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With Labor Day weekend fast approaching, it's time to start thinking about how to spend the last long weekend of the summer. I've never taken the time to find out how Labor Day came to be or even what we were celebrating. So when I received the newsletter from our Yacht Club I was pleased to see some facts about the holiday and thought that I would share them with you. The holiday originated in Canada out of the labour disputes, Nine-Hour Movement, that took place first in Hamilton and then Toronto, Ontario in the 1870's. As a result of the disputes, the Trade Union Act legalized and protected union activity in 1872. Parades held in support of the Nine-Hour Movement and the Printer's Strike led to an annual celebration in Canada. In 1882 American labor leader Peter J. McGuire witnessed one of these labour festivals in Toronto. Inspired, he returned to New York and organized the first American "labor day" on September 5 of the same year. Congress made Labor Day a federal holiday on June 28, 1894. I don't know what the weather's been like where you live, but here in Oklahoma we're currently experiencing cooler than normal weather. So since our sail boat needs to be repaired and the current weather report is calling for rain the entire weekend, a trip to the lake for a weekend of sailing is out of the question.
Tags: Sailing
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