The people living at Primrose Croft Care Home in Cambridge recently enjoyed a reminiscence session based around May Day, a holiday that celebrates the start of summer on the first Monday of May.
The residents sat around and discussed their May Day’s of the past. Some recounted tales from when they were younger and used to dance holding a ribbon, hoping to remember all of the steps so that the ribbons didn’t get tangled. They then watched clips of school children dancing around the maypole, commenting on the tunes that they danced to.
When Mary’s daughter heard of their reminiscence session via Facebook, she commented that she also remembers dancing around the maypole in Barrington when she was small. A lot of the residents said that their children used to too, and that they had loved watching the tradition move down a generation.
Everyone then had the chance to make some maypole decorations using an assortment of colourful ribbons that they could tie around a circle of wire. Biscuit the cat, who often sits on Christine’s lap, loved having all of the colourful ribbon to play with while Christine tried to craft with them. It was fun to watch and gave everyone a giggle.
The maypole decorations are now hanging up around Primrose Croft, giving off a rainbow effect for love, joy and hope.