Page Four.
THE SALEMITE
Friday, April 30, 1943.
WAKE ME EARLY FOR I'M TO BE
QIIEEN OF THE MAY, DEAR MAMA
Chairmen Discuss May Day
P.™u, Beet, H,,we.l. Ed.lh Sh.pta,
CHAIRMEN PULL PUPPH fflNGS BACKSTAGE
TO MAKE ANNUAL MAY DAY FESTIVAL CLICK
WHAT’S BEEN
DONE BEFORE
RIGHT HERE
Perhaps the origin of May Day
dates )>ack to old Rome when the
Ijatins worshipped Flora, the god
dess of fertility. But Chaucer was
among the first to call attention to
the English celebratiop. On May
first, says he, it was customary for
all “to fetch home, flowers freshe.”
Down through the Middle Ages peo
ple continued making merry in the
spring. Then, the fairest maid in
a village who received admiration
from the revellers became Queen.
The May Pole for years has meant
a special feature of the festival. It
was destroyed in England by the
Puritans but reappeared with the
Bestoration.
Salem’s celebration of May Day
has been recent. In 1922, Salem had
no May Day Chairman—various
campus organizations produced May
Day festivals. Then the MacDow-
ell Club, a dramatic organization,
sponsored a simple pageant in which
Miss Elizabeth Parker was the
Grecian Queen.
The following spring, under the
direction of the Annual Staff, Mias
Dois Crowell, as May Queen, sought
to depose King Winter. When the
spectators gathered in the dell; the
court, dressed as snow elves, had
already assembled. After many in
trigues, the Queen succeeded in
destroying the elfigy of King Win
ter and regained her throne.
Until 1927, S"alem abandoned May
Day festivals. That year, despite
the desire for blooms, the roses re
mained closed until Queen Bessie
Clark waved her magic sceptre.
In 1928, Miss Sarah Kincaid pre
sided over a fairy book . . . “When
Fairy Hales Come True.” As the
Queen commanded the pages to be
turned, fairies danced forth reveal
ing tales of Bed E'iding Hood and
Cinderella.
The Salemite, in 1929, announced
merely that Miss Mary Johnson was
Queen. No other notation followed.
The spectators sat in a dell of
great shells, grey moss, and green
grass on May 3, 1930—a sea kingdom
presided over ,by Fritz Firey. Since
the regent’s crown had been lost;
Neptune summoned sea nymphs and
mermaids to search for the crown in
order that it might be returned.
For the theme of the 1931 festival,
ruled over by Miss Elizabeth Allen,
the Stee Gee went back to Eobin’s
rule of Sherwood Forest. Begin
ning w'ith the Little John-Bobin tus-
sel, the play continued until Bobin
won the shooting match at the vil
lage celebration in Nottinghamshire.
Anna Preston, in a white satin
gown, reigned over the court in
1932. She and her attendants, who
wore pastel lace dresses and carried
tulle parasols, contributed to a pag
eant about George Washington.
See—HISTOE Y—^Page Five.
IRS HONORS
GAY LADIES
WITH DANCE
- j
Excited talk, mad rushing, last
minute calls and telegrams—l-all re
mind us that tomorrow is the big
night! It is then that we will have
our spring dance—the grand con
clusion of our May Day festivities.
The prevailing gaiety wiU be accent
ed by the decorations in vivid
South American colors, and refresh
ments will be served at intermis
sion. There will be a special no
break for the members of the May
Court and their dates at which time
the spot light will fall on the in
dividuals, and they will be rec-
ogfnized. The escort for the figure
will be: Bill Northington with Mary
Louise Eousseau, Campbell Ansley
with Becky Candler, Eugene Sutton
with Carlotta Carter, Jake Alex
ander with. Leila Sullivan, Billy
Trinkle with Jean Fulton, Lt. Jack
Boaeh with Sis Shelton, Ensign Tom
Hayes with Julia Garrett, Beauford
Goldstien with. Frances Turner,
Wxay Amos with Helen McMillan,
Pred Tucker with Jean Hodges, and
goodness-only-knows with Mary
Alderson and Mildred Lee. Claude
McNeil will escort the Maid of
Honor; and Doc Shull, the Queen.
Not Beautiful?
—f Think I Am
(Peggy Nimocks)
Well, May Day is almost here . . .
