Labor Day at Oaks Amusement Park, 2007

"It's Labor Day, so instead of everyone going to work, we are all going to a picnic."

This was the very clear explanation the woman walking behind me to Oaks Amusement Park told her son, who was wondering why so many of us were walking along this trail.Picnicing with FriendsSam and Felicia at SEIUMulti-tasking MomVisiting at the Picnic

The Labor Day Picnic is a union tradition, and a great one. Thousands of people show up each year to share the day. Barbecues are sizzling and smoking all over the place, balloons float on air setting the festive feel and signaling people to their own union's section of the grounds. Several languages float together and laborers from all over our region break bread together. And chow down on burgers, and chicken, salads, chips, and desserts.

The same young man I spoke of earlier assured his mom he was tall enough to go on a certain amusement park ride, and she replied in the age-old parental rejoinder: "We'll see."

Ole FriendsSam and I made our way from picnic to picnic saying hello to old friends and laughing as "how's life" chat mixed with work talk: "thanks for your efforts on this, Important Workand please look into that." But the warm air, the carnival rides, the clatter, and the many visiting voices blending in with the music from the stage added up to a great picnic. While the history of labor and of Labor Day is complex and important, this day was one for everyone to relax and enjoy the fruits of their labor as a community.