August is starting to fade and a new school year is looming - that can only mean one thing. Well, it probably means any number of things, but for our purposes, it means Labor Day is upon us.

Building trades workers are encouraged to join with their fellow union members and celebrate Labor Day on Monday, Sept. 1. Labor Day celebrations will be held this year in Detroit, Marquette/Ishpeming and Muskegon. The Grand Rapids Labor Day celebration is cancelled this year.

Here are some of the things you might need to know about each event:

Detroit -The 2008 Detroit Labor Day Parade will start earlier than usual at 9 a.m. It will be staged as usual for the building trades along Trumbull Ave. south of Michigan Ave., proceeding along Michigan to Woodward. The earlier starting time will allow the building trades to move ahead of the other unions' line of march, which moves south along Woodward Avenue to Jefferson Avenue to the Legacy of Labor Monument in Hart Plaza.

The theme of the Detroit parade is "Your union means change for America."

The building trades parade lineup will start with the Roofers, followed by the Laborers, IBEW, Boilermakers, Sheet Metal Workers, Cement Masons/Plasterers, Painters, Bricklayers and Allied Crafts, Plumbers/ Pipe Fitters/ Sprinkler Fitters, Iron Workers, Heat and Frost Insulators, and Elevator Constructors.

A blood drive will be held on Labor Day in the basement of IBEW Local 58 on Abbott Street, east of Trumbull from 6 a.m.-noon. Walk-ins are welcome. The American Red Cross reports that they usually collect 30-40 pints of blood in this collection effort - which would be welcome this year with blood supplies running low.

Marquette/Ishpeming - The annual Labor Day Festival will be in Ishpeming, southwest of Marquette. The parade will start at 11 a.m. EST on Labor Day, with a parade along Euclid Street, Main Street, Division Street and Lakeshore Drive. A picnic and program will follow at the Cliffs Shaft Mine Museum and Lake Bancroft Park on Lakeshore and Euclid Streets.

The Muskegon United Labor Day Parade will be at Pere Marquette Park on Labor Day, Sept. 1, 2007. The parade begins at 11a.m. Participants should meet at the Harbor Towne area at 9 a.m. to catch the trolley to the staging area. Following the parade will be a Solidarity Tent with food and refreshments back at Pere Marquette Park.