Chester Chatter: May baskets for kind neighbors

By Ruthie Douglas
©2019 Telegraph Publishing LLC

May Day, a time for May baskets when I was young.

We kids in the neighborhood went to the nearby woods to gather wild flowers, pine cones and moss.

My sister Marie and I made baskets out of wallpaper, glue and staples. We line it with fresh green moss, smelling like the woods. My mother made two kinds of fudge to go along with the wild flowers.

We tied ribbon into bows on the handles and sometimes wrote a short poem.

Next door to us lived a Miss Douglas, who had come from Wisconsin. She had no family or children. So we kids visited her especially during summer vacation. She would invite us in for lemonade and cookies. Best of all, she read aloud to us, often the Old Mother West Wind stories . We could not forget her on May Day and perhaps she might ask us in for cookies.

At school, we performed the May Pole dance. Outside was a large high pole with countless colored ribbons. We had music and practiced the routine many times before May Day.

Recently at a class luncheon, we classmates could not remember how we performed it. Does anyone remember? Give us a call!

What a happy happy Easter I had. For the first time in nearly a year, I was able to get into my son-in-law’s car and go to dinner at my grandson’s house. What a treat!

Joe and Jean Bolaski spent some time in Maine recently. Wells Beach is not crowded at this time of the year and bike riding is fun.

There will be no Friday night food served at the American Legion on May 3. A gathering in memorial for Ricky Bliss will be held. The Sons of the American Legion will be on hand for the event.

The recent rains have greened up everything! Looking out my window, it cheers me up. Sitting outside before the rains, I got a bit of a sunburn!

• This week’s trivia question: What board game includes Vermont Avenue?
  
• Answer to last week’s trivia question: Popple Dungeon was named for the poplars that lined the roadway. The first reference in town reports dates back to the 1894 when its school district was called Poplar Dungeon
  

Street Talk

Do you eat fast food often? How often in a month?