Hot Apple Cider and Day of the Dead Bread

The five o'clock mass ended, and those who decided to come to the Spirit Center of Spirit of Christ Catholic Community were treated to hot apple cider and bread with sugar sprinkled on the top of the bread. People enjoyed their treat as they looked at the fifteen altars set up by the parishioners.

Beginning around 9:30 in the morning on Saturday, November 1, those preparing altars for their loved one began arranging their altar. Fixing an altar fills one with memories of a loved one. Later, the workers were treated to hot tamales and drinks!

The finished products, from the comments of those looking at the altars, were a huge success. The count of people coming to enjoy the altars, I was told, was around seventy. I overheard comments of amazement, surprise, and admiration at the work that had gone into making an altar of the dead. At a long table, children enjoyed decorating sugar skulls.


Some of the altars were plain while others were more elaborate. One large altar toward the rear of the room was traditional Mexican with saints, food, bright colors, skulls, skeletons, photos, candles, and paper cutouts.

The interesting part was not only looking at the altars but hearing the stories behind each altar. Some of the people represented were a man who loved fishing, one who enjoyed sports, a classy lady, a reader, a deacon, a candy lover, a pet lover, a mother, a father, and a tortilla maker. Some had been gone for years and others within the last three months. Each altar had a story.

 Literally, the end.