‘Working people marching’--and everyone having a good time

Two working men with almost identical last names are credited with originating Labor Day in America more than a century ago.

Matthew Maguire, a New Jersey machinist, and Peter J. McGuire, a New York City carpenter, organized the first Labor Day parade in New York City, where 10,000 people marched in 1882. The first Monday in September became the national Labor Day holiday in 1894.

If glorifying the American worker is what Labor Day is supposed to be about, a day off from work is the closest most people in the South Bay will get to being celebrated Monday. Only Wilmington is planning a traditional American Labor Day with a union-sponsored parade on the theme “Jobs With Justice.” Otherwise, fun in the sun with picnics, music, and arts and international foods at the beach is the theme of most South Bay Labor Day observances.

The parade in Wilmington starts at 10 a.m. Monday and goes through the Avalon Boulevard business district to Banning Park.

“This will be working people marching,” said parade coordinator Luisa Gratz of the International Longshoremen’s and Warehousemen’s Union Local 26 in Los Angeles. “Anyone who wants to can be in it--workers, retirees, the homeless, people who make up the working class of America.”

Gratz said the parade was started last year--when 2,000 marchers took part--after union members decided it was time for working people to take credit for their contributions to the nation. “They built America, fought for America and died for America,” she said. “America ought to recognize labor for all it as done in the working place and the community.”

Beginning at E Street and Broad Avenue, the parade--which will include a marching band and color guard--will move west on E to Avalon, north on Avalon to M Street and east on M to Banning Park. A rally will be held at the park with the Will Geer Singers, speeches and hamburgers.

Another event is the picnic late Labor Day afternoon at the South Coast Botanic Garden on the Palos Verdes Peninsula. It was first run four years ago as a “thank you” to the community for supporting the public arboretum, according to Norma Cantafio, executive director of the foundation that supports the garden.

The Palos Verdes Symphonic Band, which has played at every picnic so far, again will entertain, along with the Dan O’Sullivan jazz trio. “People bring picnics, sit on the upper meadow, and enjoy the music,” said Cantafio. “It’s a way for them to stay close to home and have a pleasant day with the family.”

Normally, there is an admission charge to the garden, at 26300 Crenshaw Blvd. But it’s free during the picnic hours--4 p.m. to dusk Monday (5).

In a different kind of promotion, a real estate company new to Torrance is using Labor Day to introduce itself to the city by putting on a community “picnic” from noon to 4 p.m. at Torrance Park, Arlington and Santa Fe avenues.

“It’s an idea I and a couple of agents had,” said John Fields of First Realty, Better Homes and Gardens in Torrance. “We’ll have games for kids and a softball game. The only things not provided are foods and drinks.”

About 15 retail businesses, including local restaurants and hotels, have joined the event. They are offering a variety of prizes for a free drawing for which everyone in attendance will be eligible, Fields said.

The person with the oldest “Better Homes and Gardens” cookbook will win a new edition in one picnic contest. Competition for the best fried chicken, with a prize of a crock pot, will take place at 3 p.m., and a drawing will be held for a night at the Torrance Marriott Hotel.

Not content with one day of revelry, the Hermosa Beach Chamber of Commerce expects to draw thousands of people to its three-day Fiesta de los Artes Saturday through Monday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. It is held twice a year on Memorial Day and Labor Day weekends.

Pier and Hermosa avenues near the beach will be dotted with booths as some 355 artists and artisans display their work and local organizations raise money by selling food--from Greek and Thai specialties to hot dogs and lemonade.

The chamber’s B. J. Conte said as many as 100,000 people attend the fiesta. To lessen the automobile crunch, $2 parking is available at Mira Costa High School, Artesia Boulevard and Peck Avenue, with continuous free shuttles to the fiesta.

Woodworkers and glass blowers will demonstrate their artistry, while oil painters, photographers and creators of hand-painted clothing will be among those with displays. Mimes, jugglers and musicians will entertain.

Returning this year will be Mark Canepa of North Hollywood, who won first prize in sculpture last year with a large pink wrought-iron rocking chair. Also on hand will be last year’s “best of show” winner, Simon Kennedy of Los Angeles. He paints large, colorful abstracts and has a stereo playing classical music in his carpeted fiesta booth.

Conte said the art jury, which rejects many artists who seek booths, looks for what is unique. “With jewelers, we don’t want a lot of hand-strung beads but people who do cast jewelry. With ceramics, we don’t want your basic toothbrush holders, but things like Southwestern pottery.”

One of the entertainers is unique, too. Santilly eats fire and lies on a bed of nails.