Dear Editor: The year 2013 will mark the 143rd New Westminster May Day celebrations. Because it is unique to New Westminster, May Day is the one civic event that truly unites New Westminster citizenry of all ages and past generations.
From the day Coun. Chuck Puchmayr chose to make public comment to the press about the traditional May Day dance of the Lancers, not a day goes by that someone doesn't engage me in conversation to discuss the matter.
Though Coun. Puchmayr felt the need to clarify that his quest to "modernize" the dance (because a number of residents told him the dance made them uncomfortable) was "no disrespect" to either the Lancers or the tradition, the fact of the matter is that a great many New Westminster residents are highly offended by his actions because of the unmistakable insinuation that something untoward either has or could take place. With sarcasm, some have asked "What's next? Will we stop children from sitting on Santa's knee?" Having an awareness of the process and knowing the responsible chaperoning of the girls, and also knowing many of the Lancers (past and present), without question, I can say that it is an absurdity to insinuate anything negative about this tradition.
To those who have any gut-reaction objections to the Lancer dance and/or any question as to what exactly transpires up to the day of performance, I suggest that they learn about it before they criticize it. If, after learning the facts of the tradition, there is still "objection" to it, just as one would choose to by-pass an offensive program on television, don't watch it.
Performed by mature gentlemen of notable community standing and the young girls elected annually to the May Day suite, the traditional Lancer dance is now in question for the upcoming May Day celebrations. The motion about making changes to the dance that was passed at council was to schedule a discussion between members of council and the school board with a friendly amendment to also include representation from the Lancers.
The following are some of the comments/questions that have been thus far expressed to me: 1. Why was the May Day committee excluded from the discussion table, or the girls (and their families) who have performed the dance in years past? It has been pointed out that, as they perform the dances, the girls' faces absolutely glow with happiness; they are having fun. Nothing threatening or harmful is afoot, just the opposite. In fact, the dance is more usually characterized as being very "fatherly." It is an apt description because it used to be that the dance involved the fathers of the girls in the May Day Suite, but after the war, when some girls were without a father, upstanding men from the community substituted, and that has been the standard ever since.
2. Are there not more urgent matters that deserve his attention like the fact that New West residents are so highly taxed compared to the rest of the province? 3. Some have cited issues that have been brought to the councillor's attention but never been publicly "aired" or formally addressed by council, and their question is, "why this issue and not others?" One letter writer posed the question, "what is this really about?" Some of the people who have engaged me in discussion of the matter would answer: "political cache" ... earning the financial contributions made to his political campaign from unions, some members of which are highly vocal against May Day.
Note: Some teachers resent their "forced" involvement with the celebration of May Day and subscribe to an unofficial "when will it end?" campaign. The fact is, the dance portion of May Day satisfies the Education Ministry curricula requirements and is an established part of New Westminster curricula, and further, it is a condition of hire in New Westminster. If the condition is not acceptable to staff, it is well within their right to decline employment in this district and to seek employment in neighbouring districts.
Personally, I know staff who fully endorse May Day and staff who do not, all of them being excellent individuals. If the latter chose to teach elsewhere, it would be a loss to the district and a loss to the students/families who would miss out on the benefits of their professionalism, but if that were the case, I would have no choice but to respect their personal convictions.
That aside, like many other New Westminster residents, I too am puzzled as to why a long-standing, wholesome, community-building celebration like May Day would ever be the target of such negativity, and I wonder what good would be achieved if it were to end? Perhaps, more to the point, folks ought to give more consideration to what would be lost if it were to end.
Personally, I think that if there are changes to be made, they ought to come about as a result of positive thinking, and they ought to enhance the celebration without diminishing existing traditions, very much like the decision to incorporate the Royal Knights as part of the existing May Day Suite.
Lisa Graham
New Westminster
