by Kirby Lindsay
This column originally appeared on May 5, 1999, published in The Seattle Press
Spring has come to Fremont. The tables outside the Still Life coffeehouse (and the people eating quiche at them) are not the thing to remind me of spring. Seeing the Fremont Sunday Market move outdoors, finally, isn’t the big sign summer is on its way. No, I know spring has arrived because I’ve been to the annual Fremont Arts Council (FAC) May Pole celebration.
Organizing The Smiles
“It is a celebration of spring,” Bradley Ehrlich, President of the FAC Board, told me about May Day. On the first of May in Gas Works Park more than 150 people gather, dressed in white with flowers decorating their hair, to dance and weave ribbons around a pole more than 25 feet tall.
“You know it works when you’re face hurts so much from smiling,” is Bradley’s motto. He is the organizer of this year’s May Pole event and, when we spoke, he was trying to organize Irish folk fiddlers to accompany the dance around the pole. This was the hardest part, he was finding, of putting on one of the simplest events the FAC does.
Imagine Why
Finding the reason behind all this festivity, however, was difficult. It means many things to many people. For Bradley, this event is a joyous way to say ‘Happy Spring!’ He was not familiar with the historical significance of the event. He did say it “reminds people of ancient times when things were simpler.”
Larry Neilson, a FAC Board member, admitted he wasn’t familiar with the history behind the May Pole celebration either, but he thinks it has to do with mating. Astrid Larsen, a FAC member, admitted that May Day, for some people, celebrates the Revolutionary Workers’ Day.
For many people this event observes the Celtic holiday. It is a nature festival. In Celtic and other ancient traditions, there are four markers of the year. There are the two solstices, and two equinoxes, that mark the seasons through the year. There are also four cross-quarterly holidays including Halloween and St. Bridget’s – and May Day.
Astrid mused that animals know by instinct but, “humans need rituals to remind them of the time of the year.”
Not Like The Others
Astrid has the most formal experience of May Day celebrations. She has been to others and has overseen celebrations before attending the Art Council’s. “The FAC’s is bigger than others. It is amazing to see 150 people,” dancing and weaving ribbons.
She told me of a school where every class does a separate pole, and the older classes get amazingly complex in their braid. The FAC has never managed more than a simple (and it isn’t that simple when you are dancing it ) in-and-out weave.
Astrid was helping Bradley with facets of May Day, and was finding this particular event to be community building. “Many hands make light work,” Astrid explained. “It’s not a big job. A lot of people are very excited,” she said, and willing to help.”
There was also a ‘Green Man’ at this year’s May Day. The Green Man is a representation of a male nature spirit, like the Greek Pan. A May queen was chosen by the Green Man to reign with him over the festivities. This ‘act’ will actually be carried father than a spring afternoon at Gas Works. In this case, after choosing his Queen, the Green Man asked her to marry him – and she said, “yes.”
More than the activity, it is the people, and the incredible mix of them, that make this – and most of the FAC events – so amazing.
Astrid told me the story of one FAC May Day celebration where a group of Japanese tourists was visiting Gas Works, and stood watching the crazy Americans dance. They were quickly invited to join, and many took up a ribbon to join the weave.
Friendly, Free Fun
“This even delivers the maximum amount of fun for the least amount of effort,” admitted President Ehrlich in an e-mail message to other FAC-ers. Larry said that he goes to May Day because it is fun and colorful, inspiring and uplifting. He likes the carefree feel about the event – and connecting to an older time. He likes the dance and the weaving of the ribbons.
To Astrid, the best part of May Day is, “to have the experience of coming around the corner to the meadow, to see the huge pole and all the people in their beautiful headdresses and their flowing, festival clothes. There is something so magical, otherworldly.”
In some ways, this is like spring in Fremont. Come around the corner from the dreary, wet winter to find the sun shining, the trees full of green leaves and the sidewalks full of friends out enjoying the day. No matter how many decades I spend here, I continue to find myself saying, “Wow!” each spring.
Related Articles
- FAC Highlight Reel: Volunteer Acknowledgement & Appreciation?
- by Kirby Lindsay, April 21, 2010
- Community Celebrations Honor First Day of May
- by Kirby Lindsay, April 26, 2010
©2011 Kirby Lindsay. This column is protected by intellectual property laws, including U.S. copyright laws. Reproduction, adaptation or distribution without permission is prohibited.