Humberto Vargas Muñoz, director of SEAPAL Vallarta, reported Thursday that yesterday, on the first day of the work, employees of the manager in charge of Operations, Oscar Rodriguez Castellon, collected over 60 tons of waste near the water treatment plant and the North II Cuale.

Our goal is to join the efforts of the national campaign promoted by TV Azteca for next Sunday.

“The important thing is that we take a first step in an ongoing and systematic effort to secure control of the radial well that is located at the confluence of the rivers and Ameca, as well as water treatment plants of the Cuale. These are our main sources of the drinking water supplied to hundreds of thousands of residents and tourists of Puerto Vallarta. With little effort or resources we can keep them as clean as possible and thereby maintain the excellent quality standard achieved for the drinking water supplies provided by SEAPAL. I can proudly say that we are offering Vallarta and visitors, drinking water in quantity and excellent quality, and with sewage growing everyday, an excellent treatment of waste water … we will do what is necessary for this to continue,” he said.

EFFORT CONTINUES UNTIL SUNDAY

The Operation Manager said yesterday that Thursday, with the full support of the Single Union SEAPAL Vallarta, led by Martín Hernández and Antonio Rangel, clean-up work began with field staff using backhoe excavators, trucks, and hand machetes, and the channel was cleared near the waste effluent treatment plant of the North II, and the river Ameca upstream of the Radial del Pozo facility.

Refrigerators, stoves, microwave ovens, computer cabinets, bicycle tires, cars and trucks, buckets, plastic and glass bottles, debris, dead trees and weeds …, more than 60 tons of waste … was collected from the banks of the river between the mouth and the water treatment plants.

Field staff responsible for the verification of meters, checking leakage, distributing receipts and other work outside offices, carried in their vehicles plastic bags to collect garbage on their way through the streets of the town.

Friday, this work will continue, and be joined for at least two hours in the morning by the efforts of employees who will rid streets of rubbish near all the SEAPAL offices in the municipality, from the central Avenida Francisco Villa, to Las Palmas, through Pitillal, Ixtapa, Aram, and so on.

On Saturday and Sunday, each of over 500 employees of SEAPAL and their families with put the “finishing touch” on the cleaning campaign by clearing trash from their own homes, streets and communities.

“Thousands of families throughout the country live off tourism,” said Calderón at a Los Pinos event to mark the launch of “Vive México.” “And these hardworking, honest people are going through a very difficult time.”

The campaign will include the participation of various sectors – arts, sports, business and media will all pull their weight, Calderón said. In addition, singer Plácido Domingo and champion Mexican golfer Lorena Ochoa will feature tourism ads in an attempt to lure back the ordinary visitor with the celebrity factor.

Other national and international stars will also be invited to participate, but Calderón did not name them. “[Vive México] is truly a national movement that requires the participation of all Mexicans, particularly the most prominent, the ones with the most talent,” he said.

Since the swine flu outbreak began in late April, tourism nationwide has been hard hit. The top resorts of Puerto Vallarta, Cancún and Acapulco have not had cases of swine flu, according to health authorities, but tourists have still stayed away. In early May, Calderón announced the creation of a multibillion peso fund that would help repair the damage to the nation´s tourism industry.

Calderón continually stressed the importance of attracting foreigners on Monday. “I invite all to join [us] so that foreign visitors know that coming to our country is a grand experience, that Mexico is not only a beautiful country, but also a strong country, capable of overcoming the toughest adversity. We await [foreigners] with open arms on our beaches, in our cities, in our towns,” Calderón said.

Mexicans are getting back into the swing of normal life as the government announced that the worst is over and has eased curbs on commercial and public activity. For this reason CONCACAF and BSWW jointly took the decision to start setting new dates for the North and Central American Qualifying competition.

On April 22 the six participating nations were drawn into two pools, where they will round-robin and see the two top teams advance to the semi-finals. The two finalists will be the CONCACAF representatives at the world’s most prestigious beach soccer showdown, the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup that will take place in spectacular Dubai from November 16-22.

Hosts and defending champion Mexico were drawn into Group A with last year’s surprise act El Salvador, and Canada who’s making its comeback on the International Beach Soccer scene. El Tri will start their qualifying campaign by facing off with the Canadians on day 1 of the Puerto Vallarta showdown and will confront with El Salvador for a semi-final spot on Friday the 19th.

