Non-Implantable Maypole, anyone?
Okay, this has got to be the world’s oddest request, but I told my friends I’d make a few inquiries so here goes.
I have two friends who are getting married at the Cator-Woolford Gardens (formerly the CP Gardens) off Ponce de Leon Avenue the weekend before Beltane. The bride would love to have a Maypole at her wedding. However, the Garden’s managers won’t allow a hole dug into the ground. So this is the task I’ve been given: to find a non-implantable Maypole. The only idea I could come up with was a volleyball-net pole, you know the kind with a cemented tire at its bottom. But I’m not sure that would be tall enough, and even if it is, I have no idea how to find one and/or get it to the gardens.
Does anyone have any suggestions?
Thanks….
Carl
Carl, I will check at work tomorrow. Remember, The English Folk Dance and Song Society might as well be the Centre of the International Maypole.
April 10, 2006 at 11:29 am
There’s a free standing one, with four boards set up with a square in the middle for the maypole. Probably won’t get one very big, but it would work.
April 10, 2006 at 11:45 am
We have one we use inside that has a big metal base used for pipes or something. It came from the hardware store. Large flat bottom that narrows up to the top with a hole in the center. It’s pretty sturdy.
Some friends of mine did something a little different that was fun, interesting, and raised some really cool energy. They were the maypole. They stood together with one arm each raised, hands clasped and holding the ribbons. Then, close family came and wrapped them up in the ribbons, performing the “handfasting” part of the wedding.
Good luck.
April 10, 2006 at 11:53 am
Oh…what a wonderful idea!
April 11, 2006 at 2:34 pm
I was involved with a mayday celebration once that had similar restrictions. They were able to pull off a good maypole by using a christmas tree stand to hold the maypole.
April 10, 2006 at 3:35 pm
you could try putting a pole in a bucket full of cement, then you can paint the bucket and leae a little room at the top for added flowers and such.
April 10, 2006 at 6:49 pm
these are great ideas!
what about those stands they have for big outdoor umbrellas – the kind that go in the middle of the outdoor table? they could use the stand with their pole. I think they even sell those stands separately at homo depot.
April 10, 2006 at 8:24 pm
Finally an answer to this question– I haven’t been able to hook up with Diana because our workdays haven’t matched up.
Diana tells me that ALL maypoles over here are free-standing. You have a tall pole with a hollow metal base that is filled with sand for weight, and it goes into a holder, around which there are wooden planks set around kind of in a wagon wheel formation. The wooden base is held down with either sandbags or children, sitting back to back around the pole. They can also assist holding the ribbons.
So the official EFDSS answer is, “What do you mean? Traditional dancing May poles *are* free-standing!”
For sources in the US, check with Boston-area Morris sides: I recall that they had some movable Maypoles they used to bring the Cambridge Mayday celebrations all over Harvard Sqare area.
April 21, 2006 at 12:49 pm