FROM THE NORTH SHORE

San Pancho Article
By: Elvia & Geno Lamphiear – February 2008

Another one of San Pancho’s colourful, unforgettable characters...

On Jan 9th, 2008, a friend made a strange phone call to us asking if it was true that Elvia’s grandfather had been killed riding his horse on Highway 200… I told our friend “yes, that is true… her grandfather did die that way about 30 years ago”.  A short pause later, the voice came back - “No - I meant TODAY…”.

A quick phone call to another family member revealed the terrible news that Elvia’s step-grandfather (along with his long-time companion and friend, Piojo, his horse) had just been struck and killed by a BIMBO truck less than an hour prior to the phone call… Another friend who happened upon the scene was able to be with him as he crossed over (thank you Tamara).

How ironic it is that two of Elvia’s grandfathers met their fate in the same way - in almost exactly the same spot – some 30 or so years apart…

His body was later released to the family who guarded the body against evil spirits all night long as is the custom. The church funeral was the next day. This man had many friends and a lot of them walked slowly alongside him through the pueblo and up the hill to the cemetery where he was laid to rest.

Isidro Garcia Melendez was born May 15th, 1903 and would have been 105 years old this May (according to the documents both Elvia and I have seen).

Some 58 years ago, Isidro married Elvia’s father’s mother and helped her to raise her three children.

Over the years, Isidro turned into a wrinkled old man - but still somehow managed to retain the twinkle in his eyes of a youngster. Though short in stature, Isidro rode tall in the saddle as he worked the land and tended to the live-stock daily up to his last ride in this world.

Isidro was anything but a saint - he was more like a mischievous boy at times! He liked to drink his tequila and tell his stories… mostly about ALL of the women in his life – and also of the women we believe he simply made up (maybe that is how he kept the twinkle in his eyes).
           
Isidro also liked to sit in front of his casa, smoking and enjoying his mountain and jungle views while listening to old Mexican songs on a beat-up radio that Elvia and I had found for him.

At one of the many fiestas we have had up in the plantation (where Isidro worked and lived), he had a bit too much to drink and fell off his horse (not the first or only time). We had to put him in a truck and drive him to his casa on the other side of the plantation while someone else “drove” his horse home.

I’ll ‘fess up… for his 100th birthday, I decided to “buy him an escort” for the day (Hey – he turned ONE HUNDRED YEARS OLD…). I was pleasantly surprised to see that I could not find such an “escort” anywhere in San Pancho! I wound up making him a birthday card with a photo of a “well-endowed” lady on it with a 500 peso bill inside instead. The card read “Para Una Chica…”  Isidro loved the card - and we are sure the pesos were spent on more important things (like tequila).

Isidro Garcia Melendez was loved by young and old alike… and he will be greatly missed by all.

San Pancho has been requesting topes (speed bumps) on Highway 200 in front of the dangerous entrance to our pueblo for quite some time now… This is not the first death here – and probably will NOT be the last. What is really needed (before there IS ANOTHER accident) are topes AND a LONG left-turn lane (similar to what they now have at the entrance to Sayulita). If any of our readers do have any kind of pull in such matters, your help would be greatly appreciated!!
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Until next time,

Elvia & Geno
E-mail: genolamphiear@hotmail.com

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* This information is provided by María Elvia Garcia Palomera & Geno Lamphiear, owners of Calandria Realty in San Francisco (San Pancho), Nayarit, Mexico

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