“This is our day.”
That was the word from Jeremy Hammer, a member of the United Auto Workers (UAW) Local 281 on Monday morning, Sept. 4, just before the Labor Day Parade stepped off in East Moline.
Dozens of floats, vehicles and machines – and hundreds of marchers – gathered in the John Deere Harvester Works’ parking lot at 1100 13th Ave. before the annual parade moved down 15th Avenue.
“It’s good to show our families about this brotherhood. …. show them unions are important,” Mr. Hammer added while getting the Local 281’s float ready for the parade.
Other union members and parade-goers agreed. Several in attendance said, that in addition to enjoying a holiday off with their families, the Labor Day celebration was a time to celebrate unions and remember the sacrifices that have been made to make unions strong.
“We’re here to remind everybody what people fought for. We want to remember all the rights they got us,” said Michael Olvera, of East Moline, and a member of Ironworkers Local 111.
Mr. Olvera was one of several union members preparing the Local 111 float for the Quad Cities parade devoted to labor and its members. That float had this slogan on the side: “We don’t go to the office. We build it.”
Not far from the Ironworkers’ float, many other union members were busy filling bags and boxes with candy for the parade crowd, and getting bottles of water for people riding and walking in the parade. (The Monday event took place on another sunny, hot and humid day in the Quad Cities this year.)
For many people, the day was all about enjoying an event to see floats, classic cars and high school bands; grabbing candy for the kids; and seeing the latest in agricultural and construction heavy equipment. But for many others on hand, there was a serious pro-labor theme to the parade. That theme centered on honoring unions.
“We’re here to represent our union. That’s what this day is all about,” said Eric Klinkhammer of Clinton, Iowa, and a member of Millwrights Local 2158.
In addition to paying homage to the unions, the East Moline parade also was a time to honor area community and union members — the parade’s two grand marshals: Kay Pence of Eldridge and Mike Malmstrom of Moline.
“This is just humbling, it’s a humbling event for me,” Mr. Malmstrom said Monday morning as he climbed into the back of a restored, maroon 1962 Chevy Impala to ride the parade route.
Once the parade started hitting the streets of East Moline, there were many pro-union and pro-labor signs and messages. For instance, one vehicle sported the sign “Make America union again. Greatness will follow.”
There also were scores of American flags and support for the military. The American Federation Government Employees Local 2119 float had flags from all the military branches, including Space Force.
But for many of the small parade-watchers, the event was all about getting candy. Almost every person in the parade was busy throwing thousands of pieces of candy to the crowd along the route.
The East Moline event was just one of the area parades honoring Labor Day.
The 39th annual Rock Island Labor Day Parade was held earlier Monday morning with more than 120 entries. Many entries were based on this year’s parade theme of “Planting Pride – Growing Together.”
The Rock Island parade grand marshals were Handy True Value owners Bob and Pam Votroubek, who also were chosen as Citizen of the Year in the business category. The Votroubeks, who are in their 40th year of business, rode in a special carriage pulled by a Clydesdale horse.
“Rock Island’s longstanding Labor Day Parade has always brought the community together for a day of celebration,” said Rock Island Mayor Mike Thoms. “It’s exciting to see this important tradition continue.”
