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The San Pedro AIDS Commission held its annual AIDS Solidarity Walk in commemoration of World AIDS Day on Sunday, November 29. Supporters gathered at Central Park at 9am and proceeded to walk through the main streets of downtown San Pedro. The Solidarity Walk culminated with an HIV/AIDS fair at Central Park with information booths, food sale, rapid HIV testing and music.
Local artists set up shop at Central Park over the weekend to display their most recent works of art. It was a display of excellent artistry, full of vibrant colors of San Pedro's island life. Artists displaying their work included Eduardo 'Papo' Alamilla, 'Chuy' Elusterio Carillo, Justin Quintanilla, Noel Zac, Roxy Bradley and Fred Trejo.
San Pedro Town Celebrates its 25th Anniversary of Township with a parade through downtown. Most floats depicted the small village life that San Pedro once had. November 27, 2009
The San Pedro Town Council handed out special awards to key and influential residents
Angel Nuñez receives award
Mayor Paz revealed the new flag for San Pedro Town
Entertainment was provided by the San Pedro Dance Company
The evening ended with a grand fireworks display
The San Pedro Town Council is already working on erecting a giant Christmas Tree in the middle of Central Park. We bet its gonna look spectacular. Will post pictures of the final look when they light up the tree.
A protest march took place this morning to publicly show opposition against the Public Utilities Commission’s (PUC) initial approval of a 10.6% increase of water rates for the Belize Water Service Ltd. A small group of island residents partook in the march around town at around 9a.m. this morning. Signatures were also collected against the rate increase that will be forwarded to the PUC.
| - Press Release, Liberty Children’s Home - We want to thank everyone who contributed to the 5K walk/run for Liberty Children's Home on Sunday where $6,000 was collected and will all go to direct services and food for the children. Cindy Vigna at Pedro's collected the most, a whopping $1,030 to sponsor her walk in the event. Thanks to Stacey Bove at Captain Morgan's who organized the event, managing all the details from juice, muffins, water etc. to a hot meal at Captain Morgan's. Thanks to Pirate's Pizza who donated pizzas for the fourteen kids, director, and staff from Liberty who stayed in DFC Saturday night. Donations are critical to the survival of Liberty House. While new means of financial support are being put in place, every dollar counts to buy food and pay staff and utilities. Contact Delfena Mitchell at Liberty 225-2158 or 624-3696. |
Letty with Miss World 2008Ambergris Today received these exclusive pictures of Miss World Belize Letty Lara showing that she is still having a wonderful time in South Africa during the Miss World Events. Letty is definitely representing Belize with lots of pride and tells us that she is enjoying every minute of her trip, meeting new people and visiting exotic places. A dream come true for Letty.
Nayobi Rivero
It is a dream for many little San Pedranas to be told that they are a princess, well sometimes dreams do come true. On Saturday, November 21, 2009 the R. Angel Nuñez Auditorium was filled with laughter and excitement as seven “princesses” took the stage to show off their talent vying to win the title of Lil’ Miss SPHS 2009.
At the end of the competition it was announced that Nayobi Rivero was crowned San Pedro’s first Lil’ Miss SPHS, and the crowd went wild with much excitement. There were two other lucky little girls who got crowned that evening including: Divia Wadhwa 2nd & Miss Photogenic and Lisandra Novelo 3rd. The Night was very entertaining; another great success for San Pedro High School. (More on Ambergris Today Online)
Four buildings were completely destroyed and two partially damaged in a fire that took place yesterday morning in Caye Caulker. The buildings completely destroyed were one bungalow structure belonging to Ocean Park Hotel, a residential two storey newly constructed building and two wooden two storey buildings. Read the complete story on tomorrow’s edition of Ambergris Today.
The sustainable tourism program (STP) of the ministry of tourism, civil aviation and culture, and the Belize Tourism Board, in conjunction with the San Pedro Town Council will be holding a public consultation on Wednesday, November 25 at 7 pm through 9:30 pm at the Lion’s Den, San Pedro.
The purpose of this preliminary meeting is:
1) To present to the community the STP project and specifically the Ambergris Caye investments: the Saca Chispas sunset boardwalk and water taxi terminal, and Bacalar Chico educational center
2) To obtain feedback from the community for consideration and incorporation within the design options and planning process;
3) Invite suggestions on the developments as presented.