The USA was given the perfect shot to bounce back from last year’s deception as they were drawn into Group B with Costa Rica and newcomers Bahamas to kick-off the CONCACAF Qualifier as red-hot favourites to reach the semis.

MATCH SCHEDULE

Group A
A1 – Mexico
A2 – El Salvador
A3 – Canada

Group B
B1 – USA
B2 – Costa Rica
B3 – Bahamas

GROUP STAGE

Wed June 17
5:00 pm – USA vs. Bahamas
6:15 pm – Mexico vs. Canada

Thu June 18
5:00 pm – Costa Rica vs. Bahamas
6:15 pm – El Salvador vs. Canada

Fri June 19
5:00 pm – USA vs. Costa Rica
6:15 pm – Mexico vs. El Salvador

SEMI-FINALS*

Sat June 20
5th & 6th Place
3:00 pm – 3rd of Group A vs. 3rd of Group B

Semi-final 1
4:15 pm – 1st of Group B vs. 2nd of Group A

Semi-final 2
5:30 pm – 1st of Group A vs. 2nd of Group B

*the order of Semi-finals kick-off times may be altered by the Organizing Committee

PLAY-OFF FOR THIRD / FOURTH PLACE & FINAL

Sun June 21
Play-off 3rd/4th
4:15 pm – Loser M7 vs. Loser M8

Final
5:30 pm – Winner M7 vs. Winner M8

Here’s the tourist board’s e-mail that just went out:

Puerto Vallarta, Wednesday, May 19th, 2009
Dear Friends:
Keeping you updated on what’s going on in Puerto Vallarta …
We are so happy that countries like United States, Canada and other countries in Europe have removed the warning against all non-essential travel to Mexico.

We would like to keep you informed about the 0 (zero) number of registered cases of the H1N1 virus in Puerto Vallarta which is one of the beach destinations in Mexico with no cases reported. So we are back to normal. Of course we continue the preventive actions implemented and recommended by our Government.

We want to share with you the testimonial video filmed this week in Puerto Vallarta at the 16th edition of the Sport Classic event hosted in Puerto Vallarta. This event is a lively competition of different sports with the participation of national and international athletes.

We have already sent it to the Mexico Tourism Board, wholesalers and clients in order to be used in newsletters and email blasts for the USA Media and customers traveling to Puerto Vallarta.

Please feel free to use it for your own promotional purposes or send it to your clients so they can see that Puerto Vallarta is ready, safe and clean as always to welcome them all again in México.

Thank you so much for your support and business to Puerto Vallarta “The World’s Friendliest City” (by the readers of the CondeNast Traveler Magazine).

We will keep you posted.

Laura Suarez
Promotion Manager
Puerto Vallarta Convention & Visitors Bureau
laura@visitpuertovallarta.com
www.visitpuertovallarta.com

 
Below is another video, but not produced by the tourist board, about the flu in Puerto Vallarta.

The Mexico Tourism Board has announced that the travel warning of the Foreign Affairs and International Trade Ministry of Canada has been removed from the Mexican travel report. This announcement was made after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) lifted its travel warning against all nonessential travel to Mexico.

The International Health organizations have congratulated and been encouraged by the initiatives of the Mexican Federal Government. Just recently, the World Tourism Organization recognized the efforts of the Mexico Government for having confronted “the appearance of the Influenza A (H1N1) virus in a serious and responsible manner” and declared that Mexico’s response could be considered as a benchmark.

As well, the Public Health Agency of Canada will cease distributing health alert notices to passengers on direct flights to Mexico and having quarantine officers meet every direct flight entering Canada from Mexico.

“Mexico’s government and tourism authorities are very satisfied with the decision taken by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) … to lift the H1N1 influenza alert against nonessential travel to Mexico. Our main priority continues to be the safety of our citizens and visitors, and with evidence that the flu appears to be less threatening than originally thought, Mexico is ready to welcome back all of its visitors and offer them the hospitality and services that have always distinguished us,” said Rodolfo Elizondo, Mexico’s Minister of Tourism.

“…Mexico is known for its capacity of coming out of tough situations even stronger, and this will not be the exception. The travel industry -at all levels- is ready to offer its visitors what they come here for: diversity, culture, relaxation, luxury, adventure, world class infrastructure and most importantly, the best service in the world,” added Oscar Fitch, CEO of the Mexico Tourism Board.

