Traditions

I remember making May Day baskets out of paper plates in school, with silk flowers and gluing glitter, ribbons, bows, buttons, or any small decoration to it. Mom helped my sister and I put flowers in it from her bushes and we'd deliver them to a widow on our street. It always made us happy for when we'd ride our bicycles by her house, she'd tell us, "I'm out to pick flowers to put in my lovely new baskets I received!" Of course my sister and I would giggle and beam with pride! - S.M.

When I was a little girl growing up in Illinois we would make a mayday basket at school and bring home and hang it on the door knob. when I was 12 we moved to Florida and I lived there for 20 years and I mentioned it one day and people thought I was crazy, they never heard of that. I moved back to my home town 10 years ago and every year since I have been back about a week before mayday I go to the store and buy the wild flower mix and put it in each little pot and water it everyday and around 5am we would get up and put the mayday basket on every porch on our block, we live on a corner so I have more houses. it's a lot of fun because the first 3 years we did it no one had any idea who did it and it got all the neighbors out of the house and gave them something to talk about. everyone gets along and it's a great way to bring strangers together. they know who it is now because we got caught doing it a few years ago and the secret got out but now everyone does it and it's a lot of fun. - Nancy West

When I was young  my mother always had us make paper baskets and deliver them to the elderly ladies on our block on May Day. I remember coming home from school and my mother would have some flowers picked from the garden all ready to go. We would have a great time making the baskets and doing the delivering.

My mother would help us pick flowers out of the yard, and tie a ribbon around them. My sister and I would then put a bouquet on our neighbors' front porch, ring the doorbell and run! As kids, we would hope that our neighbors wouldn't know who gave the flowers to them. But, we would usually receive a phone call soon afterward. - Dorothy Eminhizer

When I was young we would celebrate May Day by making little baskets out of paper or sometimes we would use strawberry baskets w/ties of ribbon. Fill them with all kinds of flowers from our yard and run to all the neighbors and ring the door bell leave the basket on the doorknob and runaway. Sometimes we would hide in the bushes to see the people surprised with the little basket full of flowers. - Kaci  Garcia

My mom passed away when I was 12 from cancer. Before she died, each year we would make baskets. My three sisters and I would take construction paper and make up cone baskets. We were in a really fun neighborhood. close knit. Anyways, this one May Day, my good friends mom spotted me dropping off the basket with fresh flowers and candy. She chased me and I was laughing so hard that I fell over and she kissed my cheek. This of course was part of the tradition. Now I am 42 and my 12 year old daughter and I will be passing around goodies for our neighbors too. Many of the moms work, but they will be coming home to some gardening tools and a bag of soil. - Barb Pelton

As a young girl for May Day, my mother would get my siblings and me together and we would go to the park where we would pick lilacs off the huge lilac trees. She then would drive us to all the old ladies homes in the area  so that we could leave bundles on their door steps. Almost every year my brother would be chased by a dog, and sometimes bitten. It was my favorite family activity. I now plan on continuing the tradition with my own children. - Mariah Dahl

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