Martha Roberts Cash plaiting the maypole during the first Island Roots Festival in 1977. The Royal Bahamas Police Force played for the maypole dancers. The following day the Maypole dancers and the Police Band to performed in Marsh Harbour.

Alton R. Lowe recalls…

𝘐𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘱𝘩𝘰𝘵𝘰𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘢 𝘯𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘨 (𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦!) 𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘺𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘤 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝙍𝙤𝙮𝙖𝙡 𝘽𝙖𝙝𝙖𝙢𝙖𝙨 𝙋𝙤𝙡𝙞𝙘𝙚 𝘽𝙖𝙣𝙙. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘴. 𝘋𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘉𝘢𝘩𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘈𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘧𝘭𝘢𝘨𝘴.

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘮 𝘪𝘵𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘹𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘵𝘺 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘶𝘨𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘱𝘰𝘱𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘳. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘱𝘪𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘌𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘰𝘵𝘵 𝘚𝘢𝘸𝘺𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘧𝘦, 𝘋𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘌𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘰𝘵𝘵’𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳-𝘪𝘯-𝘭𝘢𝘸, 𝘡𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘦. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘣𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘥, 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘭𝘶𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘈𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘧𝘭𝘢𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘭𝘶𝘦, 𝘣𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘉𝘢𝘩𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘢𝘯 𝘧𝘭𝘢𝘨.

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘵 𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘰 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘴𝘩 𝘏𝘢𝘳𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘳. 𝘍𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘕𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘢𝘶. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘈𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘰𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘯 𝘉𝘢𝘩𝘢𝘮𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯. 𝘚𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘉𝘢𝘩𝘢𝘮𝘢𝘴 𝘎𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘔𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘛𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘮 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳. - Alton