Celebrating May: Then and Now at Pine Mountain

The month of May has long been a time of celebration at Pine Mountain Settlement School, rooted in the bond between community and agriculture. Dating back to our organization’s time as a boarding school in the early 1900’s, May Day was perhaps the most anticipated celebration aside from Christmas. Festivities were often located on campus’s grassy hillside, referred to as Dancing Green, where students, teachers, and Harlan County locals gathered to parade livestock, dance around the May Pole, and relish in recent planting of spring crops.

Traditions tie us together, and those which connect us to the land often have a way of enduring, regardless of how they change form. Although the May Pole no longer stands on Dancing Green and many of the traditional May Day customs have faded throughout the years, Pine Mountain Settlement School continues to welcome May with the same spirit that has defined the season for over a century. Perhaps one of the most evident expressions of this enduring spirit was seen during Grow Appalachia’s Heart Healthy Cooking workshop, during which participants shared stories of recipes, progress on their gardens, and admired the work accomplished within springs early weeks.

Heart Healthy Cooking began with a Cooking Demonstration led by Pine Mountain Settlement School’s Program Director, Kiristen Webb. As Kiristen led the workshop, she explained the value of flavor and benefits of reducing sodium heavy seasonings within everyday meals, such as the chicken and vegetable sample she prepared for participants to taste test. Following Kiristen’s presentation, members then created their own heart healthy herbal seasoning blend and collected an array of assorted pepper, tomato, herb, and sweet potato plants. In its own unique way, community gatherings like the Heart Healthy Cooking workshop extend Pine Mountain’s long‑held May traditions, bringing people together in celebration of the land and the community it sustains.