Mendon May Day
Bright blue skies, dew covered grass and snow capped mountains are among a few of the hallmark traditions of our Mendon May Day. Our springtime celebration is now held on the first Saturday in May, each year, it is sure to stir your soul as well as delight your springtimes senses.
Mendon’s May Day is a community celebration that has continued on from Mendon's early pioneer times, in much the same form and fashion as it was first practiced by those early founders of our city. If they were watching the pageant this year ~I think they would approve of our celebration and the one-hundred pretty little school girls dancing around five maypoles, singing the songs of spring, songs for their Queen of the May. The speeches, dance steps, music and songs were prepared for us long ago and today we shared this legacy with our community once again. Thank you Mendon for preserving your heritage, for sharing it with our small but growing community and for sharing it with all whom would come. You are one of the very best kept secrets in the country! May 1, 2010 was our 148th time to crown a Queen of the May to reign over the quaint springtime array, I hope we are able and willing to do it that many times more. Thank you people of Mendon for your hard work and for your love and kindness in keeping this wonderful tradition alive.
May Day Beginnings
The beginnings of Mendon’s first May Day can be traced to the early spring of 1863. A group of young girls, feeling the exhilaration of the fresh springtime air, walked, skipped and perhaps even ran with excitement, south toward what was known as Clayton near the old millpond some three miles distant. Recent events in the valley had created a sense of safety among the early pioneer settlers who were still living fort-style and the young ladies of the newly settled town were going to take advantage of it. Picking the native spring flowers, placing them in their hair as they went, they collected beautiful bouquets and laughed with each other as they enjoyed the beauty of the countryside and the fresh warmth of the spring sun. History has given us the names of only two of these young women, Mary Willie and Seny Sorensen.
In the country of their birth, springtime had always brought with it a celebration of the season; they had celebrated May Day in England and the Scandinavian countries as children. No reason could be seen not to elect from among the assembled group of friends a May Queen of their own. The method of selection is not known, but the first queen, Seny Sorensen was crowned on that day with a hand woven wreath of fresh springtime flowers.
From this early time until the present, Mendon has continued a proud tradition of celebrating spring by honoring the youth of the local area. The dances are taught, the songs are sung, the steps are memorized and the sound of one hundred or more, young girls praising the queen can still be heard in Mendon, on the first Saturday in May, at ten in the morning on the town square, rain or shine! Come and visit with us!
A History of Mendon's May Day
The May Day historical year Index with links, will take you to the information I have posted for that year. Enjoy your trip into the fun days of Mendon’s May Day past.