(The following article by Mike Donila was posted on the Charlotte Observer website on September 6. Brother J.B. Lee is the Local Chairman and Legislative Representative of BLET Division 166 in Charlotte.)
For Kelli Williams, the series of marching bands, patriotic floats and decorated cars that stretched throughout uptown Charlotte on Monday was a way to take her mind off the past week’s news.
With Hurricane Katrina devastating parts of Louisiana and Mississippi and gas prices skyrocketing throughout the nation, Williams said Monday morning’s annual Labor Day Parade helped her “forget about everything.”
“This is kind of relaxing — a chance to get away from all that stuff. There’s just too much going on,” she said, sitting on a curb with her 7-year-old daughter, Kiara, near the corner of Second and South Tryon streets.
Kiara, a second-grader at Hidden Valley Elementary School in northern Charlotte, smiled and said the parade was better than being at school.
The parade’s theme was honoring the home-front workers of World War II, and some participants were decked out in military attire.
Representatives from Charlotte’s local labor unions, schools, Boy Scouts and community organizations moved slowly down the streets. Many carried flags and banners, while some children pulled wagons. Parade organizers estimated about 1,500 spectators watched.
Political supporters wearing T-shirts bearing their candidates’ faces passed out fliers. A group of children, decked in purple and white, proudly pounded drums and crashed cymbals in a rhythmic rat-a-tat-tat.
“A lot of people don’t know this, but there were a lot of elderly people who came out of retirement or delayed their retirement to help with the war efforts,” said Ben Lee, parade chairman and head of the local Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen.
“(And) these are the people who are the unsung heroes. Their contributions helped us win that fight.”