Labor Day 2020

Labor Day is celebrated the first Monday in September. We celebrate the entire weekend. This holiday is a celebration to the American worker.

History of the Holiday

While many states had celebrated Labor Day before it became a Federal holiday, in June of 1894, Congress passed an Act making it a legal holiday. Peter J. McGuire, general secretary of the Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners is credited with the idea of Labor Day. This year with COVID-19, celebrations were subdued. Parades cancelled and events with large crowds discouraged.

Local Celebrations

However, we did manage to have a bit of Labor Day fun over the weekend. My friend Sandy and I learned that Carlinville, Illinois had their Market Day underway on Saturday. So, we headed over to see what we could find!

The Bandstand was the center of the Market Day. Sandy and I shopped a bit and stopped at a fun bakery The Hawthorne Tree on the Square. We indulged in the homemade baked goods.

There was also fun jewelry and cute items to peruse. After shopping I found a fun butter dish. We decided to stop at Joes place in Virden for lunch. Then I before headed to take pictures at the plow day Keith was participating in west of Glenarm.

Plow Day

Fellow tractor collector Don Nowack had set up a plow day west of Auburn thanks to a local farmer. Eight tractors started out the day,. Only three remained by the end, two tough John Deere tractors and Lloyd Fraase’s hefty Caterpillar crawler!

Keith said that his John Deere 70 quit pretty early in the day because the plow kept coming unhooked, and the engine kept missing. He was just one of the tractor mishaps. Plow day’s though are always a great way to celebrate the antique tractor hobby and the American farmer!

Tractor Open House

Sunday we celebrated tractor heaven at the Edwards family open house in Franklin, Illinois. They had a wonderful selection of tractors on display. International Harvester, Olivers and more were exhibited and it was like a private tractor show with collectors gathered round shooting the breeze.

Flea market, plow day, open house – these were a few ways we remembered and celebrated the American Worker. How about you, what did you do?