Projects over the last week, er, month, Chapter 3

As July slides into August, there are a bunch of birthdays in July I missed -

Our nieta, Kennedy Anne (I kinda think I mighta mentioned this one)
Elaine's dad, Ted
Elaine's sister, Mary
Our good friends, Tina (above, with husband Ron) and Sarah
My sister, Cathy (hope you're settled in your new home - send me your phone number will ya?)
Phil B. - kite flyer extraordinaire, famous magazine publisher, world renowned naturalist (naturalist, not naturist) who thinks turning 40 makes him special - hey, Phil, been there, done that, got several "over-the-hill" T-shirts.

Happy birthday to all - and to all those I inevitably missed, my apologies and happy birthday to you as well!

So what else is happening?

There is the preparation for the kite festival next spring. Through Stanley (of golf course fame) we met his cousin, Aidita, whose family just happens to produce big outdoor concerts (among other things). She knows a LOT about sponsorship and promotion here on the island. And she willing to help us go after some big sponsors. There is nothing else here on the island like what we want to do, either in terms of the festival or in terms of promoting environmental protection, and Aidita believes sponsors will love it. The only hickup is we need to have all our site permits locked up in NOW so we can get into sponsors' budgets for next year. We found out two weeks ago we need about 40 pages of documentation to get the one truly necessary permit from the DRNA (Department of Natural Resources) to use the beach. And as we've written before, permits and documents don't move quickly in Puerto Rico. We've tried for two weeks to meet with the DRNA but so far that hasn't happened. We have a meeting tomorrow with representatives from the Mayor's office. We're hoping they can help.

Speaking of permits, we're still trying to nail down the last two permit renewals for Ola Lola's. We thought we had them done but we got a letter from one of the agencies that added a new requirement. So now we have to get another endorso (endorsement) from our neighbor and take it to ARPE (one of the many regulatory agencies). That's proving more illusive as well.