May Days

I grew up in a town, New Westminster, that was quite old and traditional. Sadly it has changed. Then, there were Victorian style houses as well as attitudes. The streets were boulevarded and treed, the lawns neat, and the houses tidy. It was a decent, friendly, well organized life style. The pride of the city was its main park. The park had an ice arena, lacrosse box, tennis courts, small entertainment building and a big outdoor arena and lots of picnic area, fields and paths in the tall evergreen trees. The big outdoor facility was where, each year, there was the May Day celebration. In the Fifties, community strata has its upper classes comprised of local politicians, doctors, business owners, school principals and on down the line, if a line there was. During the lead-up to the May Days, great to-dos over who would become the next Queen of the May, kept the town abuzz. Unlike today, which has the winner of such contests, the person whose team sells the most tickets to the event, each school elected the young girl who would be their candidate and the final decision was accomplished in some mysterious way that I didn't know, at the time, nor care about. Whoever it was, we knew was the girl who most deserved it and we were happy for her. The year I remember most vividly was when a beautiful child, I think her name was Maria Montezuma in my memory, was chosen. The name might not be exactly what it was, but that name will do. The most appealing fact  was that she was a resident of the city's orphanage but had magically risen to the heights of local royalty. In my mind she became the Cinderella of my dreams and even now, I believe she was, indeed, such a girl. In those days, girls remained little girls and innocence and sweetness were regarded as the way they should be - rightly or wrongly in today's opinions. My young friends all yearned to be a May Queen and wear the floral crown, ride on the float, be donned in the velvet ermine trimmed cape and white stockings and shoes, dance at the May Queen Ball with the mayor and all of the important people of the town. During the day, all the schools presented to the May Queen in the park's outdoor arena, their performances of gym activities, dances and marches, but the highlight was the Maypole Dance. Not only was the Maypole dance pretty with its young pastel dressed small children, and the colourful ribbons they wove, but also the anticipation of having a perfect dance with no tangled ribbons having to be unwoven and re-done. A perfect rendering seldom happened because the Maypole dance was complicated and required a great deal of coordination and focus. With all of the excitement around them, the youngsters, if successful, were highly commended. The May Queen Ball in the evening was free and any young person in the city could go. Even today, I can hum to the end, the tune of the Maypole Dance and in my mind see and hear May Day once again.