OCTOBER 2007 - YART'S PUMPKIN PARTY A SMASH

Children and adults alike enjoyed themselves at YART's first annual Pumpkin Party on Thursday, October 18.

Many children helped to stuff and raise YART's first scarecrow, which will stand guard over the Garden of YART until next year's Pumpkin Party participants make the new scarecrow, in a harvest-themed annual tradition.

After carefully choosing their favorite pumpkins to take home, partygoers gathered I the YART courtyard to enjoy refreshments and face painting. "I loved it!" shares five-year-old partier, Leo Glenn Shipley. This free harvest Pumpkin Party was a big hit with parents and kids alike, and both YART and the community are looking forward to the second annual Pumpkin Party next year.

YART is displaying a Dia de los Muertos altar, and invites the community to contribute as a way of remembering and honoring their beloved dead. The Taos community is invited to bring pictures, mementoes, poems, candles, or other items that evoke remembrances of their loved ones who have passed. Taos can celebrate and remember the lives of their beloved as a community.

Dia de los Muertos is celebrated across the world, typically on November 1 and 2. Like the pagan Samhain which is celebrated on October 31 (Halloween), and other similar holidays in Africa and Asia, Dia de los Muertos is a joyful celebration with a focus on honoring and celebrating the lives and afterlives of our beloved dead. It is not a morbid ritual or a time for grief, but rather a traditional uplifting time to celebrate the continuation of life; Taos' roots are rich with this tradition.

Those without personal effects to share are welcome to bring general symbols of the holiday, the most popular of which are skulls (las caliveras) and marigolds. Skulls are often evident in the shapes of candies or breads, and the skull shape is a symbols of the celebration of death. The marigold, the most traditional flower of the season, represents the sun, light, hope and joy of rebirth.

YART’s Dia de los Muertos altar was a success and YART plans to continue the tradition in the years to come.