Mark the holiday
Where: Fort Morris Historic Park in Midway
When: Saturday, Sept. 4, 11 a.m.- 3 p.m.
What: Commemorate Labor Day holiday with hourly soldier talks and musket and cannon firings at this scenic coastal fort.
Cost: $2.75-$4. Children 5 and younger are free.
Info: 884-5999.
Where: Fort McAllister Historic Park in Richmond Hill
When: Saturday, Sept. 4, 10 a.m.-4 p.m.
What: This Labor Day weekend, come see some of the trades necessary to keep a Civil War fort in working order. The program will include musket- and cannon-firing demonstrations, blacksmithing, Civil War cooking and discussions about soldiers’ lives.
There also will be barbecue for $10 per plate ($5 for children), blues music and a fireworks show.
Cost: $3.50-$5.
Info: 727-2339.
Where: Skidaway Island State Park in Savannah
When: 7 a.m.-10 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 4, and Sunday, Sept. 5
What: Take the day off and watch a reptile show and awaken your senses with a night hike. Join in a volleyball game, family games, hayrides, a campfire and hoppin’ frog hike.
Cost: $5 parking.
Info: 912-598-2300.
Labor Day, always the first Monday in September, signifies a day of rest for weary workers seeking a break. And, for many employees, it is a paid holiday.
“It’s a day that I get paid to sleep in,” said Brad Lamb, an employee of Integrated Network Solutions. “Those are the fun days.”
Lamb plans to watch Georgia football, fire up his barbecue grill and spend time with his girlfriend this three-day weekend.
According to the United States Department of Labor’s website, www.dol.gov, the national holiday “is dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers. It constitutes a yearly national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity and well-being of our country.”
Historians are not sure who created the Labor Day observance, but it has been recorded that Peter J. McGuire, a co-founder of the American Federation of Labor, or a machinist named Matthew Maguire may have started the holiday.
The first known Labor Day celebration was Tuesday, Sept. 5, 1882, in New York City, according to the website.
For those who are in the hard labor industry, the definition of Labor Day is the same: rest and relaxing on a day
that one would normally
work.
“Labor Day is to remember how hard we all work and to spend the day with the family and rest,” said Kelli Ackman, a service writer at Pit Stop on Airport Road in Hinesville. “It marks the end of summer, basically.”
Ackman plans to spend the extra day enjoying a Lowcountry boil in her backyard with family.
Although many businesses will be closed Monday for the federal holiday, most outdoor recreation centers, such as parks and golf courses, will be open for the weekend.
Temperatures are expected to reach almost 90 degrees over the weekend, but that won’t stop some area residents from enjoying the outdoors when they aren’t working.
Lewey Adams said he will attend a Patriot Golf Day tournament in Statesboro. The proceeds will benefit injured military members and fund scholarships for military children.
As a superintendent for Pope Construction Company, Adams said he sometimes logs 10-hour days and is ready for a long weekend to spend time with his family.
“I’m just thankful we get to have a day off,” he said.