Labor day picnic

Jane and I both had the day off yesterday. That hardly ever happens - unless it's a holiday or we're on vacation. So it was nice to not set the alarm, and once we did get up to just kind of hang around the house. We both went for a run eventually, then I mowed the lawn, then we went downtown for the annual Labor Day picnic at Headwaters Park.

I guess it didn't dawn on us that this was a union event, but that makes sense now. Not that you needed to be in a union to attend, but if you were opposed to unions, you probably wouldn't want to attend. :) I actually used to be in a union (steelworkers), so I didn't feel too odd about being there. Otherwise, I'm pretty indifferent about the whole thing. I'm not opposed, or a big proponent. There is corruption all over, but there are also benefits all over, so... who knows. It was interesting nonetheless.

The first thing that struck me as we made our way into the park was simply the number of people at this event. It was the most packed I had ever seen Headwaters Park. And everything was free! They had hot dogs, chili, Burmese food, ice cream, water, pop, beer... and you could just take as much as you wanted for free. It was nuts. We got in a long line right away (because we were hungry) and had no idea what it was for. Apparently it was the hot dog line. So we got hot dogs and potato chips. It was a long line but they moved things along pretty quick. I wanted to get some Burmese food because it looked good, but it was gone by the time we got there.

So... we stood around for awhile and just watched the activities. There were bouncy games for kids, and the adults eventually started playing bingo. They also had some singers and stuff earlier. There was one local politician that came by and shook our hands - twice. We had one younger guy come up and ask us about helping to support some democratic candidates. We explained that we didn't really want to get involved in politics (since I am a pastor) and he was real nice about it. Otherwise we just took in the whole thing. There were some interesting people there. It was a pretty mixed crowd racially (mostly African American and white). It definitely seemed to lean more blue collar as well.

You know, as I often tell the people in my church: I am not a democrat or a republican... I'm a Christian. And I really believe that. There are elements of political parties that I can appreciate, but I don't follow either side all the way. Certainly I probably lean more one way than the other, but that doesn't mean I don't also see a lot wrong with both parties. So... you know... whatever.

At any rate, it was an interesting experience. I had heard about this free labor day event before and always wondered about it. Regardless of your politics, it was pretty neat to take it in, I thought. Plus it was a really nice day.

Later on we invited Drew, Carrie and Anna for supper at our house. I cooked burgers on the grill, and we forgot to get buns for the Feipels again. Otherwise I think it went ok.