November/December 2005 Vol. 2 Issue 8

3RD STREET IN 1978!

(1978 Photos courtesy of William P. McLaughlin)

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3RD STREET TODAY!

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Bocas, You've Come a Long Way, Baby!!!

In case you haven’t noticed, Parque Bolivar is being kept clean and even the streets are a lot better, too! Kudos to the municipio!

A neighborhood watch is being set up with the blessings of the new corregidor. For information on how you can participate, see Giselle at the Bongos restaurant next to the Bravo Center or call her at 757-9755.

The Bocas Breeze is in the process of getting Boy and Girl Scout troops started up in our community. If you are interested in volunteering your time to work with these kids, please contact the Bocas Breeze.

Banco Nacional of Panama opened its beautiful brand new office for business on the corner of 4th Street and Avenue F on Monday October 25th. Hopefully this should help alleviate the crowed conditions of their previous location.

Winner of the Bocas del Toro Hotel’s free Honeymoon Promotion is Claudia Galvez of Panama City, who is getting married on November 12.

You can recycle your aluminum and glass at the local "recycling center" located at the older house next to the small market on the corner nearest the home plate of the baseball/soccer field. They will be sorted and sent to the mainland via ferry for processing.

CALEB’S STORY - "You can if you try."
By Mary Austin Crofts

Caleb Thomas Porta was born in the hospital in Bocas del Toro and taken as a small child to the Rio Caña area to live with his family. Rio Caña is about 50 miles from here in an area known as Bruno in the Bocas del Toro Province on the coast beyond Bahia Azul.

The Guaymi Indians inhabited 95% of the area where Caleb grew up. As a young man, they had so much respect and confidence in him that the people elected him as their representative in the area called Tobobe.

After his first 5-year term in office, he was reelected for another 5 years. "This was the most exciting time of my life because I was able to help build schools, a government center, improve health care and help many, many people with their problems." One of his proudest moments was being involved in stopping the effort to sell Escudo de Veraguas, taking it away from the Indians. "We were successful and today, the Indians still control this beautiful paradise."

After 10 years of serving the people, he decided not to run for election again. Instead, he came back to Bocas to guarantee a better education and better opportunities for his 11 children. But, then he needed a way to make a living for his family. One of his sons suggested he buy a small boat and begin a water taxi business to take people back and forth from Almirante. That was the beginning of J&J Water Taxi.

After starting the water taxi business Caleb decided to rent space and start The Pirate Restaurant and Bar. Not long after that he opened the Internet Cafe on Main Street and then rented a small hotel called Hotel Hippocampo.

Many of Caleb’s children help with the businesses or are partners, but the vision, the positive attitude and the courage is Caleb’s. "Sometimes people here feel they can’t do something because they have no money. I had no money when I started, but I said, "I can do this. I started with one small cayuco and told my children, that we can do this. Now, we work to get along with everyone and do the very best we can for people," says Caleb.

Caleb’s wish for the future of Bocas is continued growth and to have everyone work on issues together to keep this the paradise that it is. He is optimistic, excited and ready to be part of the solution. We are all lucky to have Caleb and his family in our midst!

September Garden Club Minutes

The meeting was held at Hospital Point at the home of Clyde and Phyllis Stephens. Despite the somewhat iffy weather, there was a large turnout.

Peace Corp volunteer, Corrin Skubin, talked about her work with the Ngobe Indians on the mainland. She is just finishing her 2-year stay at Silico Creek, kilometer marker 25 between Almirante and Chiriqui Grande. Some of the village's accomplishments under her direction include an artisan market that features chacara bags, chocolate and shirts with traditional Ngobe triangle designs. The villagers have also learned to make composting latrines and are now offering their expertise to build and install latrines in other areas. The latrines have been fully tested and are simple, sanitary, odor-free, and have the added benefit of providing compost for your garden. The price is $300 including installation. If you are interested, contact Corrin at 6-624-2354.

Plant of the Month: Mangosteen - Although Joellen was not at the meeting to give her report on mangosteens, Clyde talked about this delicious fruit. In 1920, United Fruit Co. brought mangosteens and other non- indigenous fruits to their former quarantine station beyond Bluff Beach. These trees take 10-15 years to produce fruit, so if you don't have one already growing on your property, you're going to have a long wait. The season for the fruit is June through August. Unfortunately, they are not often sold commercially. The fruit is about the size of a tennis ball, with a thick peel that is eggplant purple in color. Inside are sweet, juicy, white segments of flesh each surrounding a large, smooth seed. If you are lucky enough to find some mangosteens, be sure to give them a try.

