OTTUMWA —
Though Labor Day is meant to recognize the American worker, some residents also want a chance to really celebrate the American worker.
They’ll get their chance on Labor Day weekend, when the traditional one-day event at Ottumwa Park blows up into a four-day festival complete with carnival rides, a rodeo and concert after concert.
Once you buy a weekend ticket, said Joe Rush, you get all that entertainment — including the rides — without having to pay again.
“And if we can get more volunteers, we’ll have more kids’ activities,” said Rush, the union president of UFCW Local 230 who also sits on the board of the Southern Iowa Labor Council.
Those are the two groups presenting the Labor Day Festival.
“I know everybody’s struggling,” Rush said, which to him means people may not be making plans for the holiday weekend. “This will let local people do something pretty substantial that they can do fairly inexpensively.”
They’ve tried to keep the price down. Though there are cheaper tickets, the all-weekend pass at $25 is the best deal, even for a couple days, Rush said.
In fact, since this is the first such event, organizers are wondering if they’ll break even.
“If we don’t, you know what? We’ll have a lot of fun,” he said. “It’s always been my desire to do a big thing, to turn this single-day thing into a festival that can attract people — the way Des Moines does. There’s no reason Ottumwa can’t do the same.”
That’s one of the ways everyone wins, he said.
“We can bring in commerce and out-of-town business ... I think economically, it’s going to help the community,” Rush said. “I want to be realistic about [attendance to] this first one, but I’m still hopeful it’ll be huge. I’m hoping to do this every year that I’m in office.”
He said years ago, similar festival events in Ottumwa were pretty well received. And every positive event hosted in Ottumwa improves the image of the community.
“We [can] attract bigger companies to Ottumwa if they see there are things to do here,” Rush said.
The Labor Day tradition of hosting an event was started by the unions, he said, and was partly politically motivated. Candidates will still address attendees on Sunday. There’s no cost to listen — or to speak your mind.
After their speeches, Rush said, candidates for state office as well as those running for U.S. House of Representatives generally make themselves available to shake hands or listen to concerns voiced by individuals. Traditionally, those candidates have been Democrats. But his union, said Rush, has always said they’d support any candidate who supported labor.
Yet he wants it to be known that this festival isn’t about any one political party, he said.
There are Republican union members, independent union members and Democratic union members. In fact, the event isn’t just for union members.
Rush said he considers anybody who works for a living to be a worker and is hoping to see a wide variety of Wapello County and other area residents, he said.
“It’s about all people who appreciate the American worker,” Rush said. “It’s for everyone.”
Local News
A chance to celebrate America’s workers
Four-day festival planned for Labor Day weekend
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