Newsletter No. 251, January 2023 ~ Grupo Ecológico
Hola Volunteers and Supporters ~
On January 7th, San Pancho, Lo de Marcos and several other communities along the Pacific Coast were swamped by high waves, in our case the waves pushing tons of driftwood up the beach close to property walls. Waves also caused some damage to restaurants in front of town and the beach along the lagoon. In the future Global-Climate-Change may bring massive high waves triggered by Northern Pacific storms.
Any plans of constructing a beach nursery in the near future is totally scrapped for now, at least until annual weather conditions change. Also, what happened to hundreds of beach nurseries along the northern Pacific Coast of México? With the predictions of higher temperatures, rising sea levels, and possibly high waves from storms in the north, may together have a hand in destroying many of these beach nurseries.
At this point in time, we seem to be swamped with numinous tasks that are somewhat overwhelming, I will list the major tasks.
January-February
· This coming Fall we must do everything possible to reestablish Jessica as the new co-director. · Replace a 40-inch section of railing over the passenger rear wheel, and repainting the entire body. · Sit down with Elvia and our new certified Public Accountant in order to find out what SAT (Mexican IRS). · Establish a Group Intercam Bank account and transfer all Group funds into it. · Enlist at least fifteen more good volunteers · Register and licenses the Can-Am in the Group’s name.
March-April
· We need to start work on the new 2023 Nursery Permit. · The registration of our three vehicles.
May- June
· We need to repair the termite damage throughout the box nursery. · Re-cover the box nursery with 10mil black greenhouse plastic. · Wash and repair 330 Styrofoam nest boxes.
And what would be a newsletter without bringing up the Dune Buggy, AKA the Mule. Aside from the CRV, it is the only means of bringing fresh sand from the beach to the box nursery and returning it. It is also responsible for transporting thousands of hatchlings to the beach to be released. I bring the mule up because it has just received the most complete overhaul ever: total rust removal, new front brake system, new steering wheel, new carburetor cable assembly and a complete rust removal and painting.
December volunteers: Taylor Kimbell, Rick Burke and Susan Stephens, Karen Sorum and Hallie Loveridge. We are looking for at least 15 good volunteers to join us this coming 2023 nesting season. The worst of the pandemic is behind us, and we would enjoy the re-enlistment of former volunteer. Speaking of former volunteers, we have re-enlisted Cheryl Jones, who was our first volunteer 24 years ago. Please go to our Volunteer Application and spread the word about our volunteering opportunity.
The untimely departure of Bill Kirkwood conmemorativa de Bill Kirkwood, is especially sad for me as I have known Bill and his wife Barbara for over two decades. It was at that time that thy placed an article in the Sunset Magazine explaining to its readers the affordably and unnoticed paradise of San Pancho. The effect of this article was a wave of investors that forever changed San Pancho from an unknown backwater community to what it is today.
Steve Raschke created a new digital magazine that covers lots of things happening in San Pancho. It's a great collection of stories and information not found across most social media sites. Look at https://sanpanchovoz.com/.
Weather-wise: Temperatures during the day were in the mid to high 70’s°, while nighttime temps were in the high 60’s° to low 70’s°. We received .02 inches of rain in January. Overall, the weather has been very pleasant.
We are very thankful to have received donations from: Susan Stephens, Shota Guterres, Joanne Bryla, Jennifer Nelsen, Karen Hope, and Randall Collins. Without your donations our work would be nearly impossible. Our financial reserves are far below normal due to the raise of renting our three apartments, plus the purchase of the Can-Am and the past effects of the pandemic. Please help if you can by contributing at our PayPal site.
Town and country-wise: The water problem facing San Pancho today was predictable by many within our community decades ago. Over the many past years, we had received less than 25 inches of rainfall. Despite low amounts rainfall, it has never caused a serious water shortage until this year. This is odd since we received 37 inches last year and 71 inches the year before last.
The reason for the shortage is simple, adding more homes, apartment buildings, restaurants and condominiums to our overtaxed and limited watershed, along with the possibility of receiving even less rainfall in the coming years would only make the problem worse.
Regular gasoline is around $ 4.41 dollars per gallon. The exchange rate is around 19.2 to 20 pesos per dollar. Our river has dried up, and the lagoon is closed off from the sea, yet the huge surface has not become covered with aquatic plants so far. Frank Smith, Director.