Tag Archives: Amigos de Mazatlán

Mazatlán Musicians’ Emergency Relief Fund

What first attracted you to Mazatlán? What do you love about living here? My guess is that music is part of it. Yes, our gorgeous natural environment, the warmth of its people, and the joy and variety of its music! Whether classical, jazz, cumbia, bolero, rock and roll, metal, reggae, romantic ballads, pop, folk, country, norteña, banda or tambora, we are fortunate in that Mazatlán offers up every type of music. We are blessed to enjoy live music while we dine, walk the beach, at parties we attend, in bars and theaters. What would our beloved Mazatlán be without that music? We do not want our live musicians going extinct!

Help make sure that we will have music to enjoy once COVID-19 is history! While the whole world is hurting, there are thousands of talented musicians here in Mazatlán who lost their jobs overnight and now have no way to feed their families. They went to bed planning to play the wedding or quinceañera party and their standard weekly gigs, and next thing they knew all concerts and events were shut down, restaurants and hotels closed. Most Canadian and US American residents disappeared suddenly, as have national and international tourists. Locals are confined to home.

Our musicians are desperate. They generally receive no social benefits and have no insurance. Their emloyers have not floated them loans or paid them in advance; they are generally just SOL. The average musician here, as the average artist or worker, lives paycheck to paycheck.

The non-profit (registered tax-deductible in Mexico, Canada and the USA) Sociedad de la Guitarra Mazatlán, in partnership with UMATEM (Unión de Músicos, Artistas y Técnicos de Mazatlán) and other musicians’ unions has set up a the Mazatlán Musicians’ Emergency Relief Fund. You have from now till May 5th—Cinco de Mayo, Giving Tuesday—to contribute what you can to ensure that our local musicians can feed their families and keep playing for us. Please donate now, so you don’t forget and because the need is pressing. To receive your receipt for tax purposes, please email donar@guitarramazatlan.org after making your donation.

100% of the funds received will be paid directly to musicians in need, up to a maximum of 6000 pesos. Your donation via PayPal goes into a fund with INBURSA certified by a public accountant. As is required by law, bookkeeping will be transparent, and records of disbursements and receipts published.

Any working musician is eligible to apply; preference will be given to working musicians over 60 and those who are disabled. Recipients will be limited to musicians who don’t have a secondary source of income—statements will be verified with SAT (the Mexican taxation administration). Musicians needing help will fill out an application and be asked to share copies of contracts that were cancelled or have their union, or an employer vouch for them.

I am proud that the Sociedad de la Guitarra Mazatlán has stepped up to lead the community in this way. They are modeling their effort on a similar program underway in Seattle. Founded in 2013, the non-profit association has done a load of good work here in town in its first seven years. They hold an annual “classical guitar season” of six concerts that is the only one of its kind in Mexico. For every concert they do a second, identical show that’s free-of-charge as outreach to those who wouldn’t otherwise get to hear such music—performances at a local school, aged care facility or public plaza. The association is also starting a youth guitar orchestra—the Núcleo Infantíl de Guitarristas—which will meet every Saturday once the current pandemic is behind us.

I know there are many pulls on our resources right now. Our systems are overloaded. If you are able, if you enjoy the wealth and variety of music that Mazatlán offers, please reach into your heart and into your pocketbooks to help these artists!

Stay home, stay healthy, help your neighbors. I hope to see you again soon.

 

 

¡First Annual GumboFest A Complete Success!

P1270023A most gorgeous, sunny yet not humid day; a historic setting; a view to die for; the joy of partying with some of the most entertaining people in Mazatlán; all the oysters, peel-n-eat shrimp, salad and gumbo (of course cake and ice cream, too!) anyone could possibly consume; plus beer and soft drinks—such was Mazatlán’s first annual GumboFest! The event was put on by Gustavo’s Kitchen and Amigos de Mazatlán, in an attempt to build community support for saving and restoring the Casa del Marino and Fuerte 31 de Marzo, and to teach us all a bit about local history. Click on any photo to view it larger or see a slideshow.

One of my favorite parts of the afternoon was that each table was covered with brown butcher paper, and the peel-n-eat-shrimp were theatrically dumped on each table from a bucket at the top of a ladder. Great touch and very fun! (Please try to ignore that fun-loving woman screaming at the end of the video below…) It looked to me that about 200 people attended, and Judith, Gustavo and Gustavo Senior tell me that the event was such a success that they plan to hold it again next year. How often do you get good gumbo in Mexico??!! Call us lucky!

