Labor Day parade in Belleville, IL

美國勞動節是9月的第一個星期一。  

Labor Day in the US is the first Monday in September.

我在網上搜索在 Belleville 有遊行。

I was curious, what is a Labor Day parade like?  I saw online that Belleville, a small town about 45 minutes from us, was having a parade.

我很好奇是什麼勞動節遊行？去看看！

大多數是工會團體。

沿著街道，遊行人投擲糖果給人群，有人撿起糖果。

沿街有些糖果沒人想要，勞工需要清理乾淨嗎？

為什麼不是遞給糖果呢？

We arrived after the parade had started.

Most people in the parade represent various union groups. 

As the parade passed by, they threw candy out to the crowd, which both kids and adults scrambled to pick up.  A lot of it landed in the street, and ended up getting walked on or driven over, so nobody wanted them, so who has to clean them up later? Why not just hand the candy to people instead?

The parade also include a flag team...

 ...and no parade is complete without a local marching band...

...followed by cheerleaders.

We didn't know if this car represented a union, but it looked cool.

The parade included heavy equipment, brought by the Operating Engineers union.

Trucks from Budweiser and Coors were on-hand to supply the adult refreshments.

After the parade and lunch, we stopped at the Shrine of our Lady of the Snows on the way home.  Usually, we only see this beautiful place at night, during their winter "Way of Lights" Christmas display.

The Shrine is a large complex, with many chapels.  This is the front of an outdoor chapel dedicated to Mary.

The altar

A view of the whole chapel.

Millennium Spire and Candelarium