Summer Cum Laude Rites for a Labor Day Weekend

Labor Day traditionally means the end of summer: time for kids to go back to school, for swimming pools to close until next year and for stores to hold massive sales.

It means that it’s time again for the Brady, Tex., Annual World Championship Barbecue Goat Cook-off.

And lots of us get a three-day weekend.

But, though the first Monday in September does signify the end of summer to some, Labor Day was not intended to be remembered as the day swimming pools close. It was set aside in recognition of the efforts of working men and women and their contributions to this country.

International Flavor

Labor Day also is observed throughout Europe, the Soviet Union, Canada, New Zealand and Australia, although on different dates--many on May Day.

By most accounts, our first Labor Day was proposed to a meeting of the New York Central Labor Union in 1882 by Peter J. McGuire, son of Irish immigrants and founder of the Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners. Some sources, however, hold that the idea belonged to Matthew Maguire, a machinist from Paterson, N.J.

In any event, the idea was endorsed enthusiastically, and the first Labor Day festivities--including a parade to demonstrate the unity of labor organizations--took place in New York City on Sept. 5, 1882, which happened to fall on a Tuesday.

Oregon was the first state to recognize Labor Day as a legal holiday in 1887, and in 1894 Congress unanimously approved a bill to make it a federal holiday. Later the same year, President Grover Cleveland signed into law an act that made the first Monday of September a holiday for federal employees in the District of Columbia.

For more than a century, various communities besides Brady, Tex., have evolved novel ways of observing Labor Day weekend. In Milan, Ohio, for instance, it is celebrated with the Melon Festival; in Darlington, S.C., it’s auto racing; in Bisbee, Ariz., the Brewery Gulch Days. In Allentown, Pa., it’s time for the Pennsylvania Apple Butter cooking contest, while Okeechobee, Fla., holds a rodeo.

Other traditional celebrations involving parades with floats and band music, vespers and Little League games have an established history, such as the tiny Francestown and Derry, N.H., Labor Day weekend events, which have been conducted in the same format for more than 50 years.

Here are some of the festivities scheduled for this year’s Labor Day on Monday around the Southland:

Norco Valley Fair, today through Monday; hours today, 8 a.m.-midnight; Sunday and Monday, 10 a.m.-midnight. Events today include a pet parade, karate demonstration, jazz exercise event and a talent show. On Sunday, there will be a baby beauty contest, banjo performance, whiskers and beer-belly contests and a gymnastics performance and other dance events. But the big event is the Labor Day parade down 6th Street. It starts at 10 a.m. Admittance to the fair is free; parking is $2. The fair is at Ingalls Park, 6th Street and Crestview Drive, Norco. Information: (714) 737-2531.

56th annual Bishop Homecoming Rodeo, today through Monday. Monday hours are 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Bronc riding, calf roping, barrel racing, bull riding and trick roping. Rodeo tickets, $6-$8, children under 12, $3-$5. Tri-County Fairgrounds, Main Street and Wye Road, Bishop. Information: (619) 873-8405.

Antelope Valley Fair, today and Sunday, noon to 1 a.m. Monday, noon to midnight. Rodeo, horse show, hay-loading races, music and dancing. Adults $3.50; children 13-17, $2; children 6-12 and seniors 60 and over $1. Antelope Valley Fairgrounds, 155 E. Ave. I, Lancaster. Information: (805) 948-6077.

International Fern Society Show, today through Monday, 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m., all kinds of arcane greenstuffs (including carnivorous plants). Admission: $3; seniors 62 and older and children 13-17, $1.50; children 5-12, 75 cents. Younger than 5 free. Los Angeles State and County Arboretum, 301 N. Baldwin Ave., Arcadia. Information: (818) 446-8251.

Southern California Sports Collectors Club’s 20th annual Labor Day Weekend Sports Collectors Convention, today through Monday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Bubblegum cards, autographed balls--you name it, they have it, for buying, trading and selling. Admission $3. (714) 777-1130, (818) 963-9717, (213) 865-4549. Disneyland Hotel, 1150 W. Cerritos Ave., Anaheim.

Sea World’s “Sea Lions After Dark,” today through Monday from dusk to 11 p.m. Also featured: a fireworks extravaganza over Mission Bay, “Celebration on Ice” with Scott Hamilton and “Shamu’s 25th Anniversary Celebration.” Admission: adults $19.95; children $14.95 (under 3, free). Off Interstate 5 at Sea World Drive. Parking free. Information: (619) 226-3901.

End Note: The Los Angeles City Recreation and Parks Department has announced that 50 area swimming pools will close for the season on Monday.