Before giving a history lesson and tour of his garden, Clyde demonstrated several Bocas-style garden tools. Many were homemade loops, hooks or cutting edges attached to long poles. These tools are very handy for trimming fronds from tall palms and harvesting breadfruit or coconuts. Harvesting papayas takes a gentler touch so as not bruise the fruit. For this, Clyde uses a small net (normally used to land fish in a boat) attached to a long pole. Clyde demonstrated the ubiquitous and multipurpose machete and noted his concern for it's demise in favor of the weed eater.

Phyllis shared pili nuts with the group. They are large black nuts with a very hard shell, but once cracked toasted and salted, they are delicious!

Texas Swings into Bocas at the Big Bamboo
by JB Seligman

"Life, liberty and the pursuit of happy hour" were the words to the song, and popular Texas musician, Doug Moreland, belted them out. A sold out two-steppin’ crowd at the Big Bamboo enjoyed one of the first live music venues to hit Bocas. Doug Moreland, friend of local residents and fellow Texans, Clay and Allene Blaker, brought his band and sense of humor to the show. "I’m gonna build me a bar, in the back of my car, so I can drive myself to drinkin!" was sung as only a Texan can. "Baja Holiday", a fun vacation song about "wasting for seven days, crashing through the waves, sailing away from yesterday, on a Baja Holiday" fit this Bocas crowd perfectly. Another favorite was "Easy Money", a song about a lot of hard work to keep from getting a real job!

Doug and his talented band made for a great evening and treated us to many entertaining songs that can be heard on his CD, "Everybody Knows My Name" available through Allene Blaker at Buena Vista Realty. Also, check out Doug’s website at www.DougMoreland.com.

It was a breath of fresh air to hear a LIVE show here, and the boys at "The Boo" promise more!

Lady of the Night
by Tennille Dinon

As you stroll around the evening garden in the Barco Hundido you may smell her! She hugs the tree trunks enticing her mate by releasing an incredible citrus fragrance and waits for a night-flying moth to come and pollinate her. Brassavola Nodosa the "mujer del noche" is her name and she is an orchid. This orchid is epiphytic, which means it draws no nutrients from the host; its roots are exposed receiving all nutrients from the climate. The other type of orchid is terrestrial where its root structure is all below ground. Orchids are so fascinating because there are over 25,000 different species and are one of the largest groups of flowering plants. They range in size from microscopic to the size of a football, and their smell can vary from citrus to rotting flesh. Orchids can live for centuries and have, some dating back to the 1800's.

In their natural environment each species needs a specific type of insect to carry out its pollination. That’s why you may have notice an orchid that looks like a bee, a butterfly and the genus Dracula looks like a bat. Believe it or not orchids are quite intelligent. Many species look so much like their favorite insect that the insect mistakes them for kin and gets doused with pollen. When the insect repeats this with another orchid, the orchid in turn gets fertilized because it is smarter than the bug! Other orchids imitate the shape of something the insect likes to kill, while others imitate a mate of an insect, all ending in successful pollination!

Orchids are a symbol of romance and desire. Their name comes from orchis, which is Greek for testicle. They are a very sexy plant almost to the point of an aphrodisiac from their mere scent. So next time you are strolling through the jungle or even the Barco, walk slowly and you will definitely see some of these mystical flowers!

B.E.S.O. Report (Bocas Charity Auction Committee)

This update comes to you under our new name: Bocas Educational Service Organization. "Beso", in Spanish, means "kiss", and this summarizes how we feel about the work we do for the community. The July meeting was called for the express purpose of discussing various requests for funding projects and scholarships. The following donations have been approved:

SCHOOLS

Tierra Oscura - $1,400 to rebuild one of the three classrooms

Solarte - $250 for classroom supplies

Cayo Agua - $450 to complete plumbing for the water cachement system and purchase plates for school meals

Bocas High School - $800 to keep the schools internet connection running

Bluff - $300 to build a room for the schoolteacher to live in, who is currently walking from Drago

SCHOLARSHIPS

1 - Annual high school registration and book costs for 2nd year scholarship was awarded to a student from Bluff, Eugenio Pablo, who is 14 years old. Eugenio is in his 2nd year of high school and was chosen 2 years ago because he showed an interest in continuing his education. He is the top English student in the school, and for the last 2 years has maintained a B+ GPA. BESO funds the cost of uniforms, books, school fees and a bicycle so he no longer has to walk from Bluff to his school in Bocas.

