One grocer helps Central Oregon Latinos celebrate Día de los Muertos

Yamely Chavez Kennedy placed her grandmother, Marta Salinas, on her ofrenda for the first time this year. Salinas died of colon cancer at age 80. Her favorite flower was cempasúchil, the blaze orange flower also known as marigold. It’s also an essential part of Día de los Muertos when constructing an ofrenda.

Día de los Muertos began as an Indigenous celebration the Purépecha and Mayan people celebrated until Spanish colonizers, among others, arrived and forced Catholicism onto the existing civilizations. Now, the celebration is a syncretic blend that has spread from Mexico and the Mayan kingdom throughout the rest of the Americas.

Chavez Kennedy owns Colima Market in Bend and two other locations in Redmond and Madras. She’s been the owner of the Bend store for 10 years, but it’s her Madras store that she’s concerned about. A larger supermercado is set to open there, and she’s worried about competing with a bigger store.

This year when a vendor from Fresno, California, approached Chavez Kennedy about carrying cempasúchil in her stores, she initially refused. Flowers are a risky investment because they don’t keep for a long time and can be a big expense.

But, she said, the vendor made her a good offer: She would only have to pay for what she sold.

“Then obviously it was like, ‘heck yeah, that’s a good deal. Let’s do it,’” Chavez Kennedy said.

Before long, she had 500 bunches of cempasúchil in Colima Market and another 500 spread out between the other stores.

This is the first time Chavez Kennedy is selling the flower and the brilliant buckets spread throughout the store carry a deeper meaning.

“I felt like that was just my grandma saying, ‘It’s OK, honey. Things are going to be OK,’” she said. “‘I’m going to be with you through each store, and things are going to be fine.’”

A few days before the main celebration days of Día de los Muertos, Colima Market’s door was swinging open regularly.

Maria Elena Fuentes of Terrebonne came in to grab a bouquet, as did Anton Gonzalez Jennings with his daughter Tenaya. Sinforosa Avelino bought a handful of bouquets, carefully selecting the best looking bundles.

On Wednesday, Chavez Kennedy set up her ofrenda with the help of her employees. She placed pan de muerto, a cup of water, some salt, corn tortillas and a big caguama of beer — all things her relatives loved in their waking life.

She wasn’t going to make an ofrenda at the store, but customers kept asking her about it. She decided, why not?

As the song “La Llorona” played in the background, Chavez Kennedy placed a large photo of a woman with salt-and-pepper hair wearing a sash and crown, her grandmother. A glass of water sat near the photo to quench Salina’s thirsty soul after her long journey back to Colima Market.

Next year, Chavez Kennedy hopes to build a community ofrenda and sell hard to get items like sugar skulls or papel picado and, of course, cempasúchil.

El Dia de los Muertos events and community ofrendas in Bend.

• Colima Market, community members are welcome to bring a photo of a loved one to place on the ofrenda.
  Friday, Nov. 1, 8:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m.
  228 NE Greenwood Ave C, Bend, OR 97701

• Latino Community Association, Celebración del Día de Muertos / Day of the Dead Celebration
  Friday, Nov. 1, 5:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.
  2680 NE Twin Knolls Dr, Suite 110, Bend, OR 97701

• Hola!, Community ofrenda with space for smaller ofrendas, music, food, concurso de Catrinas, free entry
  Saturday, Nov. 2, 8:00 p.m. - 11:30 p.m.
  920 NW Bond St, Bend, OR 97701

• La India Bar, live music, concurso de Catrina y Calavera
  Saturday, Nov. 2, 8:00 p.m. - 2:00 a.m.
  3105 O. B. Riley Rd, Bend, OR 97703