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Today is Midsummer’s Day, a public holiday in Sweden and some other Nordic countries. Midsummer is one of the oldest and most important holidays in Sweden. Festivities start on the Friday before – Midsummer’s Eve (Midsommarafton).

Similar to New Year, the main celebrations take place on the eve of the day. Traditional events include raising and dancing around a huge maypole, in Swedish called the Midsommarstången.

Some believe it originated as a symbol of fertility.  Even though the major fertility rites in ancient times, center around the beginning of spring, Midsummer was linked to an ancient fertility festival, as conception at this time would lead to a birth in March, which was traditionally seen as a good time for children to be born. Others think the shape of the pole has its roots in Norse mythology, and that it represents an axis linking the underworld, earth, and heavens. Many people will wear traditional folk costumes and listen to traditional music. It is also a holiday on which the Swedish will consume a large amount of alcohol and raucous drinking songs are a common sound during the celebrations.

Midsummer was considered to be one of the key times in the year when the power of magic was strongest and at it was thought to be a good time to perform rituals, particularly those which related to predicting the future. A tradition of this is one in which young people pick bouquets of seven or nine different flowers and put them under their pillow in the hope of dreaming about their future spouse.

BOOKS!!!

On this day in 1962, The “James Bond Theme”, first heard in the 1962 film Dr. No. The Bond Theme was recorded using five saxophones, nine brass instruments, a solo guitar and a rhythm section. The original recording of the theme was played by Vic Flick on a 1939 English Clifford Essex Paragon Deluxe guitar plugged into a Fender Vibrolux amplifier. Flick was paid a one-off fee of £6 for recording the famous James Bond Theme motif. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9-cDa4JCwM

Today is Labour Day in Trinidad and Tobago. Labour Day marks an uprising in 1937, that is seen as the beginning of the modern trade union movement in Trinidad and Tobago.

While there had been some efforts to create a movement to support workers in Trinidad and Tobago in the early part of the twentieth century, progress had been slow and sporadic.

On 18 June 1937, workers at the Butler Oil fields began a strike against the inequality of earnings from the oil industry. Police tried to arrest the leader of the strike, Tubal Uriah ‘Buzz’ Butler on 19 June. This led to riots which resulted in the deaths of nine workers and two policemen. Butler went on the run from the authorities, giving himself up in September 1937 and spending two years in prison. The riots were seen as a precursor to the creation of the Oilfield Workers Trade Union (OWTU), which became the first registered trade union in the country. The riots also led to a 1939 commission headed by Lord Moyne which attempted to investigate the causes of the riots and suggested recommendations to ensure that events wouldn’t be repeated.

Butler, a Grenadian immigrant, went on to form his own political party in the 1950’s and his efforts to improve rights of workers led to him being awarded the Trinity Cross, the nation’s highest honor. As well as having a major highway named after him, a statue of Butler stands at the Charlie King Junction in Fyzabad, the place where the police tried to arrest him in 1937.

Today is the birthday, in 1950, of Ann Wilson, lead singer of the American rock band Heart who scored the 1987 US No.1 & UK No.3 single ‘Alone’. Heart has sold over 35 million records worldwide. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PeMvMNpvB5M

Monday is Memorial Day in the United States – a day to honor and mourn those who died in defense of our country.

Memorial Day weekend is the unofficial start of summer and is often filled with fun activities – an outdoor barbecue, a trip to the pool or the beach, a get-together with friends and relatives, maybe enlivened by some wine or cocktails. We’ve had good weather here on the Shore and we’re enjoying it along with everyone else.

The first national observance of Memorial Day, then known as Decoration Day, occurred on May 30, 1868. the holiday was proclaimed by Commander in Chief John A. Logan of the Grand Army of the Republic to honor the Union soldiers who had died in the American Civil War.

Official recognition as a holiday spread among the states, beginning with New York in 1873. By 1890, every Union state had adopted it. The world wars turned it into a day of remembrance for all members of the U.S. military who fought and died in service. In 1971, Congress standardized the holiday as “Memorial Day” and changed its observance to the last Monday in May.

Enjoy the weekend with your friends and families but please take some time to remember those who have died for our country. Without their sacrifice, our country would be much different, or might not exist at all. And give a thought to the sorrow and loss of those they have left behind – their parents, wives, children, friends and comrades. Their grief is our grief too.

Thank you.