All potential stakeholders to include the Belize Tourism Industry Association, Belize Hotel Association, local hoteliers, tour operators, and other service providers, handicraft and other commercial vendors, water‐taxi/taxi association members, and citizens of San Pedro Town and
Ambergris Caye are encouraged to attend.
Updated: Thursday, 19 Nov 2009, 10:28 AM CST
Published : Thursday, 19 Nov 2009, 10:28 AM CST
HOUSTON - International trade is important to the Houston economy, including trade agreements with developing countries. The Honorable Wilfred Elrington, Attorney General and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade for Belize, explains on FOX 26 Morning News some of the business developments between the country and several businesses in the Houston area. The attorney general is scheduled to meet with companies concerning solar energy, ethanol production and oil refining.
Letty does her thing at the Miss World Talent Competition
Letty is asking everybody to vote for her in the latest poll at the
More pictures of Letty, Miss World Belize, at the Miss World Sports competition
Many thanks to Dr. Adrian Heusner for his recent donation of 50 pounds of Wahoo to the Holy Cross Anglican School Feeding Program. Dr. Heusner was the winner of the recent Blue Water Classic Fishing Tournament and generously shared some of his catch with the school. Over 500 students receive breakfast, snack and lunch at Holy Cross each day. Donations are always welcome at the school!!
The students of San Pedro Roman Catholic School were happy to get a day off last week Friday, November 20, as they got the opportunity to parade through the streets of downtown San Pedro for Children's Day. After the parade the students enjoyed fun activities at school.
Pizza Pizza! Don’t we all love Pizza? Well this week Dorian’s Angels were in a hungry mood and we were out looking for our favorite food, PIZZA! We headed out to town and found a pizzeria which caught our attention – New York Pizzeria Belizean Style. Owner and cook of New York Pizzeria was more than pleased to have us Angels at his restaurant and quickly introduced us to his kitchen and in no time were had our hands in the dough!(Click here to read more)
Little Angels Pre School
ABC Pre School
Garifuna Drumming in front of Atlantic Bank
Children's Garifuna Talent Show at Lions Den
There is no doubt that San Pedro has produced some of the finest Belizean beauties at the local, national and international levels. Take a look at our present Miss San Pedro, Raquel Badillo. She is adorable, and coincidentally she is the niece of Martha Badillo featured in this flashback as Miss World Belize. She is the first Sanpedrana to hold this prestigious title and proudly represented
Mr. Garifuna, Dion Samuels is in the mix
San Pedro Pre-School
From day one, Ambergris Today has been committed to bring you updates on Letty Lara, Miss World Belize, at the Miss World Pageant in South Africa. We try to follow Letty on her every step leading to the big Pageant Night.
This week Letty and the other contestants were in Port Elizabeth from 16 to 18 November 2009 in order to take part in the "Miss World Sport" leg of the competition. This competition was held at the Nelson Mandela Bay 2010 Football Stadium. Letty told Ambergris Today that she and her group made it to the semi-finals of the competition which was played out today, November 18. The Miss World Contestants competed in various sports - a gladiator course, an adventure zone, a relay race and archery. The points earned at this event accumulate towards their final points for the competition.
Letty did not make it to the finals, but her winning spirit and drive got her very far. Congrats Letty! The six finalists were: India, Hungary, Japan, Jamaica, Latvia and Venezuala.
3rd place: HUNGARY bronze medal
2nd place: MISS JAMAICA silver medal
1st place and gold medal: MISS JAPAN and she gets fast tracked into the semi-finals
Letty with the Miss World gang on Safari
Letty (up front) at Abu Dhabi Fashion Show
Letty Lara, Miss World Belize, looking stunning
The National Garifuna Council (NGC) celebrated their 2nd Annual Mr. Garifuna King Competition on Saturday, November 14, 2009 at the Lion’s Den as part of their Garifuna Settlement Day festivities. Dion Samuels was named this year’s Garifuna King. The night commenced with a wonderful rendition of the National Anthem in Garifuna, followed by a very cheerful Garifuna prayer. Secondly, Barrington Castillo, one of the organizers of the event, introduced the audience to the contestants: Delroy Zuniga, Felix Lopez Serano, Marcos Colon and Dion Samuels. (More on the next edition of Ambergris Today Newspaper)
During the week-long celebrations that leads up to Garifuna Settlement Day, the Garifuna Council of San Pedro makes sure that their members are out and about in San Pedro promoting the Garifuna Culture. Many businesses also book Garifuna performers to entertain their guests. This was the case this past Sunday at The Villas at Banyan Bay where the Punta Boys entertained those who gathered on the beach to relax. A great day at the beach enjoying the sun, breeze and great music.
