![Finishing her night out after attending a local concert, senior Grace Sauers smiles at the camera. She recently started a business, PrettySick, that takes photos as well as sells merch at local concert venues. Next year, she will attend Columbia Chicago College majoring in Graphic Design. “There's such a good communal scene because there [are] great venues in Austin,” Sauers said. “I'm gonna miss it in Austin, but I do know Chicago is good, it's not like I'm going to the middle of nowhere. I just have to find my footing again.” Photo Courtesy of Grace Sauers.](https://bestofsno.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Grace.png)
The class of 2025 set up the Maypole on the front lawn at 6 p.m. Friday, April 25. The seniors assemble the Maypole annually in preparation for the sixth grade students to weave it on Moving Up Day, which will take place May 30. Miya Nambiar (’25) and Lily Grouf (’25) said installing the stakes and ribbons of the Maypole made them feel bittersweet. Both Nambiar and Grouf have attended Archer since seventh grade and said they have watched the Maypole go up each year, looking forward for their turn. Both the senior students and their families attended the gathering.
“It’s such an Archer thing. I think, when a lot of people think of Archer, [the Maypole] is what they think of,” Grouf said. “Watching … other seniors put it up over the years, and now it’s kind of like [we’re] a part of a community of people who have done that.”
The history of the Maypole began in 1981 when Archer was the former Eastern Star Home for Women. It first came about when a group of neighbors wanted to make the holiday season more cheerful for the residents of the Eastern Star Home. This later became the Maypole tradition, occurring just before the start of May every year.
This story was originally published on The Oracle on May 4, 2025.