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| Day of the Kings' Isla Mujeres |
Kings' Day, January 6th in all of
Mexico, is a very special day for children.
It’s an important event for
Catholics in Mexico, celebrated when the three wise men purportedly arrived in
Bethlehem with gifts for baby Jesus.
And
it’s the day when local children traditionally receive their holiday
celebration gifts.
Restaurant owner, Ruben Chavez, again hosted a
party for the island kids at his tiny restaurant on Guerrero Avenue, located
across from the post office.
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| Diego Gonzalez keeping things organized |
For months, Mexicans and foreigners have been
gathering gifts, organizing food, and assembling donations. John Pasnau, as always,
was knee deep in the event.
His first
mate, Diego Gonzalez, and Diego’s family members pitched in to help out both
with the pre-organization and during the event on Friday, January 6th.
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| A gift-elf, keeping the stacks sorted. |
John Pasnau says the event will be registered as a
non-profit organization later this year. He is hoping that will help with his
fundraising for January 2018. John’s family members also pitched in, carting over
three hundred toys to Mexico from American friends.
Valerie Pasnau had at various times suitcases
filled with footballs (we call them soccer balls), Hot Wheels, crayons, and
more.
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| Volunteers inside the restaurante |
Gail Marie Stewart and the food crew constructed thousands of sandwiches
starting at eight in the evening the night before, working for three hours
preparing and wrapping, and storing them in the refrigerators.
The gift elves spent
hours sorting toys into girl-type toys or boy-type toys, then sorted the piles again
by age category.
The hamper crew, organized by Déanne Gray, assembled boxes of food and household supplies, with Ruben identifying the
people who were most in need of assistance.
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| Deanne, hampers of food and supplies |
The night before the event, all of
the food hampers were taken to the IxChel Condo Hotel to be stored until
the next morning.
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| Ruben and the hamper receiver |
Ruben’s Restaurante was overflowing with
gifts sorted and ready for the big day. There wasn’t a single space for a
customer to enjoy his great food on Thursday and most of Friday.
Even with
three cracked ribs, Ruben was in the thick of the event – in pain and stressed
about the reality of not having enough presents – he was in motion all the
time.
This is not the only kind deed that Ruben is responsible for. He also
donates 10% of his restaurant sales to the Casa
Hogar orphanage located in the Rancho Viejo colonia, on the mainland
portion of the Municipality of Isla Mujeres.
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| Waiting in line for hours! |
And then the big day arrived. The
lineups started hours before the scheduled start time.
Volunteers controlled
the crowds, the traffic, and the flow of children by age to the two
double-windows where elves handed out the gifts: girls’ line on one side and
the boys’ line on the other side.
The sandwiches and drinks were passed out
through the side window in the garden.
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| Santa in sandals |
Last year, Santa sat in the hot tropical sun
for hours, personally handing each child a gift.
With the increase in numbers, that is not feasible anymore. Santa would have expired from heat
exhaustion.
I know from personal experience
that Mickey and Minnie, who were on-site for only ninety minutes, were
suffering from the heat inside their elaborate costumes.
At the end of the day, there were more
children than gifts, but not willing to let any child be disappointed, part-time
islander, Jackie Conlon, generously asked John Pasnau to negotiate with the ice-cream
vendor for his entire stock.
“The ice-cream cone story was fun.” John
Pasnau explained, “Jackie has zero Spanish. I have 20% on a good day. The ice-cream
man had about 2% English. With work, we found out it was more about how many
cones he had, which was doscientos,
two hundred. Then I asked how much for all of them.”
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| Ice Cream man at Day of the Kings |
Shocked, the vendor replied. “What?”
John patiently repeated, “All of them.”
The vendor replied, “15 pesos.”
John said, “Ok, 15 pesos times
200 is 3000 pesos, si?”
“Si,” the vendor happily agreed.
“Discount for buying all 200?” Asked John.
“Si. 15 pesos each.” The vendor nodded his
head in agreement.
John: “So there we were. The proud buyers of
200 cones at retail. Santa has never done so poorly on a bulk buy.”
Over the next few days, the Facebook chatter
and the private messages back and forth between the participants were amazing. Everyone
was pleased, happy, and inspired to do it all again. The payoff is the big smiles.
Great work, everyone, and a big thank-you to
you, Ruben Chavez. The man with the huge heart.
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| Lawrie Lock, Lynda Lock, Ruben Chavez, John Pasnau |
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| Super Organizer - Gail Stewart and Rita Lawson |
Ruben’s
helpers are listed below: I apologize if I missed anyone.
John Pasnau, Valerie Pasnau, Annelise Pasnau,
Gail-Marie Stewart, Jackie Conlon, Diego Gonzalez Torres, Gelmy Garrido
Escalante, Fernanda Gonzalez Noh, Emily Gonzalez Garrido, Marrion Nielson, Steve
Ferree, Terri Ferrero Tywan, Julie Goth, Rob
Goth, Déanne Gray, Brent Curley, Carol Gatlin, Kathy
Nicholson, Karly Bandala, Patricia Cauich, Therese
McComas Durhman, Christina Rich, Maria Delagdo, Aaron Greene, Ruth Lacey, Wanda
Wagner, Jennifer Kelly, Rita Lawson, Annie Tatum Musil, and Alexa Aviles De a O.
Plus the hardworking restaurant staff: Jessica,
Sami, and Ricky.
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| Julie Goth and Deanne |
¡Felices fiestas! Lawrie, Lynda, Sparky, and Tommy
Or
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