Rhode Island's "May Breakfast"

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   "May breakfast" is not in John Mariani's ENCYLCOPEDIA OF AMERICAN FOOD & 
DRINK.  DARE has "May breakfast" from 1968-1970.  Yikes!
   From the web, where it has over 1,000 Google hits.  THE BLOCK ISLAND 
TIMES, 7 April 2001
  
  
May Breakfast a Rhode — but not Block— Island tradition
By Elizabeth Stone 
      
    
For many Rhode Islanders, the coming of spring is celebrated with a 
century-old tradition, May Breakfast, but not on Block Island.

May Breakfast originated in Cranston, at the Oak Lawn Community Baptist 
Church in 1867. This year, 21 communities will hold May Breakfast, which 
feature traditional breakfast fare highlighted by the Rhode Island 
johnnycake.

Block Island Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Kathy Szabo said she had 
never heard of May Breakfast. However, long-time Block Island residents 
remember May Breakfast on the island many years ago, usually held at the 
Baptist Church or the Block Island School.

Each year, the Governor of Rhode Island hosts a special May Breakfast 
honoring Rhode Island residents 100 years and older. 

A typical May Breakfast is simple but filling. Most menus include fried or 
scrambled eggs, ham, bacon, baked beans, muffins, juice, coffee, tea and milk 
and a Rhode Island tradition, the johnnycake. According to the Rhode Island 
Tourism Division the johnnycake is derived from an Indian recipe using flint 
corn, a variety of hard kernel corn that thrives in the fog and salt air of 
the Ocean State. Early settlers stuffed the small, hard cakes called 
"journeycakes," into their pockets or saddlebags to eat during long trips. 
Today, johnnycakes have become synonymous with traditional Rhode Island.

Most towns hold their May Breakfast on May 4, Rhode Island’s Independence 
Day. On that day in 1776, Rhode Island, the smallest colony, declared 
independence from British rule, two months before the rest of the colonies. 
May is "Heritage Month" in Rhode Island. 

While you are out of luck on Block Island, there are some May Breakfasts held 
nearby on the mainland. Among them:

The oldest and original May Breakfast will be held for the 134th time at Oak 
Lawn Baptist Church, 229 Wilbur Avenue, in Cranston from 6 a.m. to 11 a.m. on 
May 1.

Also on May 1, Christ Church Parish House, 7 Elm Street, in Westerly, will 
hold its 87th annual May Breakfast on May 1, from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. 

On May 6, a May Breakfast will benefit the Snug Harbor Volunteer Fire 
Association. The event will be held from 7 a.m. to 11 a.m. at the fire 
station, 17 Bliss Road (off Succotash Road) in South Kingston. 

The Norman Bird Sanctuary, off Third Beach Road in Middletown, will hold the 
12th annual May Birds and Breakfast on May 20 fro 6:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. The 
morning features guided birdwalks through the sanctuary’s 450 acres, followed 
by a breakfast of egg casseroles, scrambled eggs, pancakes, fruit salad, 
pastries, bagels, coffee, tea and juice.