As much as we hate to acknowledge that Labor Day is just around the corner - the traditional end of summer will be here before we know it.

On Monday, Sept. 3, make plans to attend Labor Day celebrations in Detroit, Grand Rapids and Marquette.

The Detroit parade kicks off at 9:30 a.m., with the building trades lining up as usual along Trumbull, south of Michigan Ave. Celebrating their centennial year, members of Iron Workers Local 25 will lead the march.

The march will proceed east along Michigan Ave. to Griswold. The theme of the parade is "We built this city, Detroit 1701-2001."

An American Red Cross "all-trades" blood drive will be held beginning at 10 a.m. on Labor Day at the IBEW Local 58 hall, 1358 Abbott St.

In Grand Rapids, parade-goers will gather at John Ball Park, where buses will take participants to the start of the parade at Winter and Fulton streets. The parade starts at 10 a.m. After the parade at 12:30 p.m., a picnic with rides and entertainment will take place at John Ball Park.

In Marquette, the 2001 Labor Day Festival will start with an 11 a.m. parade along Third Street, followed by a picnic and other activities at Mattson Lower Harbor Park. The event, which usually attracts 2,500, is sponsored by the Marquette County Labor Council.

In Muskegon, the 2001 West Michigan United Labor Day Parade will operate under the theme, "Solidarity for working families." The staging area is at Pere Marquette Park, and participants are asked to arrive between 9-10:30 a.m. A picnic will follow the parade at the park.

The celebration of Labor Day, in honor of the nation's working class, was first suggested by Peter J. McGuire, founder of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters. The first observance of Labor Day began in 1894. Conceived by America's labor unions as a testament to their cause, the legislation sanctioning the holiday was shepherded through Congress amid labor unrest and signed by President Grover Cleveland as a reluctant election-year compromise.