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 News from Around Banderas Bay | December 2005 
A Bucerias Christmas Present
 Harold Sokolove - PVNN
| | Santa and the kids. | 
| | The Guadeloupe church in Bucerias. | 
| | Santa at work. | 
| | Whole lotta wrapping going on. | 
| | Lining up for Santa... | 
| | ... in a long, long line. | 
| | Santa and Mrs Claus, aka Ron and Arlene Tackett |
Once upon a time, there were two kind-hearted people named Tackett, who traveled from a very cold place, called Alaska, south to a warm place, called Bucerias, at Christmas time.
They missed their home so much on Christmas Eve that they bought some candy, decorated their warm weather sleigh with Christmas lights, played Christmas music and went to one of the poorest parts of town. There, they drove around yelling "Feliz Navidad," and throwing candy to the children who came out to see what was happening.
For many years the Tacketts have come to spread joy to the poor children. Each year they have more gifts to give and more elves to help them, so it has become a big and wonderful thing to behold.
This may sound like a fictional Christmas story, but it isn't.
Eleven years ago, Ron and Arlene Tackett and another couple, also from Alaska, came to vacation in Bucerias for three months. Shortly after arriving here, they made friends with a jewelry vendor named Alex, who brought them to meet his family, who lived in the poorest colonia in Bucerias.
They were so homesick on Christmas Eve that they decided make it feel more like Christmas in the colonia where Alex's family lived. Candy was purchased and the friends' soft-top jeep was decorated with Christmas lights. A small portable generator was used to provide power for the lights and to play Christmas music. Off they went, yelling "Feliz Navidad" and throwing candy to the children in the colonia.
It was such a good feeling that the next year the couple drove down to Bucerias with about $50 worth of toys purchased at the Dollar Store. The third year, Ron and Arlene arrived with their new utility trailer, full of toys they had purchased at yard sales all summer long.
This time, and for the next 4 Christmases, Ron and Arlene traveled all the roads in Bucerias, tossing out toys and candy to the children from the back of a pickup truck. Every year the program grew bigger: more helpers and more children. It became apparent that this way of distributing Christmas joy was getting too dangerous.
"We were so afraid a child or one of the helpers could get seriously injured," said Arlene. So the Tackett's friend, Alex, arranged for the distribution of the toys and candy at the small church located at the top of the hill next to the arroyo, where it has continued to be held.
Children of all ages, some with their mother or father, line up at the front gate of the churchyard. The lines, one for boys, one for girls, snake across the churches dirt parking lot out to the unpaved street, where it bends up the hill a short distance.
At the appropriate time, groups of 4 or 5 children at a time enter through the gate and move along the tables to receive their present. Next comes a visit with Santa Claus (Ron, dressed in his finest Santa costume,) and finally, a bag of candy as each child exits through the side gate.
"This system works much better and faster," Arlene points out, adding that this year there were over 800 children in line at the church. Arlene said the distribution system had to change, too, because two years ago, they opted to start flying down to Bucerias from the Seattle area, where they now live, so they were no longer able to carry the large numbers of toys that they were accustomed to bringing.
They now rely more on their friends and acquaintances, who donate money, toys and candy year-round to their effort. Also, two years ago, the Paradise Yacht Club in Nuevo Vallarta held a fund raiser in their honor. All of the proceeds, as well as a huge box full of toys gathered from their members, were donated to the distribution project.
Arlene was thrilled, exclaiming "This was a big boost to us. Along with several donations from people who had heard about us or knew us and wanted to help, it enabled us to go to Guadalajara in December for the first time, to buy toys and candy at a fraction of the cost."
The Yacht Club raised money for the project again this year, helping to make this year's event bigger than ever and will help immensely with the 2006 version. "Now we know we must go to Guadalajara in November for toy buying to have better choices. Thanks to the Yacht Club we will be able to do just that," said Arlene. Others have pledged to provide toys, money and supplies for next year. Ron's sister Timmi Davis will be bringing 900 gift bags to speed up the wrapping process.
This year the distribution project began on December 13th, with the toy-buying trip to Guadalajara. On December 20th, 15 elves came to the Tackett's home in Bucerias to stuff 1,000 bags of candy. Even more elves, 35 of them, showed up at their house on December 22nd for toy-wrapping day. Around 1,000 toys were wrapped, categorized and placed in age and gender-appropriate plastic bags.
On the day before Christmas, 40 elves arrived. Arlene had a box of Santa hats and reindeer antlers for the volunteers to wear. The annual group photo was taken; the toys were loaded in a pickup truck and the group of elves caravanned to the church. A few minutes after the group arrived at the church, Santa and Mrs. Claus arrived, and shortly thereafter, the distribution began.
Something different was tried this year for the older girls. At a cost of 20 pesos each, make-up bags were assembled. The girls were thrilled! After carefully taking a count of the older girls, more of these bags will be prepared next year.
After the toys were distributed and stray wrapping paper picked up, all of the elves were invited back to the Tackett's for the annual thank you spaghetti feed. There were still about 100 toys and bags of candy left over.
So on Christmas day, after the turkey was put in the roaster pan, Ron and Arlene, along with Ron's sister and brother-in-law Timmi and Chuck Davis and granddaughter Tiffany, traveled to El Colomo, a small, poor village in the rural area of Nayarit. There, they passed out the remaining toys and candy to an additional 60 children.
About 20 bags of hotel-size soap and shampoo, assembled by Arlene, were handed out to the moms and grandmas there, much to their surprise. "These items are costly and a luxury for those in these poor areas. So please, while you're traveling this year, please save your hotel items for our program," Arlene pleads.
Arlene sums it up this way: "It is a privilege to be able to do this. We feel we receive much more than we have ever given. And we have learned just how generous people are in both time and money. We could not continue without all the help we get."
To get in touch with Ron and Arlene, send an email to arlenetackettmx@yahoo.com or give them a call at (329) 298-1729. |
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