“It’s the biggest Labor Day Parade and celebration this side of the Mississippi.”
“That’s our story,” Secretary of Noon Garland Exchange Rosie Neely said.
“For as long as I can remember we have declared that the Garland Labor Day Parade is the largest and longest running Labor Day event this side of the Mississippi.”
Garland’s first Labor Day parade was held in 1945. “At one time it was part of a four day celebration that included a carnival with food, games and rides; fireworks; merchandise booths and the crowning of the new Miss Garland,” Neely said.
The event was originally known as Jubilee and was organized by the Jaycees.
Three years ago the Jaycees, no longer able to support the endeavor, asked the Noon Exchange Club of Garland if they would be interested in taking over the parade, aware of their interest in the patriotic event.
The Noon Exchange Club of Garland is a local branch of The National Exchange Club. The national club was founded in Detroit, Michigan in 1911 by a group of businessmen interested in exchanging ideas regarding their businesses. Originally meeting over lunch, it became known as the “noon exchange club.”
The national club is now the country’s oldest service organization operating exclusively in the United States. Americanism is a high priority of the group’s mission. Promoting pride in country, respect for the flag and appreciation of the country’s freedoms are the primary purposes of Exchange's Americanism programs.
When the Jaycees asked the Garland Noon Exchange to take over the Labor Day event, it seemed a perfect match.
Labor Day morning, families from Garland and nearby communities lined the streets to watch the parade of floats, flags, high school bands, boy scouts —everything that spells Americana.
On a float sponsored by The Music Store in Garland, Bill Flynt played nostalgic songs like “Grand Old Flag,” and “Take Me Out to the Ballgame,” on his 1923 Tangley Circus Calliope.
This year the Noon Exchange added many activities back into the event. It was also the first year that the after-parade festival was held in the historic downtown square.
A sea of red, white and blue decorated the town square. It was filled with vendors, games and gourmet food trucks. Across the street was a display of vintage cars where folks had the opportunity to visit with proud owners of these American classics.
One could take a peek under the hood of a shiny black, 1969 Chevelle, owned for 38 years by Gary Paschall. A member of the “Concrete Lizards” car club, Paschall said he travels all over the state showing off this beauty and others like it.
Bob and Maggie Spurrier drove in from Nevada, Texas in their 1956 Pontiac Station Wagon Chiefton.
Since car air-conditioners came about in the 50’s for most of us, I wanted to know if the car had air conditioning.
“It has factory air,” Maggie Spurrier said, adding that one “could tour cross country in this car.”
The original owners of the station wagon were Ozzie and Harriett Nelson. The “Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet” was an American sitcom, airing on ABC from October 3, 1952, through March 26, 1966, starring the real life Nelson family, Ozzie and Harriett and their two boys, David and Ricky. The television screenplay was based on the day-to-day life of the family, likely making it the first “reality TV show” in America.
Bob Spurrier shared a story that he learned when he first acquired the car.
“The Nelson family was going on vacation and Ricky had a new BB gun that he wanted to take along,” Bob recalled.
Mom, Harriet said “no” to the BB gun.
As kids often are, Ricky was determined to include his new gun in the family trip so he sneaked out of the house in the middle of the night and taped the gun to the Pontiac’s drive shaft. Shortly after the road trip began, Ozzie had to pull over to see what was causing the noise under the car.
Ricky Nelson went on to become a teenage heartthrob during the Rock n’ Roll era with songs like “Poor Little Fool” and “Hello, Mary Lou.”
The Garland Labor Day event, including the parade and festival proved to be a labor of love by The City of Garland, the Noonday Exchange of Garland and all the businesses, schools and organizations who celebrated Labor Day and the social and economic achievements of workers throughout America.