May 1 is a labor holiday in some countries other than the U.S. But people in my native Rhode Island — in a nod to their English forebears’ maypole tradition — celebrate what they call May Day by flocking to churches and granges to chow down on enormous breakfasts of old-fashioned foods like jonnycakes and clam cakes and to buy (pictured) brightly decorated baskets filled with flowers or candy. My story for Relish magazine explains.
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