Heather in Paradise

What, it’s that time of the year ALREADY?!  Many of you may recall that I am a willing participant each year in the Three Legged Bar Crawl that benefits Playa del Carmen and the Riviera Maya’s Bomberos (Firefighters)…and each year, generous sponsors, including the fine forum members and readers of Playa.info and Playa Maya News have helped my teammate, Playa Maya News Sara, and I to raise money for much-needed equipment and training. Firemen here get paid a fairly paltry salary by the government, and must raise money to get any equipment/training beyond the bare minimum.

In his years acting as Comandante of the Bomberos, my friend Brian Borjesson has taken a small and ill-equipped fireteam and created a knowledgeable and well-trained department. In addition, he has favorably impacted the training and supplies/equipment of fire departments throughout Quintana Roo. He has done this through the help of some US firefighters from Colorado and California, who come down each year with donations and their top-shelf expertise to train the Bomberos of Quintana Roo at a Fireman’s Academy. This weeklong training exercise is often the only training our firemen will get all year, so its importance cannot be overstated.

In past years, our area was gifted with Jaws of Life for several departments. With the horrific accidents that occur on the highway here, this equipment has already proved invaluable. The annual Bomberos’ Academies focus on training our firemen how to use their newly donated/purchased equipment, and their demonstrations of these techniques at the Fireman’s Competitions are inspiring to watch.

The time for the infamous Three Legged Bar Crawl/Bomberos Fundraiser is again upon us. Here are the details of this year’s event:

When: Friday, March 20.
Time: 7 pm
Starting/ending bar: La Ranita bar on Calle 10 between 5th and 10th (part of the Hotel La Rana Cansada)

Participating bars include:
Bar Ranita
Babe’s Noodles and Bar
Manne’s Biergarten
Dirty Martini
Bad Boys on the beach
Tequila Barrel
Zenzi
Tequila Barrel

Registered teams must raise at least 600 pesos in donations. Part of this 600 pesos will go to purchase the drinks for the teams, with the balance going to help raise funds for the upcoming Bombero’s Academy. Obviously, the more money raised, the better!

As last year, there is no set pattern/order that you must run in, but you must simply visit each bar on your list at some point, consume a shot of tequila or a beer, then get your race card signed/initialed by the staff member in charge at each bar.

Sara’s and my goal this year is to raise more than last year’s team total of an amazing 3,800 usd…what do you think, can we do it?

We wore silly getups, does anyone remember them?

Last year, my “gimp in a wheelchair” status caused some disgruntled sourpusses to pooh-pooh our participation, so I want to make it clear that I will be actually RUNNING with Sara this year, barring any unforeseen accidents between now and then, of course.  I’ll have my RIGHT leg tied, however, since my left ankle healed improperly and I still limp.  Even with a LIMP I’m still bad ass, y’all.  Fear me.

As is par for the course, we will be wearing some sort of interesting costume. If you can come out to see what we’re planning this year, I’m sure you won’t be disappointed!

If any of you are interested in helping Sara and me to collect money for this event, please donate by going to www.PayPal.com and clicking on the link that says “send money.” Then just follow the prompts to donate directly to us by using the following email address:

info@caribesunrise.com

Please be sure to write in your comments/subject line “Three Legged Race.” We will keep you updated with donation totals.

For further information or to register your team please call: 984-135-1233 or e-mail:

kegsbar@hotmail.com

We are also taking business/corporate sponsors!!  Contact us at info@caribesunrise.com or editor@playamayanews.com if you’d like to be mentioned on Playa Maya News, Playa.info, and Heather in Paradise!!

P.S.  I do NOT promise not to make any jokes that others will find “offensive” in my blog recap of this hilarious event.  So suck it.