Labor Day

Labor Day is one of those holidays where you can just relax. No Santa, no bunnies and, most importantly, a day off from work.  For some of us however, Labor Day means going into work anyway (guilty of it myself on many a first Monday of September through the years) and having to watch everyone else be off and enjoying the respite from the daily grind.

Fear not, lonely Labor Day worker, this column is for you.

The holiday first began in 1882 in New York City and the idea was developed by the Central Labor Union. This same organization also helped conduct and hold the second holiday about a year later before state after state jumped on the bandwagon to be a part of the “workingmen’s holiday”, culminating in twenty five or more states joining in by 1887, with most of those the capitals of our nations industrial workforce.

Original festivities included a parade in honor of the American worker and a festival for the worker’s family and children. Although the festivities have died down a bit as time went on, this is still an important date that still has deep meaning in our modern times.

Here are some interesting Labor Day related facts:

•  Some of the first Labor Day celebrations included: “speeches, a picnic, an abundance of cigars and, Lager beer kegs… mounted in every conceivable place,” according to a New York daily paper of the day.

•  Although the holiday has innocent roots planted in good intentions, part of the reason behind the first ever Labor Day celebration in Times Square was to help quell recent worker unrest and violence.

•  Labor Day really hit the spotlight in the 1930’s when most labor related laws were created and passed and standards were begun for wages and worker’s rights.

•  Even now, over a hundred years later, no one really knows who actually had the idea of the Labor Day holiday, with both cabinet maker Peter McGuire and future union secretary Matthew Maguire getting the nod in some circles as the father of Labor Day.

•  The average American’s commute to work is about twenty five minutes and most workers will spend almost one hundred hours a year traveling from work to home.

•  The Labor Day festivities in Detroit, Michigan were once the start of presidential campaigns for Democratic candidates the likes of Adlai Stevenson, Harry Truman and Lyndon Johnson.

So, in reality, nameless worker who will still be commuting and breaking a sweat this Labor Day, we may not all be at work but this holiday is really in celebration of you, the backbone of our nation, for every day you clock in and get to work.

Thank you.

The 4th Annual Flip Flop Festival will be held Saturday, September 1st. Enjoy music, food and craft vendors – a full day of fun for the entire family including kids korner, cloggers, horseshoes and washers, and beach volleyball, from noon until 8:00 p.m., at Bayfront Peninsula off Hwy. 238 in Port Lavaca. The day’s festivities will conclude with Jack Ingram in concert that evening at 9:30, with tickets for the concert $15 presale and $20 at the gate. Tickets are available online, and at several Port Lavaca locations including: Port Lavaca Chamber of Commerce office, First Victoria Bank, Port Lavaca Wave, and Gulf Coast Title.

http://www.portlavacatx.org/

It’s REVIVAL time at Port O’Connor’s First Baptist Church! The Revival begins on Sunday, September 16, 2012. Special prayer meetings by the men and ladies of the Church are being held every Tuesday in the Church Fellowship Hall. The men are meeting Tuesdays at 7:30 a.m. for coffee and revival prayer and the ladies are meeting Tuesdays at 6:00 p.m.

The Revival speaker will be Rev. Shannon Talley, senior pastor of McAllen First Baptist Church. Brother Talley is an open, friendly, and people-loving, man of God. The Lord has greatly used Brother Talley’s preaching ministry through the years.

The Revival music will be led by Brother Raymond Grant, Music and Youth Minster of our church. Everyone is invited to this series of special meetings, as we turn our hearts toward the Lord to seek Him for spiritual renewal and revival.

The Church has appointed a committee to begin preparations for the Church’s 75th Anniversary on Sunday, April 14, 2013. The committee consists of Raymond Grant, Kathryn Harrison, Evelyn Lewis, Grady Jean Clark, Kenneth Clark, Kathy Yearwood, Ann Pesek, Doyle Adams and Donnie Martin. The 75th Anniversary will be a very big event in the life of the Church.

See you in church this Sunday!

Port Lavaca Main Street Theatre presents “The Fox on the Fairway” September 7, 8, 9, 14, 15 and 16. The cast includes Ken Barnes, Lauree Aschen Barnes, David Griffin, Lisa Griffin, Jaci Caldera, and Dillon Janecka.

“The Fox on the Fairway” is a tribute from playwright Ken Ludwig to the great English farces of the 1930’s and 1940’s. The play takes audiences on a hilarious romp which pulls the rug out from underneath the stuffy denizens of a private country club. Filled with madcap physical humor, slamming doors, and over-the-top romantic shenanigans, it’s a furiously paced comedy that recalls the Marx Brothers’ classics. A charming madcap adventure about love, life, and man’s eternal love affair with  — golf.

For information on production times: 361-649-6116.

Copper

Copper is his color and his name, but those wavy ears often make him look like an elf. A terrier mix about 6 months old, he will be a medium size dog. He’s already house broken and is super friendly and sweet. Come see him and all the other animals at the Port Lavaca Animal Shelter, 201 Stringham Drive (across from the rodeo arena), Monday through Saturday, 10 to 2, or call the Calhoun County Humane Society, 553-8916. You can also view him and other animals ready for adoption on line at www.calhouncountyhumanesociety.org.  Thanks and we’ll be waiting for you!