Marina Mazatlan is a large facility with many amenities for cruisers, including a nice indoor/outdoor cruisers lounge upstairs above the marina office. The weekend before Christmas the kids from the local Salvation Army children’s home came to the marina to present a holiday program of singing and dancing.
The 35 or so kids (of all ages) who live at the home are either permanent or temporary residents. In some instances the children have been abused, removed from their parent/s and sent to the home. The Salvation Army receives no financial support from the Mexican government to care for these kids who must find ways to provide financing so that they can be housed, fed and clothed. Their holiday program is one of their fundraising efforts.
About 75 cruisers attended the program held on the cruiser lounge patio, They made donations, bought beers for donations, participated in a fund-raising action of the “last beer of the day,” etc. At the end of the program even some of the cruisers jumped up to dance along. Dena of Double Dharma and Julie were needing a shopping “fix” (having no other holiday buying to do) so they went to the local Soriana department store and bought a bunch of gifts for the kids – pajamas, socks, shirts, hair ties, etc. and had fun wrapping them all in time for the program.
For Christmas Day, Dena and Julie and Nadine from Harlekin organized a potluck dinner for about 45 cruisers. Everyone chipped in a few dollars for smoked turkey (cooked aboard Voyager), spiral ham (cooked on Double Dharma) and one cruiser donated roast beef tenderloins (grilled by Cap’n Dale on Double Dharma). There were great side dishes – including the ubiquitous sweet potatoes and cranberry sauce. Many bottles of wine were consumed and a white elephant gift exchange (many nautical-themed gifts of course) was a lot of fun.