Brandy

Boy! When I goof, I good in a huge way! I have no idea how the links got screwed up. Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa! Huge apologies to everyone in the Chiriqui.life community -- and huge thanks to Penny for posting the correct link. Please forgive my gaffe, and vote for Rubi Cianca and the McCormack Foundation.

Voting several times a day! And I learned that you can vote from your computer AND your smart phone AND your iPad or tablet every hour! Let's get this win for Rubi Cianca and the McCormack Foundation. This is one election we can agree on.

Remember to keep voting for Rubi Cianca, representing the McCormack Foundation! You can vote every hour -- and from every device (computer, smart phone, iPad, etc). Just click on the link below: http://www.tvn-2.com/produccion/heroesporpanama/perfiles/2016/rubi_cianca/

At the Tuesday Market yesterday, there was a rambunctious, rather large puppy running loose, annoying all the vendors and terrorizing two very little girls. I finally grabbed him by the scruff of his neck, picked him up, and took him up the stairs to the ARF tent. The wonderful ARF volunteers immediately found a collar and leash for him and added him to their collection. I know he will be fostered, kept healthy, and will find his "forever home". Thank you, ARF! You did not hesitate to rescue what was a nuisance and start to transform him into a loving companion.

The McCormack Foundation has brought hospital beds, wheelchairs, walkers, crutches and more to the Fundacion pro Integracion in Alto Boquete. It has brought oxygen concentrators to Boquete Hospice and Health Services. It has brought supplies used by Amigos de Animales at their clinics. Everything the McCormack Foundation brings is used to help improve lives in Chiriqui. Please go to the link in the original post and vote! And share with ALL your friends, asking them to vote, too.

I just learned that a group of international students currently doing research in Bocas del Toro will be in Boquete on Friday and plan on coming to support the Knitters and Quilters at the Soup Fest. I'm so excited at the prospect of meeting them -- come join us!

That is the same day as The Great Boquete Soup Fest, benefitting the Boquete Knitters and Quilters! Is it at all possible to make it another day? I really want to visit Nutre Hogar!

Slightly off-topic, but does anyone know if there are families who have been flooded out and are in need of disaster relief? The Boquete Knitters and Quilters have a stock of baby blankets and quilts, as well as some infant/toddler sweaters that we will gladly donate to relief efforts. Please let us know...

Keith, do you know if they need donations? I have some knitted baby things.

Bud, don't forget to whet your appetite for the next Great Boquete Soup Fest on October 28 at the BCP, sponsored by the Boquete Knitters and Quilters! And remember that we will have "to go" containers at the end of the day...

Thank you, DRC! Conveniently, MIDA and IDIAP are within walking distance, so I can just pop over.

My apologies, I am looking for soil analysis relating to gardening and amending the soil for good crop production.

Does anyone know where to get a soil test in Boquete? Does anyone know whether they even test soil here? Thanks!

Alto al Crimen is not a "dead horse". It is quite alive and well, quietly serving the ENTIRE community: homeowners, renters (both long- and short-term), visitors and tourists. It is not a "members-only" exclusive service, but is available to everyone. I would hate to think that, as a tourist in Boquete, I would have to pay $80 for access to a bi-lingual emergency hotline operator for the two weeks I was here.

I am not tech savvy enough to know how to highlight portions of other posts, but I do think a response to Bud's questions is in order. Bud wrote: "What is the mission of AAC?" My response: AAC provides a community-wide emergency Hotline service with a bilingual operator to receive and relay emergency calls from anyone, but particularly people who are not fluent in Spanish." (Whether or not they are "subscribers". Alto al Crimen provides services to everyone in the community.) Bud asked: "Does AAC now only provide service for Valle Escondido residents?" Again, I reply: "AAC provides a community-wide emergency Hotline service with a bilingual operator to receive and relay emergency calls from anyone, but particularly people who are not fluent in Spanish." Bud asked: "Why the special program, when what is discussed in this posting is what AAC was supposed to be and do in the first place?" My response: I understand this to be a collaborative effort between Alto al Crimen and Boquete Consulting Security to facilitate response by the Bomberos, Policia, etc, by informing the security personnel on duty at the gate so they can be ready to guide emergency responders to the appropriate unit, and to provide assistance as indicated. Alto al Crimen is an organization that provides services to anyone and everyone who picks up the phone and calls. From the family who has lived here for years to the couple who arrived last Tuesday, the services of AAC are available to EVERYONE. The phone numbers (6477-6662 and 6917-0011) are public knowledge. There is no annual subscription fee. AAC relies on voluntary donations, but it provides services to donors and non-donors alike. It is, in fact, the only bi-lingual emergency hotline service available to tourists. I believe that a public bi-lingual emergency hotline is a valuable asset to this community.

