“Life is like a Maypole. Life is colorful Bright vibrant and always fun For children and fools.” (Mason Hartley) Maypole dancing is the custom among Scandinavians, signaling the end of winter and the advent of spring. A happy time…singing, dancing…colorful clothing. Have you ever seen or done “the dance?” People celebrate different things for different reasons. May is known for Mother’s Day and graduations and Memorial Day. Anything else? ;-) Jack
FROM FACEBOOK LIZ: we had maypoles at st katharine’s & the villa (where i graduated). happy may day!====JACK: I remember those schools. I think that they were Episcopa; girls' schools... elementary and high school? Are they still in operation? If you have time today, you might want to create a miniature Maypole...just for fun.
FROM HONEST JOHN: My birthday====JACK: How appropriate. May 1 is also the day which, internationally, honors workers. Through the years, there's been a battle for fairness when it comes to how workers have been treated. That subject would make for an interesting debate.
FROM WALMART REV: "New mornings with Jack!" ====JACK: Isn't the internet amazing? Over 20 years ago William Cowper wrote: "God moves in a mysterious way, his wonders to perform." ...and God is still at it today!
FROM ST PAUL IN ST PAUL: my birthday! the 25th. no gifts please. just cash:):):) Jack, do you recall John and Christine Glaser who lived on Walce Ave. just down the street from us in Michigan?? wonderful old couple and also members of SLLC.. on May Day we would bring a tall volley ball standard down to their front yard and decorate it with colorful crepe paper and then dance around it with our kids. the Glasers loved it! all fond memories. btw, when did May Day also become a cry for help for ships and planes that are in trouble?? ====JACK: About the presents... No need to worry. No. I don't remember the Glassers, but I do remember Walce and Figa. As for MAY DAY! Mayday got its start as an international distress call in 1923. It was made official in 1948. It was the idea of Frederick Mockford, who was a senior radio officer at Croydon Airport in London. He came up with the idea for “mayday" because it sounded like the French word m'aider, which means “help me."
FROM BLAZING OAKS: ...and family b.days and anniversaries...Such a festive month, with all the trees in bloom, and flowers everywhere! We once did a Maypole for a dance at the "REK" in Moline. Details are hazy, but I remember it was quite a lot of work involving pastel crepe paper streamers and a big middle pole, and was a fun time! We always used to do "May Day baskets for friends and neighbors, with a few pieces of wrapped candy and violets and lily-of-the-valley from our yards. Hang them on a doorknob, press the bell, run and hide! Good memories!====JACK:
A dry May and a leaking June Make the farmer whistle a merry tune.
A snowstorm in May Is worth a wagonload of hay.
Among the changing months, May stands confessed The sweetest, and in fairest colors dressed!
–James Thomson, Scottish poet (1700–48)
FROM BB IN CHGP: Haven’t seen or done the dance. Perhaps it’s time for another European trip? ====JACK: Long Beach, CA, celebrates May Day as a BIG event...the Maypole Dance, crowning of the May Queen...the Girl Scout weave colored ribbons to hand out.
FROM BS IN ENGLAND: Next Monday is a bank holiday here and we have a festival on the village green in Shipdham called the Church Drynnkings. It is a medieval festival when the church brewed it's own beer and invited the villagers to enjoy. We are no longer brewing beer but a company that does will bring barrels to the green. A bishop will come to bless it and the people, then there will be eating and drinking, dancing round the Maypole and also Morris dancing. It is a fundraiser so there will be the usual stalls. Homemade cakes and preserves, plants, books and many more. Children love the Maypole with it's brightly coloured ribbons. All we can do now is pray for fine weather, we've had really cold, very wet weather recently.====JACK: Is the purpose of the festival to celebrate the coming of Spring? It should like fun (if it doesn't rain). Let me know how it turns out.
FROM RAMPA SHIRL: My first and only Maypole dance was in 1954 in Karlstad Sweden in 1954 during my first trip to Europe! It was very memorable! This year we have two graduations-0ne from the U of Florida and another from high school on Ft Worth TX. Life is very interesting and exciting! How about that game last night?====JACK: I took a year of Swedish in college, and one of the requirements was to participate in the Maypole Dance. I was absent that day. As for yesterday's game. I went to bed before the 9th inning, so I slept peacefully.
FROM OUTHOUSE JUDY: In the Girl Scouts we had dances and costumes from around the world. One group did a Maypole dance. It was all beautiful.====JACK: Did you ever dance the Hora?
FROM PEPPERMINT MARY: I do remember dancing around the may pole as kid. It was just fun. I knew there was some significance to it but really enjoyed the act. So my mama is a may girl. That’s important to me.====JACK: It's too bad that you're retiring. Maypole dancing could have become a fun tradition for the school kids.=====MARY: Oh...it did in its own form
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