Day of the Dead debuts on Mendocino Coast
June 6, 2007 Contact: Cammie Conlon
Immediate release 707-962-2210 (direct)
With a rich tradition of its own, Little River Inn will celebrate another rich tradition, El Dia de los Muertos (The Day of the Dead) Nov. 1-4, 2007, at its landmark resort on the Mendocino Coast. The inaugural annual festival, the first ever on the coast, will benefit the local chapter of Project Sanctuary.
The Day of the Dead, observed primarily in Mexico and other Latin American countries, varies from country to country, but accordingto popular belief, on Nov. 2, the spirits of the dead return to commune with the living. Families leave offerings for them,
attend fiestas, and decorate their graves. Many aspects of the Day of the Dead celebrations reflect Native American traditions that predate the Spanish conquest of Mexico in the early 1500s.
The Day of the Dead in Little River will include an art exhibit and sale, a cooking demonstration and tasting by The Salsa Ladies, a tequila tasting, tamale making, and craft workshops for sugar skulls and papels (paper cutouts).
Members of the community, and Little River Inn employees, are being invited to make squares with a Day of the Dead theme for a quilt that will be displayed during the festival, and auctioned off Nov. 1.
The Day of the Dead festival is coming together for a couple of reasons,according to Cally Dym, one of the inn’s family owners. “First of all, my cousin Connie Reynolds, has wanted to celebrate this for years,” she said, “and second, we not only have incredibly talented Hispanic employees, but we’re also collaborating with the Anderson Valley Adult
School and its Hispanic community.”
Coming to Little River from the Anderson Valley are the Salsa Ladies, who have published their own bilingual cookbook with DVD, Secrets of Salsa, which is selling well and will be sold at Little River Inn during the Day of the Dead.
Maria Segura, 13-year veteran and housekeeping supervisor at
Little RiverInn, will show festivalgoers how to make great
tamales, and the inn’s wine buyer — and tequila aficionado, — John Sverko will conduct the
tequila tasting. Reynolds is spearheading the craft workshops.
For reservations, information and an event schedule, go to
www.littleriverinn.com Or call toll free 888-INN-LOVE.