Labor Day Edition of the Travel Thread [Y-not]

I was going to do the Sunday Travel Thread on ice cream shops, per the request of a moron last week, but I decided to shelve that in favor of a Labor Day Weekend themed thread.

A brief history of Labor Day:

When did Labor Day begin?

The modern holiday is widely traced back to an organized parade in New York City in 1882. Union leaders had called for what they had labelled a "monster labor festival" on Tuesday, Sept. 5, according to Linda Stinson, a former historian for the Department of Labor (the idea for a general labor festival may have originated in Canada, which today also celebrates "Labour Day" on the first Monday in September). Initially that morning, few people showed up, and organizers worried that workers had been reluctant to surrender a day's pay to join the rally. But soon the crowds began flowing in from across the city, and by the end of the day some 10,000 people had marched in the parade and joined festivities afterward in what the press dubbed "a day of the people."

When did it become an official holiday?

The practice of holding annual festivities to celebrate workers spread across the country, but Labor Day didn't become a national holiday for more than a decade. Oregon became the first state to declare it a holiday in 1887, and states like New York, Massachusetts and Colorado soon followed suit. Under President Grover Cleveland, and amid growing awareness of the labor movement, the first Monday in September became a national holiday in 1896.

Labor Day weekend was never a big deal in our family. I'm not sure why. We weren't "beach people" so there was no rush to use the last few days of beach weather, nor did my parents have much disposable income for family trips.

As I've gotten older I appreciate it more -- but unfortunately it hits right when work gears up for my husband, so it remains a staycation holiday for us.

In recent years we've been going to the Soldier Hollow Sheepdog Trials in Midway, Utah. It's an easy drive from our house through some pretty country and the event itself holds interest to us as "collie people" (even though the collies they have at this event are border collies).

Here are a few pictures from this year's event, which also includes splash dog and fly dog competitions, as well as a lot of booths featuring Navajo handicrafts (including some really spectacular rugs this year) and the usual fair food. Usually it's a little too hot when we're there, but this year the weather was spectacular - low 70s with a light breeze.

We had lamb for lunch!

So how do you spend your Labor Day weekends?

posted by Open Blogger at 06:36 PM

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