While there are many younger children in our families that we want to get toys or electronics for, here is a thought to consider. . . Instead of racing around stores looking for gifts, why not think about sending a small donation in that person’s name to the tax-deductible Baja Scholarship Fund which has in its care 39 students who have been in our program for years.

The students range from primary school to university students.  All are outstanding academically and have been at risk of leaving school due to financial hardship.

They receive money for school fees, uniforms, books and even food, for the poorest families.  This has proven to be a very successful way to provide an opportunity for the student to rise above the poverty level as well as exhibiting a model for their family and friends.

The BSF encourages scholarship recipients to stay in their own communities after completing their education.  Since the inception of the program in 1995, we have supported one student, Alicia, from third grade to the completion of her medical school education. She is now a practicing physician in Tecate.  We’ve also graduated a teacher who is now working in Rosarito and a CPA who is working in the area. The success stories seem endless and are ongoing, thanks to the support of our neighbors and friends.

Your check, in any amount, will be US tax exempt and you will receive a receipt for your records. We would also be happy to acknowledge our gift in someone else’s name and tell them about the Baja Scholarship Foundation.

Checks should be made to the BSF

Mail to:   PMB 652, PO Box 439060, San Diego, CA 92143.

Education is the answer for so many bright young boys and girls to better themselves and live a life, often times, within their community inspiring others.

Judie Kesson, President; Nancy Garrett, 1^st VP; Katie Robles, Secretary

Taki Okamoto, Treasurer; Lillian Stewart, Historian

Directors:  Bertha Alicia Munoz, Larry French, Ptricia Gonzales, Cristina Imana

Ken Kesson, Marianne Mills, Haydee Pierro, Mike Robles,

Ruth Rockwell, Albert  Sauter, Eloisa Thompson

Is it Wise to take your property off the market during the holidays?

If you are planning to spend most of the vacation time at home with family and friends, then probably not.

Although keeping the sign up with holiday decorations and plenty of holiday spirit to pass around, this might be the perfect time for showing the house with all of its warmth and the smell of pine in the fireplace.

On the other hand, if you aren’t that pressed to sell the home, then keep this time as a family time and possibly miss that ONE buyer who walks in and gets ‘THAT GREAT FEELING. I WANT this house.

Then there are the absentee second home owners who REALLY want to sell.

This might be a good time to invest 200-300 dollars. And let us decorate your home and spruce it up for that holiday curb appeal.

Especially in Bajamar, we have lots of visitors and renters driving around and that small amount of money would be well spent “inviting” possible clients in to see a house that they would have passed by otherwise.

Think about your priorities and the kind of market we are experiencing both in the States and in Baja.

Homes that offer seller financing are prime candidates for this Holiday Sale.

Contact us for this special service or come down for a week-end soon and “decorate” your property and MAKE it Shine.

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This gated community, a short distance from San Diego is becoming more and more popular for philanthropic golf tournaments.  OCEANS FLAVOR (fabulous sea salt products) was the prime sponsor along with the AMPI realtors to benefit the BAJA SCHOLARSHIP FUND.   This 501 C3 has long been active in raising (deductible contributions) to send the children of Baja to school and raise themselves and their families out of poverty.

The day was perfect.  Lots of good wines from the fabulous Guadalupe wine region, fabulous food for every palate and of course the sparkling fairways and greens with panoramic views of the Pacific Ocean.

This 1700 acre secure Paradise offers luxury ocean front condo residences and many golf course homes at the perfect price points for active and ‘laid back’ retirees looking for affordable lifestyles.

We invite you to join us for a tour of this extraordinary resort style living.

And by the way, 15,000 was raised for the students while all of the golfers

and fun lovers enjoyed the great day at Bajamar.

  ● Ensenada presents over 60 wine and food events annually

“Ladies Who Lunch” is a dynamic group of American, Mexican, Asian and Canadian women safely and securely living in the Ensenada area of Baja California, Mexico. Each month these vivacious women pick a date to meet and explore new and old culinary establishments in this charming seaport city, often bringing bottles of wine to share with one another.

These intrepid ladies, who desire premium wine and gourmet delights, have many diverse venues to research, as Ensenada has become “the Wine and Gourmet Cuisine Capital of Mexico” in recent years. With over 40 top chefs, three culinary schools, and more than 50 wineries in the area, the possibilities are unlimited.

Alert and wise business owners fully understand the dynamics of groups like this that can “spread the good word” to friends, family and visitors about their culinary venues via email, the internet, blogs, web sites, and social media connections like Face Book and Twitter. This is especially important with fewer international visitors and during slow economic times.

One factor that has saved many local businesses from bankruptcy has been the local support from both Mexican and American residents. Many people aren’t aware that thousands of foreigners now reside in and around the city of Ensenada, and many of these folks love wine and gourmet cuisine.

Mexico’s growing economy and expanding middle-class also helps matters.

Three key elements allowing Ensenada to emerge as the food and wine capital of Mexico are proximity to Mexico’s premier wine region; an abundance of fresh, local seafood; and a large portfolio of artisan products to supplement the evolution of the wine culture. When you factor in the number of talented chefs in the region, the many wine and food festivals, locally harvested or raised fish, shellfish and produce, it all adds up to a blessing for wine and culinary lovers.

As an example, a passionate chef in this city can drive out to the wine country in twenty minutes, meet with the winemakers, explore the available portfolio of wines, and decide which ones to marry with his culinary delights. Where else in Mexico can you do this?

