Decorating sugar skulls in preparation for celebrating the Day of the Dead on Nov. 1 has a special meaning for Valeria Villasana of Gurnee. It is a way to help her remember her grandmother, who died three years ago, and ensure her children remember something about their great-grandmother.

Decorated sugar skulls are used to help create an altar when people of Mexican and other Latin American heritages remember deceased relatives. Villasana said both remembering loved ones and teaching her children about their heritage are why she brought them to a sugar skull workshop.

“I want to pass this tradition on to our children,” she said. “I want my children to know about her.”

“This way, they will be able to tell their grandchildren about their great, great, great grandmother,” added Noel Villasana, Valeria’s husband.

The Villasanas were among 20 people participating in a sugar skull workshop Saturday at the Waukegan History Museum at the Carnegie as part of the Waukegan Park District’s celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month, which runs from Sept. 15 through Oct. 15.

Shelby McDonald, the Park District’s director of marketing and community relations, said Hispanic Heritage Month is a time for people of Hispanic heritage to celebrate their culture. The district wants to help the community celebrate as it does for other holidays throughout the year.

Jesus Ortega, standing at table, a local artist at the Dandelion Gallery in Waukegan, explains what participants will do at a sugar skull workshop Saturday at the Waukegan History Museum at the Carnegie. (Steve Sadin/For the Lake County News-Sun)

“We help people celebrate their cultures in our community with low-cost and free events,” McDonald said. “We celebrate the culture through arts, history and more for Waukegan and the surrounding community.”

Since Sept. 15, Maria Contrares, the Park District’s communications supervisor, said the district has held Loteria nights, a Zumba Night and a virtual history exhibit on Latino culture that is ongoing through the history museum’s companion app.

Bryan Escobar, the district’s museum curator, said there will be additional sugar skull workshops at 10 a.m. Saturday and Oct. 18 at the museum, leading up to the Day of the Dead celebration from 1 to 4 p.m. on Nov. 1 at the Jack Benny Center in Bowen Park.

For some, like the Villasanas, making sugar skulls can have an impact beyond remembering relatives who died. Valeria Villasana said the family dog died two years ago which had an impact on their older son, Logan, who is a second grader.

The Herrera family decorates sugar skulls during a workshop Saturday at the Waukegan History Museum at the Carnegie. (Steve Sadin/For the Lake County News-Sun)

“It’s comforting for him,” she said. “It helps him remember our dog, and know it is not wholly gone. It is where dogs’ spirits go when they’re gone.”

Jesus Ortega, a local artist at the Dandelion Gallery in Waukegan, helped the workshop participants with their efforts. He said the sugar skulls and Day of the Dead are a mixture of both Spanish and indigenous culture in some, but not all, Latin American countries.

Jenny Herrera was there with her family. Originally from Colombia, she said the Day of the Dead and sugar skulls are new to her. She was learning. Juan, her husband, is of Mexican descent and it means a lot to him. He remembers grandparents, an aunt and a cousin.

“When you do this, they’re never really gone,” he said. “This is a day to remember them. It’s a way to keep them with us.”

A woman helps a child decorate a sugar skull during a workshop Saturday at the Waukegan History Museum at the Carnegie. (Steve Sadin/For the Lake County News-Sun)

Earlier in the month, Contreras said people gathered for three different Loteria nights, where they played a bingo-type game for prizes. It was a free event, as was the Zumba Fitness night where people danced to a variety of Latin music.

McDonald said the Hispanic Heritage Month events are a joint effort with the Waukegan Historical Society.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/10/06/hispanic-heritage-month-waukegan/