By Jim Raykie
August 31, 2008 11:21 pm
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I was out the other night, and people were talking about Labor Day. They asked me when it became a holiday, and I answered in the early 1880s and that it has been around for more than 125 years.
Labor Day has its roots in organized labor and it’s a holiday that pays homage to the contributions by workers in our country throughout the years. In reality, Labor Day means different things to different people.
In my case, it’s a day on which I remember not only the small contributions of my family to area labor, but the special individuals who taught me the importance of work and what it took to succeed at it.
As a youngster, I remember learning the value of a dollar, and how to earn one, from my grandfather and my father. My grandfather, an Italian immigrant, was a laborer at Sharon Steel, and my father worked a variety of jobs at the former Jennings Manufacturing Co. in Masury.
My grandfather walked regularly to Sharon Steel from the 1000 block of Emerson and he worked all three turns. He died in 1974 at the age of 87, but among my things, I still have his Sharon Steel photo ID card. It serves as a memento of his years of labor at the Broadway mill.
I remember when my father, especially in the late ’50s and early ’60s, was laid off during tough times, but he was steadfast in trying to keep food on the table despite the adversity. He would find odd jobs until things picked up at Jennings and he returned to work.
Growing up with them helped to mold my work ethic. They lived by the principle of a day’s work for a day’s pay, and did their best to provide for their families. They worked hard, and when it came time to have fun, well, they knew how to do that too.
My first job, like most kids, was at The Herald as a newspaper carrier. My grandfather and father were rarely late for work, almost never called in sick, and as a youth, I emulated the values that they had instilled.
I was at the drop area for my bundles at Idaho Street and Hamilton Avenue before the driver, and I tried to get my copies of the newspaper into the hands of the readers as soon as possible. Having been the editor of The Herald for 21 years and having spent 34 years working at the corner of Dock and State, I look back on my first job with great affection.
My first real job was as a stock boy and meat cutter at Schenker’s Market on George Street in Sharon. Looking back, I was lucky, because its late owner, Ed Schenker, taught me how to work. Make no bones about it, he was tough. But with a work ethic already nurtured by my grandfather and father, I learned from Ed most of the things that I have carried into the workplace throughout my life.
I worked one summer during college at Jennings. I think it was the worst summer of my father’s life. Since we worked in different parts of the mill, he always worried. Working in industry could be dirty and dangerous, and he realized it, like the rest of the guys I met at the mill. But he didn’t have to fret – they looked after the college kid.
While my father arranged for me to work at Jennings that summer, he later confessed it wasn’t about the money (it was for me), but rather, the conditions and the atmosphere. He hoped that my experience at Jennings would keep me focused in college, and it did. “Don’t be like me. Get a job where you can wear a white shirt and tie to work every day” was his favorite piece of advice.
I graduated from Penn State’s School of Journalism on June 8, 1974, and joined The Herald as a reporter two days later. My father, who died in 1975, would be happy –- I’ve been in a white shirt and tie (except for casual Fridays) for more than 34 years.
I’m thankful on Labor Day. I had working grandparents and parents from whom I could learn, and I have been lucky to make a living in the place I call home. So many kids today aren’t nearly as fortunate in either case. And that’s a real shame.
Jim Raykie is editor of The Herald and writes this column on Mondays. His e-mail is jraykie@sharonherald.com
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Jim Raykie