Here we are in the middle of spring and we are finally blessed with springtime weather.  Our roses are loving it and so is the Peninsula Rose Society.  This means we will have roses for our May 7th show.  Life as a rose doesn’t get any better.

When I write up these messages I always delve into learning something or revisiting a topic I once knew but have forgotten.  This month I wondered, “what is the meaning of May Day”?  Over the decades there have been several different meanings and festivities that are recognized on May 1st.  There are two very fitting histories of the expression “May Day” and I find these two both pertain to the Peninsula Rose Society.

The first meaning is May Day got its start as an international distress call in 1923.  It was made official in 1948.  It was the idea of Frederick Mockford, who was a senior radio officer at Croydon Airport in London.  He came up with the idea for “mayday” because it sounded like the French word m’aider, which means “help me”.  The Peninsula Rose Society can relate to this because we have all secretly been calling “mayday” in distress of our roses not blooming in time for our show.

The second meaning is that here in the United States we celebrate the season of Spring. This meaning is celebrated in many different cultures around the world. It is a day of unity, togetherness and a day for everyone to celebrate life.

I’m so glad we are celebrating Spring and not calling “mayday!”.  Our show is not on May 1st,  but on the 7th we definitely will be celebrating unity and the beauty of our roses.  So please join our celebration and take your time to smell the roses.

Judy Webster