“Furthermore, Mexico appreciates the efforts and cooperation shown by the Canadian Government through the Health Public Agencies from the beginning of the outbreak, and we are very pleased on the decision taken a few hours ago to lift the travel recommendation on avoiding non essential trips to Mexico. We count on all of our partners in Canada. They have expressed outstanding support during these challenging times. The uniqueness of Mexico will always remain the same and we welcome back our always loyal Canadian tourists,” said Alfonso Sumano, Regional Director for Canada of the Mexico Tourism Board.

Mexico and Puerto Vallarta will always be beyond your expectation!

For more information on the precautions advised by the CDC and Foreign Affairs and International Trade of Canada, visit their website at http://wwwn.cdc.gov/travel/ and http://www.voyage.gc.ca/countries_pays/report_rapport-eng.asp?id=184000

Henry has dusted off an old hat that she hasn’t worn in a very long time to design a gallery/studio structure with a good tango floor for dancing and teaching her Organic Stretch system (an outgrowth of the Wallace Method). She envisions art events, small concerts, milongas, workshops, and regular classes once the new building is completed. The design includes a large open studio on the second floor where she can continue to expand the scale of her work and to further explore her current focus on colorful, abstracts in oil and acrylic.

The event on May 15th, from 6 – 9:30, is open to the public and will include both her new work as well as two suites of monotypes (a tango shoe series and a group with a Mexican flavor). There are limited edition prints of some of the original watercolors done when she first arrived in PV in 1997 (from her solo sail around the world) and a few from the time she spent in the Caribbean.

As with many decisions in her life, Henry says she just woke up one morning in late March knowing that it was time to move to La Cruz and her little house. Puerto Vallarta has been her home longer than any other city or town in the world, and after visiting 52 countries and spending considerable time in quite a few, that makes this move significant.

An opening date for the new facility is too far in the future to predict, but Henry will have a tango floor/stretch class space ready by the end of this June. Visitors with an appointment will be welcome to visit and view her art, but none of the work will be hanging on gallery walls for quite awhile.

Friday, May 15, 6 – 9:30, Pat Henry Studio, Jacarandas 183, Zona Romantica, Phone: 222-4119, www.pat-henry.com

Gallery Exhibition
Opening: Friday, April 24th, 2009
7:00-9:00 p.m.
T. Fuller Fine Art
Corona 169, Centro
Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, Mexico

Four emerging artists will be showcased in a unique photographic exhibit at T. Fuller Fine Art on Friday, April 24, 2009.

The first in a series of exhibits committed to recognizing and assisting talented artists, this collection will center on photographs shot in the Tropic of Cancer in the Caribbean, Mexico and Southeast Asia.

The work of Jonathan Auch, Elizabeth Fladung, Edmund Fladung and Ed Fladung differs thematically from photojournalistic investigations of Haitian deforestation to portraitures of Jamaican men to street life in Cambodia, but the intent of El Trópico de Cáncer is to show the connective tissue of humankind in a latitude where the northern hemisphere is tilted toward the sun to its maximum extent.

Photos ranging from inspiringly exquisite to candidly harsh show the fragile balance between life at its most sublime to situations that are past resuscitation. Turning a corner in Port-au-Prince, Kingston, Bucerias or Phnom Penh can quickly result in images that morph from heavenly to demonic impressions.

The photographers chosen for this show offer variety in their vision and intent as artists.

Jonathan Auch is a photojournalist from New York City whose Haitian photographs documenting the demise of the poorest country in the world will be featured in the exhibit. After studying illustration and photography at Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, Jonathan returned to his birthplace to work for Magnum 7 photographer, James Nachtwey. Jonathan shoots photographs first as a journalist and then as an artist, but his intent is primarily to bear witness to important events for the purpose of leaving enduring impressions. Jonathan does not explain his work; his stories on film will fend for themselves although he believes there is a fine line between the perception of reality and the continuous evolution of truth. Jonathan is also successful as a cinematographer for short subject films and as a still photography for PBS-funded documentaries.

Elizabeth Fladung has a keen interest in story telling through visual mediums. She has been involved with film and photography from an early age. After attending California Institute of the Arts in Los Angeles, she spent eight years as a freelance art, documentary, and editorial photographer in New York City. For the last two years she has made Puerto Vallarta her home. She travels frequently for work and in her spare time documents life in Mexico. In this show, Elizabeth offers a collection of images of Jamaican men. Always drawn to humans and their imprint on society Elizabeth seeks to capture personalities and the subjects she is photographing. Having had a strong interest in Jamaican culture from a young age, Elizabeth chose to document the essence of what makes Jamaica truly hypnotic – its people.

