Las Rancheritas sell rugs at the San Miguel Writers Conference.

San Miguel has hosted a amazing event for the last 8 years. The San Miguel Writers Conference.

http://youtu.be/bYHFqH3vPS8

A heart warming story

The store opening had lots of extra expenses as you can imagine. During the thick of it 2 weeks ago I got a call from the "Goose Creek Ruggers" in Leesburg VA. They raffled off a rug and raised $235!! The timing could not have been better.

I hope this will be an inspriation to all you rug hookers or anyone for that matter. Buy a rug and raffle it off. Maybe at a party or other event. 

The store is lovely and open for business but we still need things, tables, chairs, and we would like to extend the patio. There will always be expenses and the Las Rancheritas are now taking 5% from every sale and putting this into a savings account for future expenses. So they are doing their part too. But the resources and opportunities in the US and Canada are much greater then in MX. Plus raffles are fun. 

Hats off to the Goose Creek Ruggers. A great name for some generous hookers. 

The Fabulous Food

Victoria from Mujeres en Cambio took photos of the food. Check out her blog and prepare for a real treat.
http://flavorsofthesun.blogspot.mx/
Only in Mexico. 

Short Video

This short video will give you a flavor of the opening and the ambiance of the area. I encourage anyone visiting SMA to take the trip out to the store to support the women. Transportation can be arranged. http://youtu.be/YbvD0j0jifg

The opening of the Las Rancheritas store a great success!!

Yesterday Jan. 24th we celebrated the opening of Las Rancheritas store. So much has gone into the last details, making and installing the road sign, decorating the building, installing sun shades, painting the bathrooms, and general fluffing and puffing. We have over 50 people who bought tickets for the Mujeres en Cambio birthday luncheon. Mujeres is the group that started the prefect 15 years ago. They raise funds to give scholarships for girls living in  rural communities. http://mujeresencambio.org/  The Rug Hook Project is the other arm of their work to improve the lives of women. They were the major contributor to the funds to remodel the store. 
The food made by Las Rancheritas was amazing. The list of all the home made food will make your mouth water: tamales, potatoes patties, two types of chili rellenos, nopal salad, pork in chili sauce, chicken in chili sauce, big salads, beans, decorated tortillas, five kinds of salsas to name just a few of the delicacies. The people attending were delighted with the food and the location. And Mujeres plans is to do this again next year!!

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Of course the big event was the raffle. This was created by Rebecca Brooks as a fund raiser to remodel the building. Over $700 was raised with $10 tickets. The winner of the silver heart was Sarah Gaetner of Austin, TX. The winner of the rug was Ray Andersen of Minneapolis MN. Congratulations to you both.
However the biggest winners were Las Rancheritas. They sold 15 rugs and now have a store ready for business. Tomorrow is opening day. There is more to learn but the seed is planted. 

I have included a few photos from the event but more are to come including some videos.
Thanks so all of you who have contributed to making this a smashing success. 

Grand opening for Las Rancheritas Store and Restaruant

I am pleased to announce the grand opening of the store: January 24, 2013. Lots of hard work by the villagers and money donated by many of you have made this dream a reality.
Those of you in San Miguel can see the store and enjoy an excellent homemade "Rancho" meal. The event will be held from 2 - 4 PM. Transportation will be arranged for those of you without cars. 

half_page_add.pdf Download this file

We will also have the drawing for the silver heart and rugs at the luncheon. There is still time to purchase a raffle ticket.
Stay tuned for more on the exciting event. 

Wool and new rugs

We have exciting news about transporting wool to San Miguel. There is going to be a race in central Mexico and many people will be bringing their race cars to San Miguel. We have a connection through Mujeres en Cambio to one of the organizers. They have agreed to bring wool down in the cars. Race cars and wool, what a concept!! They will be coming through Austin, where I am, around Oct 11. If any of you would like to donate this would be an excellent time. Please only wool and if clothing it must be deconstructed with linings out. Pack the wool in strong plastic garbage bags and send to:
Charlotte Bell
1403 Kenwood Ave
Austin, TX 78704

New website:

I have created a new site which is easier for me to edit. The other site will still work but this will have the most updated information. It now has all the new rugs that are in the USA.

http://rughookproject.zenfolio.com/

Check it out and do some Christmas shopping.

Also we are still $300 short for the raffle. Perhaps this could also be something you could consider for gifts. We will have the drawing Jan 24th at the grand opening of the store.