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Happy Labor Day from your friendly moving experts at Atlanta’s RNR Moving! In honor of this annual national holiday, we thought we would give a brief history of the holiday and tell you about some local Atlanta events you may want to check out this weekend!
There is some debate about who actually came up with the idea of Labor Day. Some believe it’s inception came from Peter J. McGuire, general secretary of the Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners and a co-founder of the American Federation of Labor; while others believe it was actually Matthew Maguire, a machinist, later the secretary of Local 344 of the International Association of Machinists in Paterson, N.J., who proposed the holiday. Historians are currently leaning towards Matthew Maguire, but this may just remain a mystery without further proof!
Regardless of the founder, it is well documented that the Central Labor Union held the first Labor Day celebration on Tuesday, September 5, 1882, in New York City. The idea of a “workingmen’s holiday” eventually spread across several states over the next decade, until it was finally made a legal national holiday by an act of Congress on June 28, 1894. This act declared that the first Monday of September would hereby be Labor Day, “a yearly national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country.” – quote from the US Department of Labor (DOL)
A good majority of Americans enjoy a nice three-day long weekend building up to Labor Day. Communities all across the country celebrate the holiday with a variety of weekend events, many of which not directly relating to the holiday, aside from occurring on the same weekend annually.
One event football fans across the nation enjoy this time of year is the kickoff of college football season. Every year Atlanta hosts the Chick-Fil-A Kickoff Game at the Georgia Dome, where two college teams begin the season among thousands of fans. This year’s 2015 teams are the Auburn Tigers vs the Louisville Cardinals, who are scheduled to kickoff at 3:30pm, Saturday, September 5th.
If you have a ‘geek’ in the family, they may want to join the 60,000+ geeks gathering at Dragon Con in downtown Atlanta from Sept. 4th- 7th. This multi-media, pop culture events brings together television and film celebrities, costumers/cosplayers and more in a variety of host hotels and the AmericasMart in downtown. The family-friendly annual Dragon Con Parade held on Saturday of every Labor Day weekend is also a must see, as it is the biggest (and most fun) parade in the city!
Looking for something outside of Atlanta and a little more educational, perhaps? Check out the AJC Decatur Book Festival! This lovely festival is the largest independent book festival in the country, and is held from Sept. 4th – 6th in Decatur. Events include: author book signings, poetry readings, live music, panels, speakers, books for sale, food, fun and much more! It is everything a bibliophile could possibly want!
If you decide to venture out into the masses this weekend, our talented team at RNR Moving hopes you have fun and stay safe. We also wish you a stress-free Labor Day!
Speaking of stress-free, we can also offer this feeling to you as well by helping you out on your next local or long-distance move! Please get a FREE local move price today and feel free to browse our offerings online. We look forward to scheduling your next move date with our reliable relocation team!