May Day wasn't always a workers holiday. Before it was co-opted as International Workers Day in the 20th century, it had been celebrated for millenia as the beginning of summer--June's summer solstice thus becoming midsummer. Many European traditions made their way to America and into our celebrations.
Mom remembers May Day festivities growing up in small town Missouri. The kids would make May baskets from woven strips of construction paper, fill them with picked flowers, and leave them all over town. There was also maypole dancing in the schools. Poles with attached ribbons were set up, and classes would compete for the most intricately woven poles.
I don't remember a lot of May Day activities beyond worker parades. A nicer event is the national prayer breakfasts held around the country for the National Day of Prayer.
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