Using crepe paper, my mother, Constance Williams, and a few girls made flowers and dresses in preparation for Havre de Grace Colored High School's May Day celebration in the late 1940s. The festival's centerpiece of dancing around the maypole as they braided a colorful pattern captivated a young Constance. "It sometimes was cold," but it didn't matter, says the 89-year-old, her face alight as she talks. "I thought it was the most beautiful thing."