Ensenada presents over sixty wine and culinary events each year, with one event especially confirming this city as Mexico’s wine and gourmet food capital. Every August a group of devoted wine and food lovers called La Cofradia hosts a wine and food pairing competition inside the cruise ship terminal, along the shores of Ensenada Bay. Forty top chefs from Tijuana, Tecate, Mexicali, Rosarito Beach and Ensenada are paired with local wineries in a competition to see who can best pair gourmet cuisine with wine from Baja California.

Our winemakers and chefs are getting so good at this skill that most years it is almost impossible to pick one winner. When you take into consideration that we now produce the best oysters in the world, plus an abundance of fresh seafood in our bays and ocean, it’s no wonder that so many wine and gourmet food lovers are calling Ensenada home.

Ladies Who Lunch is an offshoot of Mexico’s silent revolution in creating a handful of world-class wines. As wine regions emerge from creating marginal wines to drinkable ones, the wine culture soon follows and evolves alongside, providing culinary wonders and artisan products, often generating more chefs and new restaurants in a region.

Ensenada is a prime example of these phenomena. Ladies Who Lunch are a friendly group of educated and intelligent people who understand that you can live a world class life in Ensenada with great wine, gourmet cuisine and near-perfect weather — for less than one half of the cost of any other similar city in the world.

When it comes to wine, women, weather and gourmet cuisine, it looks like Ensenada has everything! Don’t worry, sooner or later the men will figure it out too.

If you would like information on Mexico Real Estate in Ensenada or the Guadalupe Valley please visit our web site:

http://www.bajapremierproperties.com

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Steve Dryden, an international wine, food, travel and film writer, has lived in the Valle de Guadalupe, Mexico’s premier wine country, for a number of years where he also guides small group wine tours.  He can be reached at sbdryden@hotmail.com.  For more about the international wine culture visit www.winefoodguide.com.

Developers of Punta Brava, located on a peninsula about 65 miles south of San Diego, say the permitting process has moved more slowly than they expected, but they count on breaking ground this year and opening in 2012.

Developers say they have maintained their close working relationship with Woods, who has not said when he will resume golfing professionally.

“No matter what, Tiger Woods is the best golfer in the world, and there is nobody else that we would rather have design our golf course than the best golfer in the world,” said Brian Tucker, founder and principal of Punta Brava and a vice president of The Flagship Group, the project’s development company.

When Punta Brava was announced Oct. 7, 2008, “the world was a different place,” Tucker said. While the economic downturn has brought coastal real estate development in Baja California to a virtual standstill, Tucker said Punta Brava is moving forward. Since the launching, 167 prospective buyers have been flown down to tour the site, he said, and have shown enthusiasm for the project.

Sales won’t begin until next February, said Susan Wise, spokeswoman for The Flagship Group.

“We’re not selling 600 units of condos,” Tucker said. “This is to be one of the singular golf clubs in the world.”

With views of the ocean at every tee or green, the Tiger Woods golf course is the centerpiece of the development planned at the tip of the Punta Banda peninsula overlooking Todos Santos Bay. The project includes 120 units, with prices starting at $3 million for a lot and $3.5 million for a condominium, according to information released at the project’s unveiling.

Punta Brava’s financial backer is Red McCombs, co-founder of Clear Channel Communications and former owner of the San Antonio Spurs, the Denver Nuggets and Minnesota Vikings. McCombs is a principal of The Flagship Group, headed by the Austin-based developer Brady Oman. The project’s estimated cost is $100 million.

Construction was scheduled to begin in early 2009 and be completed in 2010, according to the Tiger Woods Design Web site. The site lists Punta Brava as one of three designed by Woods; the others are in North Carolina and Dubai.

Baja California Tourism Secretary Oscar Escobedo Carignan said the project is an important step in projecting the state as a “sand and sea” destination, a term for oceanfront resorts that feature natural beauty. While Punta Brava would have no beaches, it is a dramatic natural setting with views of the ocean on three sides.

The developers say they are taking care to minimize the project’s environmental impact. A group of opponents to the project, the Viva Punta Banda Coalition, says the development threatens one of the few remaining areas of marine coastal sage scrub in Baja California and will require large amounts of water in an area where water supplies are scarce. The opponents say the project’s desalination plant will discharge brine sludge into the ocean, threatening marine ecosystems.

Tucker said that it has taken “way longer” than expected to get permits. The proposal passed a key hurdle late last year when Mexico’s Environmental Ministry gave a green light to the project, said Escobedo, the tourism secretary.

The area still needs a land-use change to allow for a tourist development. Linda Salazar, an official with Ensenada’s Urban Administration Secretariat, said federal environmental officials are expected to act in the next two weeks.

Another hurdle that the project must clear is a detailed review by Mexico’s National Institute for Anthropology and History, or INAH. Archaeologists familiar with the region say the site holds important remains of groups from as far back as 10,000 years ago.

INAH conducted a preliminary study last year, but needs to conduct a more extensive review before the project can move forward, according to the institute’s Baja California office. The study would be paid by the developer, but conducted by INAH.

Julia Bendimez, INAH’s director in Baja California, said the institute is prepared to conduct its review of the archaeological sites on the property, an area known as La Lobera.

“The salvage effort will begin when the company needs it,” Bendimez said.

By Sandra Dibble

For more information on ocean front golf course properties in Baja please visit www.bajapremierproperties.com