HAPPY MAY DAY FROM THE CLINCH VALLEY TIMES — We hope you (like us) have enjoyed this beautiful spring day. We hope your May Day was accompanied by some happy memories, such as those pictured below.

Front Row , Lto R: LeRoy Hilton, Unknown, and Robert Jessee. Back Row, L to R: Alene Morris, Ruby Vance, Sylvia Coxe (May Queen), Mary Stallard, and Mary Cox.

(Below) the same photo as it appeared in St. Paul High School’s 1933 yearbook. The photos were taken in what was then St. Paul’s public park. Today, that spot is occupied by Home Town Hardware. The Russell Street store in the background was subsequently remodeled as a one-story building. It was well-known by area residents as the Dingus brothers’ shoe repair shop. Did you get taps or Cats Paw half-soles on your shoes there? I did.

(Below) Some May Day activities at St. Paul School, 1972

(Below) The 1972 St. Paul School May Queen and her Court

(Below) Some 1973 May Day activities at the St. Paul School. Were you one of the students who helped weave ribbons around the traditional May Pole?

May Day, once a celebration of spring and the renewal of the earth, is now mostly forgotten. In its day, it inspired gentle rivalry among young ladies for the title of “The Queen of the May.”