Club sells May Day baskets
Candies and chocolates are a few foods students nibbled on while learning about traditional May Day folklore.
The NDSU Anthropology Club hosted the May Day Basket Sale on Tuesday.
The event allowed students to celebrate the long-awaited arrival of spring by taking part in the tradition of giving a May Day Basket.
Baskets of candies and chocolates were sold for $2.
They each contained a small note that described the tradition of giving May Day baskets.
This was the first May Day Basket Sale at NDSU and was sponsored by the Anthropology Club.
The club purchased the baskets using funds from the Haunted Tour event held earlier in October.
The May Day Basket Sale was an effort to raise funds for a lecture series that will be sponsored by the Anthropology Club next fall and spring.
Through the lecture series, the club hopes to bring guest lecturers to NDSU in order to foster a greater appreciation for the multicultural strengths of NDSU, and a greater appreciation for the discipline of anthropology.
The dainty baskets, which were covered with crepe paper, decorated with bows and filled with fresh flowers and confections, were hung on the front doors of houses.
After having rung the bell, the donor ran away to hide.
A search followed, which was often unsuccessful.
“We, as a group, wanted to use this event to make NDSU students aware of the folklore of May Day,” said Emily Hagemeister, a graduate student in anthropology and treasurer of the club.
“It is something new we are trying out, and people seemed to like it,” said Garrett George, a polyscience major, anthropology minor and a member of the club. “We are getting the response we expected to get.”
The Anthropology Club is a student-directed organization with sponsorship and advising provided by the anthropology faculty.
The club provides a forum for learning more about anthropology and related careers, and for interacting with students with different interests, levels of experience and education in anthropology.