Hundreds of people attended the third year of the annual Dia de los Muertos event at the Recreation Center of Highland Park on Nov. 2.
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Day of the Dead, or Dia de los Muertos, is a tradition in Mexico and other parts of the world in early November to honor the heritage and memory of deceased loved ones.
Initially, Highland Park’s Dia de los Muertos event launched at the Park District of Highland Park’s West Ridge Center, 636 Ridge Road.
The turnout was so large then that the free Dia de los Muertos event was moved to the Recreation Center of Highland Park, 1207 Park Avenue West, where ample gym space, backstage dressing “green” rooms and accommodations for community tables plus activities made the event easier to navigate with room to grow.
The Saturday afternoon tradition also featured a large altar or ofrenda where photographs of departed loved ones are placed for them to be remembered and honored. Their favorite foods or items during their lifetimes were included such as sweets like colas or traditional cuisine.
“That’s I love about having an ofrenda,” said Jessica Soto, assistant director of recreation for the Park District of Highland Park. “People always stop here, somebody puts a picture and you have a conversation about them, and you share the stories about them.”
I just love that it’s a talking piece and it really connects people,” Soto said.
For this year’s altar, Soto added a photograph of Soto’s late mother Caroline of Chicago who died in 2014.
“It’s a good way to honor her and to remember her,” Soto said about parent Caroline.
Soto’s two young children, “brought a picture of their dog who passed away, that’s one thing that they really wanted to make sure that they highlighted.”
Their family dog, Penny, 13, was a female pit bull and died in November of 2023.
“She was the best dog to them, she was a good Frisbee dog but always lay on their laps and give them tons of licks,” Soto said.
“They’re your family too.
“It really meant a lot to them to put that picture up there (of Penny),” Soto said.
The event included giveaways and activities at community tables.
Scott and Jessica Heston of Park Ridge brought children Thyra, 4, and Elodie, 6, a first-grader. Both children had their faces painted and wore costumes.
Thyra, “made her first ofrenda this year,” Jessica Heston said.
Scott Heston complimented organizers and said, “I really appreciate the expansion of the holidays to include multicultural identities.”
Bertha Chavez of Highwood, community outreach coordinator for Fenix Family Health Center of Highwood, helped to staff a table covered with free small blankets or scarves in blue and pink and more such as children’s shoes and tote drawstring backpacks for families.
According to https://fenixclinic.org, Fenix Family Health Center, also called the Fenix Family Healthcare Clinic, offers, “healthcare to low-income and Spanish-speaking immigrant families in Lake County.”
“We are a Hispanic community, we have to show everybody we are here,” Chavez said.
“The doctors who are at Fenix, they speak Spanish, they understand the culture,” Chavez said. “They understand the community.”
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Mariachi Sirenas of Chicago and Ballet Folklorico Tayahua dance school from Waukegan performed in the gym.
Lupita Munoz of Waukegan, director of Ballet Folklorico Tayahua, said. “We want to teach the kids to keep the Mexican culture especially these days.
“This is love.”
Karie Angell Luc is a freelancer for Pioneer Press.