Covering Southeast Asia in this exhibit is Edmund Fladung, a native of Philadelphia who now lives in Nayarit. Edmund is a surfer, photographer, graphic designer and writer whose graphic eye informs his photography. His work occasionally revolves around typologies: bicycles, signs, VW bugs, flip-flops, close-up portraits and street scenes. There is often a humorous undercurrent in his photography. Edmund, who holds a BFA in graphic design from The California Institute of the Arts, considers his photographs to be personal – they are documents about his daily life and various travels. Like many photographers, Edmund avoids explanations about and instead chooses to tell his stories without burdening the viewer with his own emotional attachments. The one unifying discipline in all of his visual and written work is to leave his viewers with a good story.

Photographer Ed Fladung’s Mexican landscapes complete the fourth component of the El Trópico de Cáncer photography collection at the gallery. Born in Baltimore, Maryland, Ed’s first education in photography came from his grandfather, a well-known Maryland naturalist and self-taught photographer who allowed Ed to remain in his darkroom as long as he was attentive. From this experience, Ed developed a love for developing his own film, a process he engaged in for many years until the advent of the digital camera, which he now uses. Ed has studied with well-known Berkeley photography educator Peter Pfersic and with large format landscape photographer Tim Cooper. Ed has lived in Mexico since 2003 and now makes his home in Bucerias. Ed’s work captures the visual allure of Mexico – it is rich in saturated pigment and vibrancy.

All four photographers will be at El Trópico de Cáncer opening, which the public is invited to attend on Friday, April 24, 2009, 7:00-9:00 p.m., at T. Fuller Fine Art, Corona 169 (between Morelos and Juarez), Centro, Puerto Vallarta.

For additional information, please contact Lynn Auch, Gallery Director, at 322.222.8196.
Website: T Fuller Fine Art

Twelve years ago, at the end of an eight-year solo-circumnavigation on her 31-foot sailboat, Henry chose Puerto Vallarta for her home. She took a break from painting to write By the Grace of the Sea: A Woman’s Solo Odyssey Around the World (McGraw-Hill/2002), opened a women’s sailing school, and finally returned to art. A long-time watercolorist, she spent spring 2008 exploring new avenues for her artistic expression…moving from realism to pure abstract, from watercolor to acrylic and oil, expanding the physical size of her pieces, and rekindling her passion for painting.

Appointments to visit the studio are available at other times at 222-4119. The Pat Henry Studio is located at Jacarandas 183 in Zona Romantica. Her show includes abstracts as well as monotypes. See www.pat-henry.com

Henry went on to become certified as a practitioner and began teaching others how to do the mode of this program that encompasses the personal, solo work…something one can do on their own, at home. Heather also offered classes in Minneapolis with students gathered from her clients and certified practitioners. In Puerto Vallarta where there were no other practitioners or existing clients, Henry developed an approach that could introduce the concepts and principles to someone with no experience or exposure. Her driving interest was to provide “fishing poles rather than hand out the fish.”

Among her students, Henry finds that most come because they are experiencing the usual loss of flexibility and range of motion that accompanies each birthday. Some have specific problems that are restricting their enjoyment of life and creating pain. With organic stretching movements that follow the flow of the body structure and utilizing specific principles of movement, students find the edges of their limits and gradually release blocked and/or locked places that are causing pain or restricting movement.

On April 14, at 10:00 am, Henry will offer a free introduction to this program at her studio. Space is limited. Those wishing to attend should call for a reservation and directions to the studio.

Pat Henry, Certified Wallace Method Practitioner; 322 222-4119

Four countries already have confirmed their participation for the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup Qualifier CONCACAF: Costa Rica, El Salvador, host Mexico and the United States with additional teams possible. The deadline for entries is February 27.

This will be the third straight year the tournament has been played in Mexico. In 2007, Beach Soccer WorldWide staged the championship in Acapulco further south along the Pacific coast.

Mexico will look to defend its title and qualify for a third straight FFIA Beach Soccer World Cup set for Dubai in the United Arab Emirates November 16-22.

The tournament will qualify two teams for the World Cup. El Salvador claimed its first trip to the world championship in 2008, while the United States failed to qualify for the first time in four years.