May 2021– May day is a day celebrated by communities around the world. But is it beginning to be forgotten? It used to be a day when people would celebrate and leave May baskets on peoples’ porches. A day when children danced around maypoles. But now, things have changed.

According to the History Channel, only 66 out of 195 countries in the world celebrate May day. One of the most confusing things to a large population of America is May baskets which are when a bag or basket is filled with treats and left on a doorstep.

“I vaguely remember from childhood, my school suggested that we make May baskets,” says Jennifer Stanley, a local Austin resident. “I made a basket, filled it with flowers, and left it on the neighbor’s front porch. I rang the doorbell and ran off — so excited to surprise them with a gift. The neighbor marched over to our house and started yelling. She was angry that I had woken her baby up from a nap. She had no idea what May Day was and had completely overlooked the basket of flowers.”

Stanley is not the only one who experienced confused, May basket recipients. “The first year my son and I put together and delivered May baskets, I explained how it all worked and he was quite excited. It was disappointing when he was let down time and time again simply due to the fact that no one understood what was happening. After delivering five May baskets and having zero kids (or their parents) know what was going on, I changed the strategy,” says Heather Kantrud on Daily Journal Media.

In addition to May baskets, May Day celebrations have also included dancing around maypoles “When I was in high school, I was introduced to May Day in a different way,” says Stanley. “It was actually in a community near Austin. Richland, a little farm community. I think it was a German farm community outside of Pflugerville. A bunch of kids my age, teenagers, got dressed up, I wore a white dress, and we had a date. So it was like a guy and a girl that were paired together and you had to dance around the Maypole and hold on to a colored streamer that was tied to the top of the pole. Everybody goes around the maypole and you weave over and under each other, and then when everybody is done, there is this really cool, colorful braided design around the pole with all these colored ribbons.”

Though May Day is being forgotten by some people, there are still those who do remember it. They will hopefully carry on these traditions, so that May Day is not lost.