I can’t believe it! I can’t believe
that the girls have absolutely over
looked such beauty as mine. I tried
^y best to get in the court . . -
flossed myself, pretitioned myself,
and did everything in my power;
but nothing went through. Maybe
jealousy is the keynote of the
trouble . . • maybe I can steal
show any how—then they’ll be sorry
they’ve neglected me.
How time flies! It is Saturday
already! Now I’ll strut down into
the May Dell via the path the court
will, take . . . “Good golly, there’s
an old pal of mine, I believe.
Helloooo, Tizy! Just a minute—^I’l
be there to see you as soon as I
get down this hill.” So I traipse
down the main route and struggle
through the crowd to see Tizy.
‘ ‘ Pardon me sir—didn’t mean to
knock your hat off. Excuse me—^I
didn’t mean to hurt your corn. Oh,
I’m sorry—I didn’t intend to burn
such a large hole in your suit . .
Only three more men. to knock
down, and I’ll be over there with
Tizy. “Well Tizy, I haven’t seen
you in years. How are youT . . .
You don’t remember me? . . .Where
did I know you? . - . Your name
isn’t Tizy? . . . You’ve never seen
me before? Oh come on—^you are
Tizy Lish, aren’t you? ... You
aren’t! . . . Oh, I see. Say Mister,
iuit laughing. I’m very sorry Miss—
I will go now. Pardon me sir—^I
am sorry—excuse me.”
Well, I’ll go prop my body on the
tree—that’s a pretty conspicuous
place. Yes, a glamorous pose is the
thing ... Oh look! There comes
Annie May. I well know that I am
much prettier than she. Hurrah for
Annie! “An-neeee! . . . Annie! .
over here. Annie.”
“What did you say, sir? . . . Quit
making a fool of myself? . . .
attracting attention? . . . But sir
• . . Yessir, I’m leaving right now
sir.” ’
The week before May Day; and
all through the house, not a creature
was stirring . . . except Chairman
Bead! A week from spring vacation
until May Day ... a week in which
to practice the dancers and the at
tendants and the speakers! As far
as anyone knew, there were only
three things ready for the gala oc
casion.
Although Wee Blue Chairman
Howell had chopped up three fingers,
grilled both wrists, and lost count
less hours of sleep fretting over col
lecting from the eating debtors . . .
the money was right there on hand.
Music Chairman Shamel had raked
up the most appropriate of South-
of-the-Border compositions . . .
after she had, in the capacity of
Nominations Chairman, found out
who the students wanted as their
beauties. TTiese beauties were cloth
ed in gay dresses worked out by
Normie Tomlin . . . and that much
of the pageant was ready to shoot.
The other committee heads, how
ever, were just about frantic. Dance
Chairman Shapiro was threatening
to murder all the would-be dancers
who somehow failed to manage show
ing up at rehearsals . . . but, to
make up for their in,adequacies, she
was gracefully twisting and turn
ing through the movements of her
own solo all the while. All through
the halls of Cfewell and Strong
canvassed Little Yelverton in per-
suit of good speaking voices which
would possibly do over the micro
phones. All over the campus raced
Becky Candler shouting, “Flowers,
flowers . . ..where in the world are
the flowers?” And right behind her
searched Properties Chairman Betty
Moore . . . now, how should we know
where to look for a bull on Salem
Campus! On the trail of Betty,
fretted Program Chairman Engram
. . . why did the Queen’s name have
to be spelled with an n instead of
a k? Then the panorama flew past
with Costume Chairman Struven
peeping out from under scores of
brilliant cloths ... did anybody
know how to sew simple seams on a
machine? And finally . . . almost lost
in the crowd . . . wjiizzed Publicity
Chairman Parrish with a stack of
'Colorful Fiesta
Captures Scene
La Fiesti de Hayo
They’ll come dancing over the
bridge into the May Dell—all
arrayed in bright colored costumes.
They are a group of gay senoritas
and gauchos coming for May Fiesta
Day. There is a cheerful holiday
spirit in the air much music and
dancing.
To begin with, three pretty sen
oritas are dancing on the bridge.
In the dell, a dashing gaucho is fed
red peppers and shrieks in pain from
eating too much hot ones. A group
of senoritas and gauchos do a gay
tat dance. Then suddenly a much-
acho runs up and down shouting that
the Queen and her court are coming.
Down the long slope to be dell
slowly walk the lovely senoritas of
the court—dressed in red, green
purple, orange, blue, and yellow!
