It was quiet, even quieter than normal, as I walked through Memorial Park last Friday morning on my way to the office. There was a guy sitting on a bench talking on his phone and a couple playing pickleball, but they were the only ones sharing the park with me and my four-legged lady.
Now, you ask, what’s so strange about a city park being relatively quiet before 8:30 a.m. on a weekday? Nothing, I guess, but this was no ordinary weekday, this was the Friday following the Victoria Day long weekend, which is also known throughout Ladner as the opening of May Days, a day so revered among the younger set it’s only topped by Christmas, birthdays and the beginning of summer vacation.
On the Friday morning of May Days weekend, West Coast Amusements folks would be putting the finishing touches on the midway they bring to town every year, a sight so intoxicating for those of a certain age that the 3 o’clock bell just can’t come soon enough. The rest of the park would also be taking shape, from the stage being erected along 47th Avenue to the Ladner Legion beer garden being set up beyond the ball diamond’s left field line.
None of that, obviously, played out last weekend as May Days was the first, but certainly won’t be the last, of the big late spring/summer festivals in Delta to fall victim to the COVID-19 pandemic. A tradition that dates back 124 years, the annual fair was no match for the virus and the health measures required to combat it.
The good news is that May Days has skipped a year before. I remember back to 1996 when organizers held a banquet to mark the 100th anniversary, at which time my good friend, the late Edgar Dunning, who was then a spry 86, made it clear to me that although May Days had been around for a century, it hadn’t been held 100 times. I was told that year’s festivities could be termed the 100th anniversary, but not the 100th May Days.
I can’t remember why it hadn’t been held – I’m thinking it was because of the world wars – but suffice to say there have been extenuating circumstances so significant the fair has been cancelled in the past. It’s a shame 2020 has been added to that rather short list, but hopefully next year we can have one heck of a party to celebrate the 125th anniversary.
