May Day! May Day!

Today is May 1^st, commonly known as May Day in elementary school circles. I attended St. Catherine’s Private School for girls most of my elementary years. We commemorated May Day by going outside and dancing with ribbon or streamer in hand around the Maypole with our classmates. The beautiful, pastel bands fluttering in the wind looked so bright and vibrant against the lush green of the field. It seems like something so small, but it symbolizes, to me, the pure freedom and innocence of being a child unaffected by what the world will think if you are standing in a field with a ribbon in your hand skipping around a pole. I wonder if they still keep the tradition alive. Life didn’t seem so rushed then, I wonder has it gone by the wayside as another May Day tradition from my childhood has. Directly across from the school is a church called St. Stephen’s. I remember as a child my grandmother and grandfather would take us to St. Stephen’s May Day celebration. I don’t remember everything about it. I recall there was always a “White Elephant” sale (translation: Yard Sale Inside). My grandmother, being the bargain shopper she was, loved that. Me? Not so interested. I’m sure there was probably a bake sale, but the thing that my sister and I looked forward to the most was the “rides” They were not carnival rides like Merry-Go-Rounds or Tilt-A-Whirls. These were rides from a time gone by. Growing up in the city, I had never really seen a horse except in a field as our car would pass by on the highway. The only time I had ever seen one up close was when I was three, a man walked up into our front yard with a pony and offered to photograph us sitting on the horse accessorized with the cowboy hat and bandana he carried with him. I had never ridden a pony or horse, though, just sat on one. St. Stephen’s always had horse and ponies that for a small fee, I think $1.00, you would be placed on the horse and a handler would walk the horse the length of the church grounds (about 2 city blocks) and back. This probably sounds boring to the Youth of today, but my sister and I were thrilled and looked forward to it every year. One year, alas, we arrived and no horses. L We were disappointed, but when we went to the place that we usually got the “rides” we discovered something new and different in place of the horses, antique cars, or as we called them, old timey cars. Most of them were from the 1930’s. This was cool. Children were lined up to have a “ride” around the neighborhood in a car from way before they were born. All the cars were beautiful, but the one that every kid (my sister and I included) wanted to ride in was the one with the rumble seat.

If you don’t know what a rumble seat is, on the back of the car where a trunk would be was a door that opened and as you pulled it up, it created an upholstered seat. I can remember standing in line hoping that the timing would be just right that when it was my turn to ride, the car that would pull up was the rumble seat car. Of course if it wasn’t, I would still ride in another vintage vehicle, but I would get back in line until I could ride the Rumble seat car at least once. So simple, but one of the coolest things I’ve gotten to do in my life. If I ever become famous and I am riding in a parade, maybe I’ll request a rumble seat car to ride in. Sadly, St. Stephen’s no longer has its May Day celebration. As with so many other things, perhaps it became too expensive and attendance declined falling prey to video games and amusement parks, but I wouldn’t trade those times for anything. So today, on May Day, I challenge you to go out and do something that brings you back to the innocence and fun of your childhood. I’ll guarantee you won’t regret it!