SHEPHERSTOWN MAY DAY Revels - Sat. May 2nd

ShepherdstSHEPHERSTOWN MAY DAY Revels - Sat. May 2ndown Celebrates the Coming of
Spring

What a spring we are given this year - grass so green, breezes with bright sun
and calves dancing across the meadow. The town of Shepherdstown distinguishes
itself by setting aside a special day each year to celebrate this time of beauty
together as a community of children, dancers, music makers, poets and
historians.

In a celebration that goes back hundreds of years, the town will gather to
parade and dance a May Pole ceremony on Saturday, May 2nd in the heart of
downtown Shepherdstown.

At 10am, Morris Dancers start warming up on King Street, and storytelling and
wand-crafting for young children begins at Four Seasons Books.

The Search for the Golden Arrow, which symbolizes the first ray of sunshine,
commences at 11am at the Lost Dog Café. There, children will find their first
clue. Gather clues, solve the riddles and a golden arrow will be yours! At the
same time, live music starts on the porch of Shepherd University's McMurran Hall
at the corner of King and German Streets with musicians Don Oehser, Arnold
Smith, Todd Coyle, The Corsettes, Mike Wisniewski and Lisa Lafferty performing.

At 11:30am, parade participants gather along Church Street near the Episcopal
Church to line up. All wanting to celebrate the coming of spring are welcome to
participate. Newcomers may talk with May Day organizers at the rise of the hill
to be included in the lineup.

At 12 noon, the parade will commence and make its way down German Street to the
lawn at McMurran Hall. Skateboarders lead the way, followed by cake maidens,
the Green Man, Morris teams from all around the east coast region, the Traveling
Wheelbarrows and wheelbarrow babies, musicians, dogs on leashes festooned with
flowers, bike riders, flower bedecked maidens wearing white or the colors of
spring, men shouldering a huge maypole, wee ones wearing wings, mothers and
daughters carrying garlands of flowers, fathers and sons and more. Unicyclists,
stilt walkers, jesters, bubble blowers, jugglers, drummers, puppets and painted
faces are welcome! Bounce a big ball, put on a homemade costume, don a cape or
wear a mask. Carry greenery or a small maypole, or push a painted wheelbarrow
full of flowers and vegetables. Got a hula hoop? Bring it! Come one, come all
and welcome the spring!

At 12:30 the ceremony will begin beneath the May Pole with dancer Kitty Clark,
the Green Man and the wrapping of West Virginia's largest May Pole. Fiddlers
and pipers and dancers young and old will bring in the spring.

Live music continues on the porch at McMurran until 3pm, so bring a picnic and
join in the delight. Then from 3pm to 5pm, Morris teams perform at the Bavarian
Inn and return again to the heart of town from 5pm to 6pm to dance in the May.

For more information, contact Laura First at Laura9first@... or
301-676-0195, or Cheryl Mansley at riverhousemusic@... or
304-702-0554. For questions regarding the search for the Golden Arrow, contact
Barbara Hartman at bheart@....