Mario Saucedo was a kid growing up in a small town in Michoacán, Mexico with three brothers and a sister. When he was 7, he sat bug-eyed in front of the family’s black and white television, marveling at “The Bride of Frankenstein.”
“I told my mom I was going to make monster movies,” Saucedo said. “Even then, I think I appreciated the cinematography.”
He forgets his mother’s reaction. It probably wasn’t, “Mario, how about when you’re 18, go to Hollywood and make your monsters.”
But that’s what he did. Soon after his father died and so close to earning a veterinarian degree, Saucedo left for the states.
“I thought, ‘I have a family to take care of,’” Saucedo said.
His first job? A Hollywood make-up artist … of monsters.
“I dreamed that I would some day make monsters and one day, did it. Everything is possible in life,” Sauced said. “Dreams do come true.”
Saucedo remained in the film business from 1991 until he decided to relocate to Vallejo, coming here 18 years ago and, after witnessing so many colleagues and friends dying from HIV/AIDS, started the Solano AIDS Coalition.
He’s been at it since. And, with a core group of volunteers, has pulled off Dia de Los Muertos in downtown Vallejo for seven years. This Saturday, the 10 a.m. to 3 pm. event honors those who have died from COVID-19, a theme adopted by other ‘Muertos’ events around the nation.
It’s a theme that hits close to home for Saucedo, with a sister surviving six grueling weeks with COVID-19 and a niece who had a similar experience.
“My sister was really, really sick,” Saucedo, 55, said. “Now she’s COVID free. And my nice in San Francisco also caught COVID and was really sick.”
Saucedo said he’s seen the same anxiety and fear — and ignorance — with COVID-19 he witnessed in the 1990s with the AIDS epidemic.
“It’s really amazing how humans react,” he said. “Even though my sister is now months COVID free, she’s been discriminated against. Friends stop calling because they’re afraid of being around her.”
Knowledge is power … and prevention, said Saucedo.
“I do my precautions. I have hand sanitizer with me all the time. I wash my hands, wear my mask,” he said.
COVID-19 protocols will be in place Saturday in downtown for Dia de Los Muertos, said Saucedo, with performers wearing masks and social distancing.
Even with a scaled-down event — count on the glorious colors of dresses and face paintings — Saucedo is grateful the show continues.
“When I moved to this community, nobody celebrated Dia de Los Muertos,” he said. “I said, ‘You know what, I want to bring my culture here and teach people about this beautiful event.”
There is a reason to celebrate those who have died, Saucedo said.
“Yes, we are sad in the beginning when someone passed, whether we lose a mother, father, brother, sister or when I was in Hollywood .. when a celebrity you know dies,” Saucedo said. “One way to remember them, once a year is to come visit us” at the Dia de Los Muertos.
Beyond the entertainment of the youth dancing from Moon Azteca, there are the symbolic altars with, said Saucedo, “a long, long story of what everything means. Every color is symbolic.”
Some visitors to the event will acknowledge a deceased loved one by bringing a photo, an article of clothing “or food the person used to eat,” Saucedo said.
“I think a lot of people in this community are looking forward to the event,” he said.
Sure, Saucedo offered, with anything close to a budget the event would be “1,000 times bigger.” But he’s happy the way it is, tickled there are sponsors that help keep honoring the dead..
“As I’ve said, I just love this event,” said Saucedo, adding that it hasn’t been controversy-free.
When he started inviting participants of any color — including African-Americans, Caucasians, Asians — to dress as a catrina, the elegantly dressed skeleton figure symbolic of Dia de Los Muertos, “they were saying only the Mexican culture can dress like catrina,” Saucedo said.
“My argument was that there’s only one place we all meet .. that’s when we die,” Saucedo said. “You are not Mexican, you are not anything. In death, we all meet. Dead is no color, no race, no nothing, no money. When you come back in spirit, there’s no color. That’s why I love this event.”
The 7th Annual Dia de Los Muertos (Day of the Dead) Day of Remembrance is Saturday, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., Georgia and Marin streets, downtown Vallejo. This is a free event.
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