I am so very sorry for your loss.

The Boquete Knitters and Quilters is a tri-cultural (we have ex-pat, Latina Panamanian and Ngabe-Bugle Panamanian members), tri-craftual (we have knitters, crocheters and quilters) organization that creates baby quilts, blankets, caps, sweaters and booties for our neediest, tiniest neighbors. We also supply chemo caps to the Obaldia Hospital in David, as well as donate finished items to their newborn nursery. We are so grateful when people tuck yarn into a suitcase and bring it down for our use. We especially love Lion Brand Homespun, Lion Brand Pound of Love, Red Heart Soft and Caron Simply Soft, but we have thus far managed to use virtually very yard of yarn we've been given -- even unraveling worn out afghans for the yarn! The yarns we prefer are available at WalMart, Joann, Michael's, and Hobby Lobby, and are acrylic -- strong enough to be beaten on a rock in the river. We also have a Paypal account: BoqueteKnitters@hotmail.com. Every nickel we raise goes toward the purchase of yarn, batting, fabric, thread, buttons and bindings. And every finished product keeps a child wrapped in soft warmth -- and our love. We invite you to drop by the Fundacion pro Integracion (Handicap Foundation) in Alto Boquete where we meet, to see us at work and to admire our work. Every Friday afternoon between 1 and 3 PM.

The generic name for Benadryl is diphenhydromine. Ask for "Diphenhydromina". It is available. Or has been.

I am devastated! This is indeed a tragedy.

Awww, thank you for your kind and generous words! You are such an integral and important part of this community. I'm honored to call you friend.

The Boquete Knitters and Quilters is a multicultural organization. Our members include USA expats, Canadians, Brits, Latina Panamanians and Ngabe-Bugle Panamanians. We thoroughly enjoy sitting together and working for a common cause.

The Boquete Knitters and Quilters will be holding their third Great Boquete Soup Fest on Friday, March 18, from 11:30AM to 2PM at the BCP. For a suggested donation of $10, guests receive a bowl and spoon and a dessert ticket. They then can go through the room and sample 18-plus different delicious soups before settling on one (or more!) to enjoy before having a dessert. Beginning at 1:30 PM, take-out containers will be available for $5 each so that you can choose one or more soups to take home and enjoy later. All funds raised are used to purchase yarn, fabric and quilt batting, with which they create baby blankets, caps, sweaters, booties and quilts. These items are taken to two local public health clinics which serve the indigent residents in Boquete. They also donate items to the newborn nursery at the Obaldia Hospital in David, as well as chemo caps to the Pediatric Oncology Department there. The Boquete Knitters and Quilters was started seven years ago after Brandy Gregory learned that often Ngabe-Bugle mothers bring their babies in to the clinics for newborn checkups carefully and lovingly swaddled with newspaper -- because they have nothing else to use. So she invited people to join her weekly at the Fundadores Hotel to knit soft, beautiful baby things. When the group moved to its current meeting place at the Fundacion Pro Integracion (Handicap Foundation) in Alto Boquete, some of the Latina Panamanian ladies there were intrigued, as knitting is not part of the culture in Panama. They asked to learn how to knit, and The Knitters were delighted to teach them. They joined in knitting for the Ngabe-Bugle babies. Later on, several Ngabe-Bugle ladies asked if they might also learn how to knit. Of course the ladies were delighted to teach them, too! And now they have members of all three cultures: expat, Latina and Ngabe-Bugle who sit together and work together for their common cause. The Quilters joined the group about three years ago. They meet on Mondays in each others' homes, where the sewing machines and cutting tables are. And they make stunning, colorful quilts by the dozens! A few months ago the Boquete Knitters and Quilters began sponsoring a series of Great Boquete Soup Fests which allow local cooks to show off their soup-making skills while donating to a good cause. People can come, sample as many soups as they wish and then eat their fill of their favorites. The next soup fest will be held on March 18 at the BCP between 11:30 AM and 2 PM. To learn how you can join or help, please contact Brandy at TNRNMSG@YAHOO.COM.

If you enjoy knitting, crocheting or quilting -- or want to learn -- the Boquete Knitters and Quilters invite you to join us! We meet on Friday afternoons from 1-3PM at the Fundacion Pro Integracion (the Handicap Foundation) in Alto Boquete. It is located about 2KM south of SuperCentro Ivan, next to the under-construction Policlinica. We have both needles and yarn available, with which we create baby things to donate to the clinics in the Boquete District, as well as to the pediatric oncology department at the Obaldia Hospital in David.