Today is Sunday, September 2 and there are only 114 day until Christmas so start setting up those holiday playlists and getting out the Christmas movies. Today we remember the birthdays of Queen Lydia Kamekeha Liliuokalani, Allen Drury and Joan Kennedy. On this day in 1789 the US Treasury Department was established by Congress, in 1859 gas lighting was introduced to Hawaii and in 1991 Jerry Lewis’ 26^th Muscular Dystrophy telethon raised $45 million. In Vietnam it is Independence Day and in the US it is National V-J Day and National Blueberry Popsicle Day.

Let me start by imparting some September information. September is the ninth month in the Julian and Gregorian calendars, the third of four months to have a length of 30 days, and the fourth of five months to have a length of less than 31 days. The birthstone for September is the sapphire and the birth flowers are forget-me-not, morning glory and aster. September is National Italian Cheese Month, National Chicken Month and National Rice Month.

As you know tomorrow is Labor Day, a day that brings a resounding groan from kids and teachers alike as it signals the end of summer and the beginning of the school year for many. Labor Day, the first Monday in September, is a creation of the labor movement and 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. More than a century after the first Labor Day observance, there is still some doubt as to who first proposed the holiday for workers. 

Some records show that Peter J. McGuire, general secretary of the Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners and a co-founder of the American Federation of Labor, was first in suggesting a day to honor those "who from rude nature have delved and carved all the grandeur we behold." But Peter McGuire's place in Labor Day history has not gone unchallenged. Many believe that Matthew Maguire, a machinist, not Peter McGuire, founded the holiday. Recent research seems to support the contention that Matthew Maguire, later the secretary of Local 344 of the International Association of Machinists in Paterson, N.J., proposed the holiday in 1882 while serving as secretary of the Central Labor Union in New York. 

The first Labor Day holiday was celebrated on Tuesday, September 5, 1882, in New York City, in accordance with the plans of the Central Labor Union. The Central Labor Union held its second Labor Day holiday just a year later, on September 5, 1883.

In 1884 the first Monday in September was selected as the holiday, as originally proposed, and the Central Labor Union urged similar organizations in other cities to follow the example of New York and celebrate a "workingmen's holiday" on that date. The idea spread with the growth of labor organizations, and in 1885 Labor Day was celebrated in many industrial centers of the country. That should satisfy your need for trivia to share at barbecues. I won’t bother giving you more because by this time people will have stopped listening.

Last week, I had a unique experience. I went to my first country music concert. We went with friends of ours and had a great time. The concert was good and I really enjoyed the experience. In trying to decide what to wear, I was informed by Barbara that jeans and a shirt would be the way to go. She assured me that most of the men would be wearing jeans, t shirts and cowboy hats. There would also be lots of women in short skirts and shorts. She was right about both. Unfortunately some of the females would have been better off wearing more and looser clothing. 

I found the attire to be interesting. There were a lot of cowboy hats. Many of the men had on shirts with no sleeves or some kind of patriotic themed shirt. There were a lot of veterans sporting their affiliation with the military. Many wore tour shirts for the main performer. The women had on a variety of outfits, ranging from tight jeans and t shirts to very tight and short shorts to dresses. I saw one guy wearing a cowboy hat. In itself not unusual, but as he got closer I saw that he was wearing the hat over a baseball cap that he had on backwards. 

I saw another guy who was, I am guessing, in his fifties. He was sporting a mullet, made more attractive by the fact that his hairline had receded, leaving one of those little hair islands in the front. He was wearing cut-off sweatpants shorts and a t shirt that did not look like it had seen the inside of a washing machine in weeks. He was going with the unshaven look, but also the uncombed hair look and the lack of dental hygiene look. I can only hope he was able to enjoy the concert before the people from the place he escaped from found him and took him back.

One thing I noticed at this concert and another one that we went to recently was that there were always people walking around. I don’t know if they were lost or trying to find someone or going for refreshments or just bored with sitting. Based on the amount I paid for the tickets, I was making sure I sat and got my money’s worth. I did not want to miss anything. I was tempted to follow some of them to find out where they were going, but that would have meant that I was walking around and someone else would be noticing me and wondering what I was doing.

This week our fact tells us that farmers in England are required by law to provide their pigs with toys. We have always been told not to play with our food, but apparently our food has to be allowed to play.