2 - A 3-year scholarship was awarded to a 2nd year Carenero university student, Tello Seroni. It gave us much pleasure to award this scholarship as Tello works hard and conscientiously both at the University in Changuinola and at his part-time job, which he needs to cover his transportation costs.

Tello was born in the Province of Bocas del Toro. He grew up on Carenero, raised by his Indian parents, where he attended school. After graduating, Tello continued his studies at Rogelio Josue Ibarra high school on Isla Colon and graduated third place in Science. This young man is now in his second year at the Centro Regional where he is studying Primary and Pre-Secondary education. It is his wish to complete this 5-year course and become a teacher. Tello is 24 years old.

OTHER PROJECTS

Since many of the schools are in need of building maintenance, let’s pool our leftovers of roofing, wood, plycim or any other usable building materials.

Again, we want to thank all of you for helping us help those in need. You can contact committee members at 757-9689 or 6-642-1911.

What Are We Doing?
by Anonymous

I know a lot of us out there have good intentions, but why are we so concerned about having a place to go to the movies, fixing the roads so that we are more comfortable when we drive in our air-conditioned cars to our favorite restaurant for dinner, and starting hobby clubs to keep us entertained? Let’s confront the real problems of the island first and give back to the community a little before worrying about replacing all of the monotonous rituals that most of us left behind, for good reason.

This community has welcomed us with open arms and all I hear around town is how the government should do this and how they should pay for that. In the rest of the world, real developers put money back into the local infrastructure in order to lighten the impact of their project and help carry the newfound burden. Many of us are acting as pseudo-developers, destroying a fragile ecosystem because we have no real education or background. Act responsibly and put a little something into the land and community before seeing how much you can get out of it. Take on a project that may not make you millions, but may make you feel good about yourself. Repair a section of road or put out a trashcan and pay for pickup. So many of us who came here in search of a more relaxed lifestyle have gotten caught up in the boomtown antics. Now, trying to make a killing, some have lost sight of why we came here in the first place and what is really important in their lives. We are selling off pieces of our dream properties to pay for our exorbitant fuel bills, fancy cars and piles of the junk that we vowed we would never again collect.

On the next rainy day if you are really so bored with your newfound life in paradise, here are some alternative ideas to help keep you entertained and do us all some good. Stop an unlawful land sale instead of being the first in line to gobble up the good deal. Remember, every time one of these sales occur someone has been stolen from, most likely a Bocatoreño. Protest the latest development located smack dab in the middle of a pristine rainforest instead of seeing what a great price you can get on the biggest condo. Once these ecosystems have been destroyed they will be gone forever. Walk to town instead of driving your 8-cylinder truck and pick up a bag of garbage along the way. Research sustainable architecture and consider a low-impact project instead of cutting down the rainforests, killing off endangered species and polluting the ocean. There are many alternative choices that lighten the impact on our limited natural resources and strain local infrastructure. Take a child to the beach and teach him how to keep the oceans clean instead of tossing your cigarette butts in the sand. Or, simply take your own bags to the grocery store instead of adding more plastics to the dump.

It’s time we all start being part of the solution instead of part of the problem. Let’s take responsibility for the changes we are imposing on a community that has been so warm and welcoming instead of solely concentrating on how to maximize our profits at the cost of environment and everyone else around us.

Banco Nacional de Panama - BNP has opened their new office on the corner of 4th St. and Ave. F

Beyond Bocas Real Estate - has moved their office next to the Golden Grill, across from the park

Bocas Breeze - - has moved their office next to the Golden Grill, across from the park

Bocas Garden & Nursery - At Lee’s house on Solarte. For more information go to American Caribbean Food-To-Go on the main street.

Hacienda del Toro - resort on San Cristobal. Office located inside Pachamama 757-9158

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