The beautiful senorita who is to be
crowned queen follows and takes
her place upon the throne. Then the
Queen’s favorite dancer entertains
with a lively dance. The gauchos
dance when she has finished and are
followed by a groupe who serenade
the Queen. Everyone is gay and
joyful. The toreadors also do a
dance to entertain the Queen and
her court.
Knally, the climax of Fiesta Day
is reached. The Queen is crowned!
As she sits regally upon her throne,
some senoritas and gauchos dance
the Kerchief Dance. T'his is the gay
end of the Fiesta Day. Although
many other fiestas will be held dur
ing the coming year, everyone is sad
that she will have to wait another
year before the May Fiesta will take
place again.
glossies and an eye for vengeance
because Ceil had yet to ha'^e her
picture taken!
So this is the way it’s gone for
the last hectic week; but don’t be
alarmed ... it’s only Friday night!
The committees have, however, in
all seriousness done a most credit
able job ... a job which makes
May D|ay the festive spectacle it is.
fwiTH COURT
OF BEAUTY
CROWN HER!
Vive la fiesta! This year’s May
Day combines a Spanish holiday
with the traditional May Pole frolic
—and promises to be as full of
color and song as a day iu old Ma
drid.
Queen Geil Nuchols of Charlotte,
N. 0., is a fitting majesty to rule a
court of Spanish pulchritude. E'e-
splendent in floral tiara, her five
feet ten of dark regalness befits
her Latin role. Dark eyes—vivac
ious and wise despite the sultry
shadows behind them—a quick and
sparWing smile — gleaming white
teeth a confident and graceful
walk make Ceil a Queen to whom
all can pay willing homage.
In personality as well as in physi
cal attributes is Ceil a Queen—for
she is quick of judgment, forceful,
and possessed of certain positive
opinions which bespeak a strong and
confident mind. Her nimble wit
combined with a salty and saucy
sense of humor make her a conver
sationalist of rare charm. Her in
terest is varied and covers a wide
range of fields—from the New York
er to Harper’s—from Prokofleff to
Beethoven—from Van Gogh to Mi
chelangelo—from Wilber Steele to
Shakespeare. An ardent movie dev
otee—she favors Van Hefflin, hates
with singular passion Abbott and
Costello, and enjoys thoroughly a
good Walt Disney. With such a
diversity of interests, her creative
ability^ is enhanced. In rare moods
she will play for her willing list
eners original arrangements of
loved music—and sometimes even
her own compositions. Her literary
ability needs no comment—for as
editor of this paper, a year of work
speaks for itself.
As if in direct contrast to the
handsome and brunette Queen, i?
Maid-of-Honor Barbara Hawkins of
Blackstone, Va. Petite, polite, and
pretty; her blond hair, creamy com
plexion, and quiet blue eyes are
remin^cent of a Dresden figurine.
Her figure is slender—her move
ments shyly graceful—and her man
ner quiet and pleasant.
Her quiet and gentle personality
encourages friendships of the firm
and lasting type. Kind to all—she
has many admirers, numerous well-
wishers, and many close friends on
this campus. In personality as in
beauty, Barbara is a direct contrast
to the energetic Queen Ceil—and is
a fitting Maid-of-Honer.
Among the attendants of Queen
Ceil and Maid Barbara—is one Mary
Louise Eousseau. Bosie is a Win-
ston-Salemite, and has descended the
ramp of the May Dell with Ceil for
four years. This is a tribute to her
unswerving good looks. Crisp brown
hair from sparkling brown eyes and
a smile of quick delight. Bosie’s
figure is small and perfect—^her walk
the result of good discipline. Con
genial with all, sometimes scatter
brained, femininely catty, but fun
to be around is Bosie. S'omewhat
unstable to men, she wins admiration
and envy from many.
Two more Seniors grace May Court
-Becky Candler of Charlotte, N. C.,
and Carlotta Carter of Washington,
N. C. Becky is tall—of a leisurely
and ambling walk, and softly curl
ing brown hair with golden lights.
Unassuming and slow to anger,
Becky is a comforting person to be
around. Her eyes are large and
brown, her smile slow and genuine.
There is a dreamy, out-of-this-world
quality in Becky which makes one
long to discover the reason for her
frequent far away gazes.
Carlotta Carter—she of the su
perb slender figure which she is shy
about she of the young, young
spirit, and the ridiculous folding
nees. Carlotta, the actress; Cootie
tne companion—Carlotta the charm-
ing; Cootie, the modest—possessed
an extremely firm jaw for one so
nderstanding, a straight nose, and
sott grey eyes—the brown haired
See—COUBT—Page Six