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An Eight Colones Pair of Pants

An Eight Colones Pair of Pants

Don Regulo - Pioneer - Photo by Dagmar Reinhard

Don Regulo - Pioneer - Photo by Dagmar Reinhard

Don Regulo Gonzales is a 70-year-old-man; at the age of 14, he came from Esparza to Platanillo.  While going to school, he met his future wife Judith Solis C.  Years later they got married, and now they are celebrating 45 years of happy marriage.  They have four children and nine grandchildren.

Regulo had learned the skills to become a tailor, and everybody in Platanillo had their pants tailored by him, with buttons of course, because there were no zippers at that time.  For special occasions, he offered fabrics like cashmere, gabardine, and denim for work. The material needed for a pair of pants used to cost about 5 colones.  Regulo has always been a good businessman; he opened a small general store where he was selling kerosene as well as the basic basket of products.  He also used to buy everything the neighbors produced in order to resell it to the trucks driving by.  Soon, he bought a small lot at 6 colones per sq. meter, where he built his house with an investment of 500 colones.  He started negotiating with cattle and buying land.

He had a great reputation and had the appreciation and trust of his community; those were the times when business used to be settled with a handshake.

The good old days were not exempt from difficulties and risks.  One day during a fight one of his workers cut his hand off; it was only attached by a thread of muscles; Regulo took him in his jeep to the hospital in San Isidro where they could save his hand.  On another occasion, he took his wife to the hospital to give birth.  Within 24 hours, she returned home on the bus and the newborn in her arms.  The family enjoyed spending their Sundays at Dominical beach.

Don Regulo built the Hotel Paraiso Tropical, which today goes by the name of Natuga; he also built a suspension bridge over the Barú River.  The hotel is run by his family, always with Regulo´s sage advice.

“Enjoy life and do not fill your mind with negative thoughts,” that is his message.

 

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