Today is Labor Day, a national holiday. There’s no mail delivery and government offices, financial institutions, and schools – including Chadron State College – are all closed.
The Chadron Public Library is also closed and the Chadron City Council meeting normally held the first Monday of the month will be tomorrow instead.
In his last Labor Day message, term-limited Nebraska Governor Pete Ricketts praised what he calls the state’s “great work ethic” and its residents’ commitment to volunteer.
Ricketts said “Nebraskans are known for working hard, and data confirms our state’s great work ethic. For every 100 adults, we have nearly 70 working – the most of any state in the nation.”
The governor pointed out that more Nebraskans are working now than ever before and that the website WalletHub recently ranked Nebraska as the 3rd hardest-working state in America.
Ricketts praised Nebraskans for generously giving time to their communities through volunteer work, emphasizing the state ranks #5 for annual volunteer hours per resident, and said “thank you to the countless Nebraskans whose hard work – both on the clock and as volunteers – has grown our state this past year.”
Ricketts added that he and his family wish everyone an enjoyable Labor Day, but with a reminder to stay safe in the water or behind the wheel by buckling up, not driving when drinking, and wearing a life jacket at the lake so everyone makes it home safely.
Law enforcement agencies around the country remain out in force for the final day of the latest installment of the Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over anti-drunk driving campaign.
The Chadron Police Department is one of dozens of Nebraska law enforcement agencies to receive a grant from the Nebraska Dept of Transportation – Highway Safety Office to help cover the overtime costs of putting more officers on the road during it.
The first Labor Day was celebrated in New York City by the local Central Labor Union on Tuesday, September 5, 1882.
Two years later, the “workingmen’s holiday” was moved to the first Monday in September, and in 1885 Labor Day was celebrated in many industrial centers of the country.
Oregon was the first state to make it a legal holiday in 1887…followed later that year by New York, New Jersey, Colorado and Massachusetts.
Nebraska, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania had followed by 1890 and 23 other states had acted by 1894 when Congress made it a legal holiday in the territories and the District of Columbia.
Despite its historical ties to the labor movement, Labor Day is now best known as marking the unofficial end of summer and the start of fall.
Most tourist activities at state parks wrap up their seasons today, and most tourist attractions, including national parks, go to fall or off-season hours tomorrow.
Today is also the last day of the Nebraska State Fair in Grand Island and the South Dakota State Fair in Huron.
Today’s entertainment at the Nebraska State Fair has high school rodeo action n the morning and the Nebraska State Championship Demolition Derby at 2:00 while the South Dakota State Fair offers the ATV Big Air Tour at 1:00.