Friends from Honduras join in on the fun
Impromptu karaoke with the Punta Boys
Susana and Regina join the band
Here are more pictures of Letty Lara, Miss World Belize, during her travels in Abu Dhabi and South Africa during the Miss World Pageant, preliminary events. (Letty above on right)
A loud buzz, pop and crackling got residents on Pescador Drive on their feet and a minute later the power was off. Power lines on the BEL utility pole right across the office of Ambergris Today caught on fire and BEL linesmen were quick on the site to shut of the power supply to this section of Pescador Drive. No major damage was caused to the utility post and transformer and power was restored in about an hour.
Picture of wires on fire sent in by Designing Solutions
Coastal Xpress' Tio John vessel with impact marks on the side
A deadly night collision between the skiffs of Coastal Xpress Water Taxi and that of Sueño Del Mar's skiff has resulted in the death of one Ceasar Scott, two month employee of Sueño del Mar resort in North Ambergris Caye; this is according to unofficial police reports. At around 7:30p.m. on Sunday, November 15, 2009, one of the skiffs of the water taxi collided with that of Sueño del Mar's skiff, both carrying an undisclosed number of passengers. Police have confirmed the death on one person, being Ceasar Scott, and the serious injury of at least two other passengers. Others did sustain multiple injuries but which were treated but not classified as serious. Police are investigating the accident and are looking to see if they will file charges to either parties involved in the collision. Ambergris Today will keep its readers informed as updates reach our offices. (Picture of Ceasar Scott)
The Garifuna Council of San Pedro has announced its schedule of events for 2009 Garifuna Settlement Day. Gaven saw these guys drumming at Central Park and could not resist joining in on the fun.
Here is today's shot of early morning San Pedro. There is a light cool breeze blowing from the north, the seas are very calm and the beach is picture perfect. Another beautiful day in Paradise. Much to be thankful for.
This morning, November 13, 2009, Hon. Manuel Heredia Jr., Minister of Tourism and Area Representative Belize Rural South, presented a check of $1,000 to Mr. Gustavo Ellis, Dean San Pedro Junior College, in support of the school’s upcoming Manuel Heredia Inter-Office amateur Basketball Tournament. Hon. Heredia’s sponsorship will be put towards purchasing the trophies for the tournament.
The Inter-Office Basketball Tournament is scheduled to commence after the marathon that will take place on the third week of November (date to be announced) at the R. Angel Nuñez Auditorium. Any business that would like to enter the tournament can register at the office of San Pedro Junior College or call 226-4691 or 600-5674 for more information.
SAN PEDRO TOWN COUNCIL
TRADE LICENSING & LIQUOR LICENSING BOARD
PUBLIC NOTICE
The San Pedro Town Council (SPTC) & the San Pedro Trade Licensing Board (SPTLB) and Liquor Licensing Board through this medium hereby remind all business to settle their outstanding arrears. The SPTC & the SPTLB and SPLLB cordially request that full payment be made by
Please be informed that the SPTC provides a number of payment plans.
REMEMBER YOUR TAX DOLLAR BUILDS A STRONG SAN PEDRO.
Chris Emmanuel author of “Secrets to Life”, “A mind that Matters” and “True Love”, has now embarked in another task as a radio personality for a relationship talk show titled “Morning Matters” on More FM.
The show was started by Rhonda Crighton of Belize City where she answered relationship questions from her listening audience but thought that she needed a male influence in the show. Having already written a thought provoking book called “True Love”, in which Chris shares six compelling techniques to assist you in discovering how you love, create powerful changes in how you love yourself and others, Chris was the perfect candidate to give advice in the talk show.
“The show is really nice; it is something different and many people can relate to what others are going through in their relationships,” commented Chris to Ambergris Today. “Not only do we address relationship problems and give advice on how to improve your relationship, but we also discuss topics such as anger, self esteem and inter marital sex, to name a few”.
