RoundUp: Marigolds
Post-Halloween thoughts, seed savers, and a corrective letter from Rotary president Cindy Carter
Día de los Muertos in Sebastopol
It’s become popular in Sebastopol to make Day of the Dead altars—there was even a senior center workshop on this on Friday—but the tradition goes way back, and I mean waaaaaaaay back.
Día de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, has its roots in the indigenous cultures of Mexico, particularly the Aztecs. Among other gods in their pantheon, the Aztecs worshiped Mictecacihuatl or the “Lady of the Dead.” She was believed to preside over a festival of the dead (they had many) and guide the dead to the afterlife.
The familiar Day of the Dead figure, La Catrina, a skeleton figure with a wide smile and an elegant dress, originated as a satirical cartoon by Mexican illustrator José Guadalupe Posada in 1910 but may have caught on because of her resonance with the figure of Mictecacihuatl. There were many La Catrinas wandering around Florence Avenue and Ives Park this Halloween.
After the Spanish conquest of Mexico, the indigenous traditions blended with Catholic beliefs, resulting in a unique cultural syncretism. Dia de los Muertos became associated with the Catholic feast of All Souls Day, which took place yesterday, on Nov. 2.
St. Sebastian Catholic Church has many parishioners from Mexico and offers masses in both English and Spanish. Every year, there is a large Día de los Muertos altar in the vestibule of the church.
When I (Laura) dropped by to take a picture of the altar, I noticed buckets and buckets of marigolds—cempasúchil in the Nahuatl language—for sale. The cempasúchiles are believed to guide the spirits of the dead back home. Rosy Viramontes, the parish secretary, had her arms full of them, and I asked her what the marigolds symbolized.
“They are as bright as the sun,” she said, her lovely smile just as bright. “They light the way to Heaven and to God.”
Goodnight Halloween
Loaded up with five pounds of candy and a few decorations we got for free off Nextdoor, Laura and I represented Sebastopol Times at the first Halloween party in Ives Park, organized by the Sebastopol Kiwanis Club. As anyone who was there will tell you—and there were many—the event was a surprise hit. It was just a great night out and a chance to meet lots of people.
A big takeaway from the Halloween party was just how many families with young kids were there. Starting well before dark, it was a perfect event for young trick-or-treaters for whom Florence Avenue is too crowded and chaotic. It is good news for the future of Sebastopol that there’s such an influx of young couples with kids.
Laura and I were elated to hear so many kind remarks about the Sebastopol Times. One thing we heard over and over — that our newspaper helps people keep up with what’s going on in the town and helps them feel more connected to their community. Many people told us that they heard about the Halloween party because they read about it in the Sebastopol Times. Our goal is to keep you informed and connected to what’s happening in Sebastopol and the surrounding area, and we are happy when our readers see the benefit of what we do.
Separating the seeds from the chaff
Members of Sebastopol’s Community Seed Exchange spent yesterday afternoon saving seeds from this year’s crops to add to the seed bank at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church. It’s a time-intensive process. Below, Sara McCamant demonstrates several different techniques, from hand-separating with wire mesh screens to doing it with simple machines, built by Bill Davey. The seeds will be available starting in January from the seed bank at St. Stephen’s and the seed library at the Sebastopol Library.
Among the many jars of seeds was a single jar of marigold seeds, which reminded me of this lovely quote from the end of a recent New York Times article about the role of the flower in Day of the Dead. “After the Day of the Dead has passed, when the flowers wither and fall, seeds appear and scatter. From its own death, the cempasúchil’s next cycle of life begins.”
Mending Fences
In my article last week on the Rotarians-in-jeans building the fence around duck pond at Libby Park, I mentioned that I saw men doing the work. Apparently, that’s not the whole story. I heard from Cindy Carter, President of the Sebastopol Rotary Club:
I thank you and Laura for all of your great coverage of our Rotary clubs over the years, but I have to say something when my pride is crushed, my value diminished. It wasn't just men in jeans working at Libby Park. I was there. I was the all important "laborer" picking up trash and wood scraps on 10/26/24 but a job that has to get done. Ellen Harrington brought lunch everyday, which fueled the team. We are trying to appeal to younger people and women.
I felt like you painted us into that corner of a bunch of old men in jeans. We had several young guys out there - John Schoonover (50s), B J Bertacco (40's), Fritz Wisor (40s), Miguel Crawford (40s) and even a young man from the neighborhood who stopped on the spur of the moment to help (Colin Berter—just the type of member we are trying to attract).
Maybe the closing to your article about the event at the senior center led me to read into this article as being about an "old" crowd of men. The Rotary Clubs worked so hard on that project and saved the city a lot of money, and we are very proud of it and our clubs.
See below. I did help with the fence but not while you were there.
Sebastopol Police Logs, October 21-27
The following are crimes excerpted from Sebastopol Police Department's daily crime log entries and listed at the time the alleged violation was reported.
MONDAY
9:19 p.m. Unlawful vehicle registration (misdemeanor) at Gravenstein Highway North and Hurlbut Avenue. Referred to District Attorney for review.
10:01 p.m. Disorderly conduct involving alcohol and violation of probation (misdemeanors) at Gravenstein Highway North and Hurlbut Avenue. Suspect arrested.
TUESDAY
6:54 p.m. Child abuse without the threat of great bodily injury or death (misdemeanor) at Stefenoni Court and Robinson Road. Charges unfounded.
9:40 p.m. Possession of a controlled substance without a prescription, possession of unlawful paraphernalia (misdemeanors), and served with a misdemeanor arrest warrant for an outside agency at Pleasant Hill Avenue North and Bodega Avenue. Suspect arrested.
THURSDAY
5:51 p.m. Grand theft of more than $950 from an elderly dependent adult and theft of another’s identification (felonies) at North Main Street and Healdsburg Avenue. No disposition reported.
FRIDAY
5:54 p.m. Shoplifting (misdemeanor) at Petaluma and Abbott avenues. Pending further investigation.
11:09 p.m. Exhibiting a deadly weapon other than a firearm, fighting in public (misdemeanors) and battery (felony) at McKinley Street and Laguna Park Way. Referred to District Attorney for review.
SATURDAY
5:14 p.m. Possession of a controlled substance, violation of probation (misdemeanors), and served with a misdemeanor arrest warrant for an outside agency at North Main Street and Healdsburg Avenue. Suspect arrested.
5:52 p.m. Exhibiting a concealable firearm in public (misdemeanor) at Gravenstein Highway North and Hurlbut Avenue. Pending further investigation
OTHER POLICE ACTION
The Sebastopol Police Department also recorded 138 other events requiring police action during the period, such as lost animals, assisting citizens, parking violations, foot patrol, traffic hazards and reckless driving.
The campasuchiles "light the way to Heaven and God." Apt insight into the Catholic view of one of the many pre-christian celebrations the church has, um, "blended" with Catholic beliefs.
Thank you for recognizing view of the roots of the ceremony, "to guide the spirits of the dead back home." The NYT video referenced is beautiful, heartfelt, and well worth watching (https://nyti.ms/3NMT3R4).
Somehow, I much prefer the insight provided by the person interviewed there: "Our grandparents would tell us it was necessary for the Days of the Dead to place them on their altars. To make a path of flowers to guide the soul home. The soul of the dead, of the family member. Where do we come from? From the people who have passed. The tradition is based on that. You don't disappear. You still belong to something. Who were you? Where did you come from? If I forget where I'm from, who am I?