The 2018 Labor Day will be long gone by the time you read this. I trust it was a safe and enjoyable venture for you all. In honor of the holiday, I decided to do some research and brush up on the historical basis for celebrating the first Monday in September.
So, did you know?
The idea first became public in September 1882, when the New York City based unions decided to have a parade to celebrate their union membership, and to show support for all unions. At least 20,000 people participated even though the workers had to give up a day’s pay to attend. Apparently, beer was quite plentiful during the festivities. The idea spread to Oregon, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Colorado by 1887. Grover Cleveland made Labor Day a federal holiday on June 28th, 1894.
Traditions connected with the Holiday: according to the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council Americans eat 7 billion hot dogs between Memorial Day and Labor Day. Therefore, Labor Day is considered the unofficial end of the Hot Dog season. Starting in the late Victorian era, it was considered a serious fashion faux pas to wear white clothing after the official end of summer on Labor Day. Doing so, implied that one was “still in vacation mode”.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there were 14.8 million union members in the workforce in 2017 down from 17.7 million in 1983. The biggest union currently is the National Education Association with about 3 million members including inactive and lifetime participants.
Prayer list: Irvin Fette, Eddie Trinkle, Barbara DeNoon, Jake Rader, Joyce Earles, Dale and Eric Simon and Red HOT Hatters Patty Chase, Lura Riga, June Lack, Sandy Dawson and Sondra Stave. My home phone line has been inoperable now for approximately 10 days so no phone calls from Patty Chase or Mary Christiani this week.
The next Red HOT Hatter luncheon is being planned for Friday, September 21st at the Two Rivers Restaurant inside the General Butler State Park, Carrollton, Kentucky. Tentatively it will begin at 11 a.m. followed by shopping.
On November 3rd, the Red HOT Hatters will co-sponsor a concert at Vevay’s Historic Theater starring Hoosier writer and performer Tom Roznowski. For this performance, Tom will be joined by Mike Lucas (piano) and Carolyn Dutton (violin). Tickets will be on sale the first of October. Proceeds will be donated to the Antoinette “Toni” Kniola Memorial Fund at the Community Foundation of Switzerland County. Further details are forthcoming.
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You may contact me several ways: by leaving a note of message inside the cat mailbox in front of 1995 Front Street in Patriot; or by calling my home at (812) 594-2281; or dropping me a note at P.O. Box #01, Patriot, Indiana, 47038. In addition, contact Kay E. Cook on Facebook or online at PatriotNews1995@gmail.com. If you have anything for me to include in this article, please send it to me. Information can be received any day of the week but normally my deadline is Sunday at noon for that week’s issue of the paper. Any news received later will appear in the following week’s article. If you need something in a particular issue, please be sure and give it to me early.