View of the crowd
Those handsome local historians 😉
Enjoying the shrimp
Judith, Mark and me
Enjoying the shrimp

A trio played live music, including both Latin and jazz, the children from the Salvation Army Home performed folkloric dancing, and Antonio Lerma and Nicolás Vidales told us, in English, the history of the battle with the French that took place here, dispelling some myths in the process. Gustavo Sr’s wife, Silvia Lorda, and the inimitable Rubye Hinton both graced us with their singing.

Folkloric dancing by children from the Salvation Army Home
Folkloric dancing by children from the Salvation Army Home
Antonio Lerma dispels some myths
Rubye regales us, to everyone’s delight
I didn’t realize that Silvia had such a terrific voice!
Rubye regales us, to everyone’s delight
Fabián, a new and very talented young friend
Alonzo and his incredible equipment, a wonderful new addition to our city
Folkloric dancing by children from the Salvation Army Home

AngelTouchFilms published a wonderful short (30 second) video about GumboFest, with terrific New Orleans jazz, me eating an oyster, and loads of other smiling happy people. Enjoy it, below!

Congratulations to everyone involved! Can’t wait for next year!

Municipal Treasures

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You’ve walked by it dozens of times, as you leave the Plazuela and head down towards Topolo or the Mercado Pino Suarez—El Archivo Municipal. It’s a beautiful and colorful old building, but have you ever peeked in?

Yesterday Greg and I got a terrific tour by a long-lost acquaintance of ours, Chon (Concepción), who was our waiter back in the day at the Hotel Camino Real, where we were married. We were thrilled to see it all! Our city, Mazatlán, has (literally) tons of written archives dating back to the early 1800s. It is a treasure trove of history and heritage!!! Rooms and rooms full of city historical records, piled floor to ceiling, many dating from the early 1800s! We saw some of the earliest maps of Mazatlán, Angela Peralta’s wedding certificate, construction permits for some of our most historic buildings, etchings of the French invasion of our port, and editions of every newspaper ever published in our fair city. Click on any photo to view it larger or see a slideshow.

While in Europe, Canada or the US such an archive might be something we take for granted or at least expect, the fact that we here in Mazatlán have such an incredible resource is truly remarkable! Culiacán’s archive burned down, so they lost most of their historical records. But, throughout the centuries and despite decades of minimal funding, our Archivo Municipal is a sight to behold! Historians, researchers, university and school-aged students are able to come in here to look up what they need to know, thanks to the foresight and perseverance of our forebears.

We met, or re-met, Chon, who speaks beautiful English. We met the lovely Lorena Ferral, who is so excited to see interest in the archives. They are very passionate about the work they do. They love the treasures they guard and catalog to the best of their abilities—and the limited resources allocated to them. The head of the Municipal Archive is Aristeo—Sergio Aristeo Herrera y Cairo Yarahuan—though he was not present during our tour yesterday.

Staff members bind some of the documents by hand, using serviceable yet antique, artesanal equipment. I thought you might like to see.

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How did we come to be at the Municipal Archive? For several years we’ve been loving the photos of Viejo Mazatlán that the Amigos Viejo Mazatlán group has been sharing on Facebook. A year or so ago, we met Fernando Higuera when we went to the Plazuela to buy a CD of the photos from him. Monies received were earmarked to fund a museum of the photos of old Mazatlán. Since then, the Amigos Viejo Mazatlán has held several exhibitions, historical talks, and fundraising events. I wrote about one of those events here.

We’ve stayed involved with the group, and we keep hoping and working to create space for a photo museum here in town. The good news for our small yet significant project is that we might be given a room at the Municipal Archive in which to display historic photos of our fair city. What is especially exciting to me is the perfect dovetail this would be! Amigos Viejo Mazatlán could display historic photos alongside documents from the city archive. The Municipal Archive could be reinvigorated by public talks and events, by locals and tourists coming in to view photos, thus raising awareness of the treasures it guards within.

The Municipal Archive needs time and attention! Many of the documents are fading, crumbling; they need expert care. If you have archivist or restoration skills, please let Lorena Ferral at the Archive (981-00-48) or Fernando Higuera of Amigos Viejo Mazatlán know! Join with us to help preserve and make public Mazatlán’s rich history!

The archive has a small display of books on Mazatlán’s history, along with a price sheet. If you read Spanish, you may be interested in a volume or three.

This is yet one more piece of bright news for our city’s heritage! Right now, several new museums are in various stages of planning: one of Sinaloan music, another on Carnavál history, and the new Neto Coppel city museum that was front page news earlier this week. To us that is all good news. Mazatlán has so much to be proud of! Locals, national and international tourists need to know about our claims to fame! And a city that is proud of its heritage builds on its strengths. I’d like to wish godspeed to all these worthwhile projects.