Wishing you a happy ‘Anti Labor Day’

It’s Labor Day weekend. We made it.

But what does Labor Day really mean to you? Does it mean an extra day off work? A family picnic? The last day of the Canfield Fair? The final day of summer vacation before school starts?

The first Monday in September symbolizes many different things to many different people. Traditionally, Labor Day is celebrated as the end of the summer. In high society, Labor Day is (or was) considered the last day of the year when it is fashionable for women to wear white.

In the Valley, Labor Day signifies the last day before school starts. Most Mahoning County schools don’t start the year until after Labor Day - mostly because of the fair. But there are exceptions. Fitch started Aug. 24 and several private schools — St. Christine, St. Joseph Immaculate Heart of Mary. St. Charles, Holy Family — opened their doors in August.

For me, Labor Day has meant several things. It used to mark the weekend I played in a softball tournament in the Canton area. Teams from all over Ohio and one from Michigan would make the trip to play in a 20-team church team tourney. I played in the event probably five or six times, with three different churches. It was a good time and was something I looked forward to every year.

The event has since been discontinued, plus I haven’t played ball in about three years, so I’d be too rusty to play anyway.

Now, instead of spending Labor Day on the softball diamond, I typically spend it working. Not in the office, sitting at my desk and putting newspapers together. I mean working, as in physically, in the yard, the basement or whatever.

You see, the family I married into, God love them, likes to take ‘Labor Day’ literally. It’s a day to labor, as in this dictionary definition: Physical or mental exertion, especially when difficult or exhausting.

But this Labor Day, I’m taking it easy. The grass is already mowed, the garden has been picked and the weeds have been pulled. I’m staying inside this weekend. I have movies to watch, a college football game to see tonight and food to consume.

Labor Day this year will mean the beginning of college football season and the beginning of the end of long hours working outside, as weather starts turning colder.

I hope you’ll get the opportunity to do whatever relaxes you this weekend. Enjoy the long weekend, take the kids to the fair, have a picnic and otherwise celebrate ‘Anti Labor Day.’

It works for me.