Dia De Los Muertos Celebrated
Last updated 11/4/2024 at 8am
Catrinas alonside judges, the Fedorchenko Family
Every year on November 1 and 2, many Borrego families celebrate Dia de los Muertos or Day of the Dead, as they do in many Latin American countries. This year, our local OLAX (Organización de Latinx) sponsored the building of altars to deceased loved ones in the Community Resource Center in the Mall.
Dia de los Muertos is an evening of remembrance and celebration of our loved ones who have passed. It is a time to create altars in their memory complete with their favorite food, drinks, photos, mementos and traditional items that every altar should contain. These include marigolds, salt, ashes, water, papel picado, candles, sugar skulls, Day of the Dead bread and incense. Each item has a symbolic reason for being there. Family members gather around the altars and share stories, laugh, cry and even bring out guitars and sing songs to remember their loved ones. It's a mixed joyous/mourning time but folks go away feeling a sense of calm and reconnection with loved ones.
In addition to displaying beautiful and personal altars, there is often a competition for the most creative "Catrina", the spirit that will lead your loved ones back to the altars to commune and partake of one's offerings of food and beverages. Catrinas are the skeleton-like ladies with incredible face make-up and large hats. Many gorgeous Catrinas presented themselves that evening in the Resource Center and there was a need for judges who were impartial and unknown to the Catrinas. Voila the Ukranians who showed up on the evening of November 2 to view the altars.
What were the chances that such a family from Ukraine could be present right when we needed impartial and unknown judges?? There they were – husband, wife and young son – the Fedorchenko Family: Andrii, Veronica and Solomon. Judging along with former high school graduate, Ashanty Rangel (now in medical school in Guanajuato, MX), the team of judges made the difficult decisions about the Catrina "winners." Judge Veronica Fedorchenko is invited back EVERY year based on her wonderfully candid, honest and heart-felt comments and observations. Everyone loved her!
The evening was a celebration of life, love and warm memories. Folks left the evening feeling connected to loved ones, happy in the memories and confident in the feeling that we all will be seeing each other in the future ...if our photos are on the altars. If this does not make sense to you, then watch the movie, "Coco." Then you will understand.
