MAY DAY MAY DAY!*

MAY DAY MAY DAY!*

BY ROY McBRIDE

Mayday! Mayday!

Earth calling anyone

Mayday! Mayday!

To all my brothers and sisters

In the bombed-out cities of earth

Earth:

May you have peace.

May you have justice.

May you have joy.

May you have equality.

May you have understanding.

May you have compassion.

May you have love.

So many things that divide.

So many things to decide.

Whose side are you on?

I think you”'re right and you”'re

right and

you”'re right and you”'re right

and you”'re

right and you”'re right and

you”'re right

and you”'re right and you”'re

right and of

course I”'m right—I”'m always right!

Anybody left?

Anybody left out?

Alright!

Right on!

Right?

Right?

Roy McBride, Poet Extraordinaire; b. Dec 29^th 1943, d. July 29^th 2011, Printed with Permission

Roy McBride”'s poem Mayday! Mayday! with its creative-genius word play  set the cadence, and depth for a longer version written within the MayDay Workshop/Planning Sessions embellishing with the Theme of the Parade and Pageant”“IMAGINE-HEAL-RESIST”“and sung at the beginning of the May Day Pageant lakeside at Powderhorn Park by Jayanthi Kyle.

Related Images:

149th Memorial Day at Pioneers and Soldiers Cemetery: “Taking a Stand” on Memorial Day 2017

BY SUE HUNTER WEIR

The longest running tradition in Minneapolis Pioneers and Soldiers Memorial Cemetery is our Memorial Day (or, as it was called prior to 1971, Decoration Day) program.  As near as we can tell, this was our 149th observance, and, despite some on-again, off-again showers, it was one of our best.  Our keynote speaker, Major Grant McCall, took as his theme “Taking a Stand,” the theme that students who participated in this year”'s History Day competition focused on.  He spoke about courage and leadership and paid special tribute to the men of the First Minnesota who fought at Gettysburg, the battle that is generally acknowledged to have been the turning point in the Civil War.  He brought the message closer to home with stories of his grandfather”'s service, and the service and sacrifices of his own colleagues.… Read the rest “149th Memorial Day at Pioneers and Soldiers Cemetery: “Taking a Stand” on Memorial Day 2017”

Assisting Parade and Festival Waste Collection: May Day Green Team

BY THE MAY DAY GREEN TEAM

In the Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theatre”'s May Day Parade and Festival are the result of thousands of hours of planning, preparation, and performance.  Truth-be-told, many feel that the process of building the parade is more exciting than the event itself. Imagine that! This gathering of hundreds of volunteers–all ages, varying years of participating, different cultures””united in presenting these events””is a community building-miracle.

HOBT”'s May Day Parade and Festival leave a trail of excitement and good will. The Parade and Festival also leave a trail of waste, recycling and compost! That people gather to responsibly collect and dispose of that waste is also a community building-miracle””and we call that miracle The May Day Green Team.

The May Day Green Team”'s objective is to assist waste collection along the Parade route and manage the trash, recycling, and composting at the Festival in order to make the event “Zero-Waste” with the goal to recycle or compost at least 80% of the waste. This year”'s collected waste weighed 2218 pounds ( 1080 lbs. of compost, 630 lbs. of recycling, and 508 lbs. for the landfill.)

The team also wants to continue other “green” initiatives like using reusable plates.… Read the rest “Assisting Parade and Festival Waste Collection: May Day Green Team”