By Terry Sovil on the May 2021 Edition
I remember back to the original organization meetings for a local magazine. Freda A. Rumford plus many others gathered to write various articles. I still have my copy of 2009/2010 Edition of “Shopping in Mexico”. It was some list of basic food translations, emergency and referral numbers for all kinds of workers and doctors. This book was compiled by Freda. I still reach for it for a translation on a spice name back to English. It sold for a whopping 100 pesos. Much of what was passed on from a person to a new person has now fallen to searching the internet. I started writing for the magazine and found that I could pick a topic that interested me and I would learn a lot from the research and assembly of photos, etc.
The camaraderie was strong among the writing staff and the receipt by readers was good. They have all been cataloged and stored in online systems. I’m very happy and proud of the articles I got assembled and published.
As for photos, one year I did get to act as Santa. It was sort of fun but I felt like I was going to be trampled by all the people shoving and pushing. There’s one of me in a pool doing Open Water Diver skills and training. And the last is one of me suspended in the beautiful Manzanillo water as I wait for the other divers to enter the water out of our boat. Nothing for relaxation like diving!
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Terry is a founding partner and scuba instructor for Aquatic Sports and Adventures (Deportes y Aventuras Acuáticas) in Manzanillo. A PADI (Professional Association of Dive Instructors) Master Instructor in his 36th year as a PADI Professional. He also holds 15 Specialty Instructor Course ratings. Terry held a US Coast Guard 50-Ton Masters (Captain’s) License. In his past corporate life, he worked in computers from 1973 to 2005 from a computer operator to a project manager for companies including GE Capital Fleet Services and Target. From 2005 to 2008, he developed and oversaw delivery of training to Target’s Loss Prevention (Asset Protection) employees on the West Coast, USA. He led a network of 80+ instructors, evaluated training, performed needs assessments and gathered feedback on the delivery of training, conducted training in Crisis Leadership and Non-Violent Crisis Intervention to Target executives. Independently, he has taught hundreds of hours of skills-based training in American Red Cross CPR, First Aid, SCUBA and sailing and managed a staff of Project Managers at LogicBay in the production of multi-media training and web sites in a fast-paced environment of artists, instructional designers, writers and developers, creating a variety of interactive training and support products for Fortune 1000 companies.