To those of you who might think, if I call in or send a question everyone will know my business, it is definitely not so. Anyone wishing to send a topic or question can do so by sending a text message to 1010202 (Digicell customers only) and it is completely anonymous.
So for those of you who love reading Chris Emmanuel’s Secrets to Life Column on Ambergris Today, you can now listen to advice on relationships and other topics on “Morning Matters” show, Monday to Thursday’s from 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. on More FM 99.5.
Last week Friday, the Isla Bonita Elementary School hosted its annual Cook Off between Std 4, 5 and 6. It was an excellent and delicious treat for Ambergris Today who was invited to sample the great food. Great Job Guys!
The Belize Tourism Board was invited by the Embassy of Belize and CATO in Taiwan to attend TAIPEI’S INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL FAIR (ITF). Taipei International Travel Fair is the biggest and the most important travel and tourism industry fair in Asia. It is the best place to maximize the efficiency of travel mart by having broad information on several destinations and schemes.
2009 Taipei International Travel Fair (ITF) took the Stage from Friday, October 30 to Monday, November 2, 2009 with Exhibitors from 58 Countries and Regions occupying 1,206 Booths in Total. The venue was Tapei’s World Trade Center TWTC. It was attended by a total of 210,752 visitors. Belize showcased its Reef, rainforest and ruins on a beautiful back drop with the theme “BE ONE WITH BELIZE”. At the same time a video was shown with closed caption in Mandarin. We had Tourists offices, travel agents, wholesalers, government officials, transport operators and travel publishers visit our booth.
BTB also had the opportunity to meet with the Director of Tourism Mr. Kwang-Shoung Chao. A conversation with the Director of Tourism made him aware of the attractions that Belize has to offer. He was amazed at Belize’s beaches, history and culture. He said “I want to go live in Belize” During the travel mart days both Charge D’ Affaires Mr. Efrain Novelo and Mrs. Amy Leiva, San Pedro BTB Representative, were interviewed by the China Post and U Paper, two of the most widely read newspapers and Channel 52 and Next Magazine, two of Taiwan's major media outlets.
On Saturday, October 31, Mrs. Amy Leiva had the privilege of doing the product presentation, where she promoted Belize to international travel agents and wholesalers. BTB’s promotional video “Be one with Belize” was enjoyed and captured everyone’s attention as it was translated in mandarin language. BTB representatives were overwhelmed by the attendance. Each wholesaler/travel agent were presented with a BTB bag containing promotional materials, all translated in Mandarin. Mr. Novelo also provided t-shirts, caps, and gift bags compliments of the Embassy of Belize. The trip was not all work related, Mrs. Leiva and Mr. Novelo also had time to enjoy the attractions that Taipei has to offer, they traveled to Yilan where they visited the King Car Group (Yuan-Shan Plant) the company produces Coffee, Tea, Water and whisky. They also visited the National Center for Traditional Arts, Chihlee Institute of Technology, National Chian Kai-shek Memorial Hall, Longshan Temple, National Palace Museum and Martyrs Shrine.
Mrs. Leiva is very grateful to Charge D’ Affaires Mr. Efrain Novelo ,his family and Ms. Ivy Lu of the Embassy of Belize, Mr. Marti Chang and Ms. Allison of CATO.
If you thought feeding the crocodiles was dangerous, check this one out. Ambergris Today caught this man known as “Spanish” as he decided to take a dip in the lagoon in front of the Ambergris Lake Apartment complex across the Villas at Banyan Bay. Onlookers cringed at the sight of the man swimming across the lagoon with the resident crocodile just a few feet away. Police officers stopped as they rode by the lagoon and tried to encourage the man to get out of the water; Spanish only swam farther away. Luckily he was not attacked by the crocodile. This kind of behavior is highly discouraged. (Click on image to enlarge)
Ambergris Today was at the airport when Busta Rhymes landed in San Pedro and created quite a stir just outside the Tropic Air terminal on Saturday, November 7. Those lucky enough to be in the area at the time of his arrival were treated with pictures with the rapper superstar and got his autograph. He was very friendly with the locals and after a quick interaction with his fans he headed to BC’s Bar where he enjoyed a Belikin Beer while he waited for his skiff to take him up to his resort in North Ambergris Caye. Why was Busta Rhymes in San Pedro? Ambergris Today got the entire scoop, but if you want to know you will have to wait until Thursday’s edition of the newspaper to find out!