy hour to a more extensive 3-hour hike to view LOS GIGANTES, the
Page 3 of 5 large trees grown in that area. For more information contact Jessica at 2742-5254 or [email protected] Be sure to go before the rainy season starts!
This concluded the announcements and Cathy introduced our guest speaker, Jack Donnelly.
Jack has been a life-long enthusiast of Latin American folk culture. In the 1960’s he studied cultural anthropology at the Universidad de Las Americas in Mexico City. Then volunteered with the Peace Corps in Guatemala, working with Mayan cooperatives in the Western Highlands. Now, Jack lives in Heredia, Costa Rica, where he is a contributing writer for “The Costa Rica Star”, and a Warden for the U.S. Embassy.
Jack travels around the country investigating and documenting folkloric events. His book “COSTA RICA Folk Culture, Traditions, & Cuisine” gathers his findings into a culture-rich guide that offers unique insight into the traditions of this country.
Today, Jack’s talk revolved around BOCAS, the small dishes of Costa Rica. Bocas are basically bar foods and you have to explore to find who has the best in your town.
The king of Tico bar food is Chifrio, a layered dish served in a bowl. On the bottom is rice, followed by layers of beans and chicharron, then topped with chimichurri or pico de gallo. Jack stated that this is the only boca he is aware of that has had a patent granted to its inventor, a man by the name of Miguel Cordero in Tibas.
We also learned that Gallos are not Tacos! A gallo is a soft warm corn tortilla filled with chicken, meat, or some other filling and is not rolled up. A Tico taco is a flour tortilla, filled with meat, beans cheese, chicken, etc., then rolled up and deep fried. Both of these bocas are delicious but often confused by Gringos.
Then there is Yuca, also called cassava, which is an important component of Costa Rica bar foods. Yuca frita are deep fried yuca chunks. One of the neat things about yuca is the fact that it does not absorb grease like French fries and is easy to digest. Yuca is also the perfect food to have in your stomach when you’re out partying.
Yuca flour is used to make, among others, yuca bread. We learned that Christopher Columbus and his crew survived on yuca bread (pan de yuca) during his travels in the Caribbean and Central America, and that the Yucatan peninsula got its name from the yuca plant.
Enyucados, is yuca dough, filled with some meat in the middle and then fried. A most delicious finger food that is most often found in small sodas or as a street snack.
After talking about some other bocas, Jack touched on the common misconception that Guanacaste at one time belonged to Nicaragua. In the colonial era, “Partido de Nicoya”, as it was called then, was independent from its neighbors, the colonies of Costa Rica and Nicaragua. The Partido reported
Page 4 of 5 directly to the Spanish administrative center in Guatemala, while Costa Rica reported to Leon in Nicaragua. On July 25th, 1824, the Partido de Nicoya chose to join with Costa Rica, which is known as “The Annexation” (La Anexion). La Anexion is celebrated every year as a national holiday and streets are decorated with the slogan “de la Patria por nuestra voluntad”, which means “We are Costa Rican by choice”. Now we know for sure that Guanacaste was NEVER a part of Nicaragua!
A brief Q&A session followed this very informative presentation by Jack Donnelly.
In closing, Cathy thanked Jack for coming all the way from Heredia to speak at our meeting. Then Cathy shared a piece of history of the PZIWC. During one of the monthly meetings there was a demonstration of how to make another typical Costa Rican dish – Patacones, made from green plantains. Sounded like that was a lot of fun and everyone got to taste them.
This concluded the official part of the meeting. Everyone enjoyed a delicious lunch and spent some time mingling and visiting with each other.
Respectfully Submitted,
Rosi Matheson, PZIWC Secretary [email protected]
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