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Holiday events and activities mark Labor's day in Michigan

Date Posted: August 23 2019

The annual celebration of the American worker takes place this year on Monday, Sept. 2. Various communities around Michigan have labor day parades, picnics, entertainment and other events scheduled to mark the holiday. 

Following is some of what's going on:

Detroit: For building trades union members and their supporters, a line of march on Labor Day, Monday, Sept. 2, will proceed as usual, east along Michigan Avenue toward Washington Boulevard downtown. The building trades will line up before the parade, as usual, along Trumbull Ave. south of Michigan Ave. The parade will start at 9 a.m. 
The Detroit parade lineup is as follows: 
1. Sheet Metal Workers
2. Michigan Painters District Council 1M and Glaziers & Glassworkers Local 357
3. Laborers
4. Heat and Frost Insulators Local 25
5. IBEW
6. Carpenters/Millwrights
7. Cement Masons & Plasterers
8. United Association of Pipe Trades
9. Bricklayers and Allied Crafts
10. Roofers and Waterproofers
11. Boilermakers
12. Elevator Constructors
13. Iron Workers
14. Teamsters
15. Operating Engineers

Grand Rapids: This is the 10th year for the West Michigan Labor Fest, which will be held at Ah-Nab-Awen Park near the Gerald Ford Presidential Museum, off of Pearl St., one block east of U.S. 131. The day’s events will take place from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Labor Day around the “Spirit of Solidarity” monument in the park.

Activities include free admission to the Gerald Ford Presidential Museum, live music, food vendors and a beer tent, kids’ activities, labor displays and an American-made car and motorcycle show. 

Ishpeming: The Marquette-Alger Community Labor Council and the U.P. Regional Labor Federation, AFL-CIO, are hosting the 30th Annual Labor Day Festival in coalition with union affiliates, partners and allies. This year's theme: "Want Power? Join A Union!"

The event will be held in Ishpeming on Labor Day, Monday, Sept. 2. The festival will begin at 11 a.m. with a parade along Euclid Street, Main Street, Division Street and Lakeshore Drive. After, there will be a picnic and rally from noon to 4 p.m. at the Cliffs Shaft Mine Museum (Marquette Range Iron Mining Heritage Theme Park) and the Lake Bancroft Park on Lakeshore Drive and Euclid Streets.

Marq Tran will be providing transportation to and from Ishpeming from both the Marquette (old JC Penney Mall parking lot) and Negaunee (Lakeview School parking lot). The scheduled times are as follows: JC Penney (9 a.m. and 10 a.m.); Lakeview School (9:30 a.m. and 10:30 a.m.); Cliffs Shaft (12 p.m., 1 p.m., 2 p.m., 3 p.m., and 4 p.m.)

Parking will be available at the Cliff Shaft and the Ishpeming Elks Club. A picnic lunch will be available for $6.  The picnic and rally will include live music, speeches from candidates, union officials and children’s activities. In addition, The Cliff Shaft volunteers will once again be providing free tours (donations will be accepted and are encouraged!) from 12:00 to 2:00 p.m. for those that are interested in visiting the Museum.

The Monroe/Lenawee Central Labor Council is sponsoring a Labor Day parade and festival on Saturday, Sept. 1 in downtown Monroe. This event resumed in 2014, picking up on a Labor Day Parade tradition that had ended in the 1960s. It now is held on the Saturday before Labor Day, through the collaboration of the Monroe/Lenawee County AFL-CIO Central Labor Council and its affiliate unions. The parade steps off at noon from the corner of Jones Avenue and Monroe Street. A festival will takes place downtown. There will be a beer tent and vendors. The Labor History Museum at the Philip Murray Building, 41 W. Front St., will be open for tours. 

Muskegon: The West Michigan United Labor Day Parade will start at 11 a.m. on Monday Sept. 2. Participants must be in the staging area, at 4th Street and Clay Ave., by 10 a.m.  Parking for parade participants will be available at Heritage Landing.

The parade will end approximately around 12:30 pm. The parade starts at the intersection of 4th St. and Clay Ave. and will progress down Clay Ave. past Hackley Park to Jefferson St. (turning left) and heading towards Western Ave. Organizers are planning a post-parade celebration at Hackley Park, including lunch, refreshments, cotton candy, face painting, bounce houses and arts and crafts.  

Rock: The 76th annual Rock Lions Labor Day celebration will take place on Saturday, Aug. 31 with a parade starting at 11 a.m.

Following the parade there will be activities for kids and adults. Attractions include: music by Frapp's Oldies But Goodies, a mechanical bull, bounce houses, petting zoo, kids tractor pulls, bean bag tournament, bingo, cowpie bingo, flea market, and food and beverages. Rock, MI. The event is sponsored by the Rock Lions, Club, 14454 M-35, Rock, MI, a non-profit service organization that provides funding for charitable organizations and local needs.

St. Ignace: The Mackinac Bridge will be closed to public traffic from 6:30 a.m. to noon on Monday, Sept. 2, 2019 to accommodate the 61st Annual Bridge Walk.

No bus transportation across the bridge will be available this year. Walkers who decide to walk across the entire bridge will need to arrange their own transportation back to the end of the bridge where they started – after the bridge reopens to public traffic at noon.

There is limited parking space available west of the Mackinac Bridge Authority plaza area in St. Ignace. Parking and shuttle service is being provided by the St. Ignace Chamber of Commerce and St. Ignace Visitor’s Bureau and is available at Little Bear East Arena.

There is no fee or registration required to participate in the walk.

The walk begins at 7 a.m. Walkers may start any time after the governor’s party starts the walk at approximately 7 a.m. No one will be permitted to start after 11:30 a.m.

The walk begins in St. Ignace at the north end of the Mackinac Bridge in the Upper Peninsula, and in Mackinaw City at the south end of the bridge in the Lower Peninsula. To participate in the walk you may:

*Walk from either end of the bridge, then turn around at the midpoint and return to the community where you started the walk. Beginning at 10 a.m., the turnaround point will be moved towards the ends of the bridge, but you may start walking up until 11:30 a.m.

*Walk from either end of the bridge, and continue across to the other side. This option is most like previous bridge walks. However, since bus transportation across the bridge will not be available, walkers who choose this option will need to arrange for their own transportation back across after the bridge reopens at noon. Walkers who do not reach the midpoint of the bridge before 10 a.m. will be turned back.