Looking back on May Day...
In olden times May Day welcomed the coming of summer with villagers putting out all home and hearth fires and gathering in common to light a new fire. Families would take a bit of the new flame to rekindle home fires. Dancing around a Maypole, filling May baskets with flowers and leaping over fires all marked the pagan festival of Beltaine. During the 1880s May Day took on a new twist with labor unions demanding that beginning May 1, "eight hours shall constitute a legal day's work." By April 1886, a quarter of a million workers had committed themselves to go on strike as part of the May Day movement.

In Chicago, between 2,000 and 3,000 people attended a May 4, 1886 rally that erupted in violence when someone threw a bomb at police officers. The ensuing Haymarket Square Riot plunged the city into hysteria and Mayor Harrison declared martial law. In conjunction with the bombing, the state arrested and indicted eight anarchists, charging them with conspiracy to murder. Despite the fact that the state could not provide evidence that any of the men had knowledge of the bomb or that they had incited or participated in the violence, all but one of the defendants were found guilty and condemned to death. But it wasn't the men so much as their ideas that were considered dangerous. The seven were hanged on November 11, 1887.

After Haymarket, workers all over the world pointed towards May 1 as their day. After 1886, rallies, strikes and other militant actions promoted the cause of the working class around the world. A conservative element within organized labor- combined with the crushing, government repression of left-wing politics in the United States- allowed the significance of the day to become lost in this country. In 1894, President Cleveland signed a bill naming not May 1, but the first Monday in September, as Labor Day. This creatively sidestepped the day that carried such historical significance. Adding further insult, President Eisenhower proclaimed May 1 as "Law Day" in 1958.

The Backroads Bike Club will hold an organizational meeting for the upcoming spring and summer cycling season on Thursday, May 6 at 6:30 PM in the social lounge of the Door County YMCA Northern Door Program Center in Fish Creek.

The Backroads Bike Club meets once a week for an adult two-hour ride of moderate intensity. Most rides end with an optional social stop, sometimes ice cream, sometimes dinner. Riders of different abilities are welcome and no one is left behind! The group also intends to talk about "Women's Only" rides and "Family" rides for those who are interested.

If you can't make the meeting, stop at the Fish Creek "Y" and leave your name, address, phone number or e-mail and interests. A club representative will get back to you.

The American Lung Association's State of the Air: 2004 report was released today... Details on Wisconsin's air quality once again reveal that, while Door County didn't "earn it," we once again get an F on the quality of our air - with 18 orange alert days and 2 red alert days during the last measurement season. People considered to be "at risk" on these alert days include: kids 14 and under, adults 65 and over, individuals with pediatric or adult asthma, chronic bronchitis, emphysema or cardiovascular disease. Out of a population of 28,101, there are 7,736 Door County residents considered to be "at risk."

Find out what you can do about the problem at Environment 2004.

The latest upgrade to the Door County Compass Web Board allows you to pick a personal Avatar... up to a 100 X 100 px image that represents you. You can pick from the collection of avatars we supply, use an actual photo or look for a distinctive avatar at Avatarity is a site dedicated to being the best place on the net to come for Avatars.