The opening ceremonies for Port Coquitlam's 88th May Day take place Friday, April 29 at the rec centre on Wilson Avenue. The May Queen for 2011, Hillary Rempel, and Ambassador Andrew Lloyd and their royal party will be assisting our mayor and council ushering in the events to follow in the next 10 days.
A highlight is the maypole dancing demonstrated that evening by representatives from our local elementary schools. The boys and girls have been diligently practising maypole dancing for months and the hard work of their parents and teachers will show in their performances.
And to think it all started as a school picnic by a river.
The first local observance of that old English tradition began in 1916, when James Park school principal Enid Cox and teacher Wynter Maxwell decided to have their own May Day here in Port Coquitlam as many people could not travel all the way to attend New Westminster's May Day, which goes back to 1870.
Seven years later, in 1923, Women's Institute president Christina Routley had the idea of having Central school come on board with James Park and the first official community May Day was held by the Coquitlam River on Marshall Island. The May Queen that year was Evelyn Mars, a descendent of well-known pioneer Donald McLean. The next year's event was held on the grounds of the old Junction school on Schoolhouse Road, where the maypole dance was first performed, the ribbons tied to the woodshed out back.
In 1925, the Women's Institute took over the organization of PoCo's May Day, something it would do for many years, and theirs truly was a labour of love. Many long hours were spent decorating cars and bikes and horse-drawn wagons into floats for the parade. PoCo Transfer, now known as PoCo Building Supplies, owned by Roger Galer, would donate a truck to carry the royal party. It, too, would be decorated, sometimes with old crushed milk cartons that somehow became flowers.
In those days, the May Day parade would start at Essondale, although technically in Coquitlam, but was "adopted," as so many PoCo people were employed at the hospital and whose school had an entry in the maypole dancing. The parade would wind its way along Dewdney Trunk Road and end up at the Aggie Hall grounds, on the city's northside. The procession would stop briefly at the War Memorial Cenotaph, when it was located where McMitchell Park is now, and pay their respects to PoCo's fallen soldiers. Sometimes it rained and the crepe paper decorations would be ruined but it never dampened the enthusiasm that May Day brought to our community.
In those days, the Lancer's Dance was taught by Bill Marshall Sr. to the fathers and escorts of the Royal Party, and the dance that ended the evening was always a wonderful event, with the Melody Kings providing the music. This well-known band consisted of siblings Tom, Jim, Winnie and Bessie David, and the dances were held at the Aggie Hall and, later, Viscount Alexander school.
As the city grew, so did May Day, from a one-day event, to a weekend, then later to a week-long celebration over two weekends. The parade no longer winds its way to the old Aggie Hall, which was demolished in 1976, and the cenotaph is now located in front of city hall on Shaughnessy Street, where the parade passes now.
A lot has changed over the last 88 years but one thing remains constant: the time and effort that the citizens of Port Coquitlam, young and old, put into its May Day celebrations.
Be sure to come by the rec centre on Wilson Avenue Friday night for some great and historical (and free) entertainment put on by the kids.
Your History is a column in which, once a month, representatives of the Tri-Cities' heritage groups writes about local history. Bryan Ness is a member of the Port Coquitlam Heritage and Cultural Society.
