Just a Thought: Labor Day
Weekend
by Steve Walker
by Steve Walker
This is Labor Day Weekend and tomorrow is
Labor Day.
I love Labor Day since every five, or six
years my birthday lands on that national holiday. I celebrated my 65th birthday
on Labor Day at VFW Post 76 downtown for the beginning of the official
political season kickoff in 2011 for the 2012 May Primary. That birthday
however was especially memorable since I qualified for Social Security and
Medicare!
While that Labor Day sticks out in my mind
as unforgettable, most other holiday birthdays not so much. However, my one
other memorable Labor Day birthday was my 59th birthday,
as I stood on the sidelines of a local high school football field watching the
New Orleans Saints play a scrimmage practice. Owner Tom Benson stood on the
sidelines. I was privileged to shake his hand. That was during the 2005
Hurricane Katrina disaster.
As far as future Labor Day birthdays for
me, if I can survive and make it 4 more times, I will celebrate my 98th
birthday on that special Labor Day. Could be wishful thinking on my part right?
Since this year, September 5th lands
tomorrow on Labor Day once again, I will hit the ripe old age of 70, or as I
call it, three score and ten! Local singer Erica Gonzaba-Horvat who was a
finalist some years ago for Puerto Rico’s version of American Idol, l will
celebrate her birthday with me as well. She turns 31. This grandpa tells her
“my shoes are older than you!” Actress Raqhel Welsh is also born on September 5th.
What most fans don’t know is she is Hispanic. She was born in 1940 as Raquel
Tejeda. She worked as a model, pin up girl and actress. She made her debut in
the movie, “One million B.C.”
Ionically the first Labor Day holiday was celebrated
on Tuesday, September 5th 1882 in New York City in accordance
with the plans of the Central Labor Union. The CLU held its second Labor Day
holiday just one year later on September 5th, 1883.
In 1884 the first Monday
in September was selected as the official holiday, as originally proposed, and
the CLU urged similar organizations in other cities to follow the example of
New York and celebrate a "working men's holiday" on that date. The
idea spread with the growth of labor organizations, and in 1885 Labor Day was
celebrated in many industrial centers of the country.
In 1882, Matthew Maguire a machinist first
proposed the holiday while serving as Secretary of the CLU of New York. Others
argue that it was first proposed by Peter McGuire in May 1882, after witnessing the annual Labor
Festival in Toronto Canada. Oregon was the first state to make it a holiday on
February 21, 1887. By the time it became a federal holiday in 1894, signed into
law by President Grover Cleveland,
thirty states officially celebrated Labor Day.
Over time, speeches by
prominent men and women were introduced as part of Labor Day, as more emphasis
was placed upon the economic and civic significance of the holiday to include
modern celebrations to include Labor Day sales and specials.
As a former President of
the Harlandale Federation of Teachers which is affiliated with the AFL-CIO, I
served on the Central Labor Council of Labor Unions in Bexar County. As a union
member I have been an active part of Labor Day celebrations over the years that
happen coincidentally to coincide with an occasional birthday for me, like
tomorrow!
Since I have been
affiliated with the Bexar County AFL-CIO we have also had three female Hispanic
presidents to include Alicia
Garza, Rachel Hernandez and most recently Gloria Parra. In the 70s the
local elected the first Hispanic female president, Joan Suarez.
Whether or not you are a
union member, remember it is a national holiday to honor all hardworking
Americans who provide for their families. So Happy Labor Day tomorrow and
remember me when you celebrate!!!
As always, I write “Just a Thought.”
Steve Walker is a Vietnam Veteran, former Journalist and Justice of the Peace.
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