Dear Editor:
News of the city council's unilateral decision to eliminate the Lancers from this year's May Day celebration has reached us in Southwest Colorado, as family and friends share word of this surprising assault on our childhood memories and the culture of a great city that remains an ideal community to live in.
As youngsters growing up in the Royal City decades ago, we enjoyed the unique traditions of the May Day events every year, from our dancing around the maypole to applauding the May Queen and her suite. The Lancers' participation has always been a vital part of the festivities.
Please listen to the distress of New Westminster residents present and past. It is not too late for the council to reverse this decision and reinstate the Lancers. They represent a multi-generational, 100-year-old tradition that is worth preserving - and ever more relevant (and rare) in today's environment of celebrity-focused infotainment.
Carole Munroe Howard and Robert W. Howard, Pagosa Springs, Colorado
