Here are a few photos of the Pecho School circa 1915-1920.
This one room school house was one of two that served the children living in
the Irish Hills, CA. These little buildings taught a whole generation reading,
history, writing and arithmetic in the great experiment called Public
Education.
All of my Aunties attended the school in their early years. Here is a photo of Marge and Georgia Callaway along with other students performing the May Day, May Pole Ribbon Dance:
 |
| The Pecho Schoolhouse with Georgia Ruda (photo courtesy of Diana Domenghini) |
All of my Aunties attended the school in their early years. Here is a photo of Marge and Georgia Callaway along with other students performing the May Day, May Pole Ribbon Dance:
 |
| The May Pole Ribbon Dance (photo courtesy of William and Barbara Todd) |
The following is a basic description of the Ribbon Dance:
Dancers gather in a circle, each holding
a colored ribbon attached to a much smaller pole. As the dance
commences the ribbons are intertwined and plaited either on to the pole itself
or into a web around the pole. The dancers may then retrace their steps exactly
in order to unravel the ribbons. This style of maypole dancing originates in
the 18th century, and is derived from traditional and 'art' dance forms popular
in Italy and France. These were exported to the London stage and
reached a large audience, becoming part of the popular performance repertoire.
Adopted at a large teacher training institution, the ribbon maypole dance then
spread across much of England, and is now regarded as the most 'traditional' of
May Day's traditional characteristics (Wikipedia 2013).
The May Pole dance is still performed today all over the world. Here is a 2012 performance from Merry Old England:
I think San Luis Obispo schools should resurrect the
tradition. What do you think?
Best,
Carl
