The digital sign outside the Great Bend Convention Center features among its rotating images a lit and flaming barbecue grill. Across it are the words “Happy Labor Day.”
True, Labor Day has become the traditional end of summer, the closing parenthesis around a season that opened with Memorial Day. Sadly, like many of our holidays, this one has become a symbol of picnics and last trips to the lake.
It means so much more.
According to the United States Labor Department, Labor Day, the first Monday in September, is a creation of the labor movement and is dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers.
Through the years the nation gave increasing emphasis to Labor Day. The first governmental recognition came through municipal ordinances passed during 1885 and 1886. From these, a movement developed the movement to secure state legislation. The first state bill was introduced into the New York legislature, but the first to become law was passed by Oregon on February 21, 1887. During the year four more states — Colorado, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and New York — created the Labor Day holiday by legislative enactment. By the end of the decade Connecticut, Nebraska, and Pennsylvania had followed suit. By 1894, 23 other states had adopted the holiday in honor of workers, and on June 28 of that year, Congress passed an act making the first Monday in September of each year a legal holiday in the District of Columbia and the territories.
 So, it constitutes a yearly national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country. With talk of unemployment, changes in minimum wage and immigration, what this holiday means will continue to evolve.
But, for now, when you enjoyed that grilled burger, think about those who worked to make it possible.
Dale Hogg