"Spring into Action" with Labor History Walk in Marshall Saturday 5/4 Starting at 11:30am

South Central Michigan Greens
=============================
Calhoun, Hillsdale, and Jackson Counties Local
    https://www.facebook.com/SCMiGreens/
Peace, People, and Planet Over Profit


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:  April 22, 2019


For more information:
--------------------
Monika Dittmann Schwab, Local Contact/SCMiGreens
    Moni.schwab@icloud.com
John Anthony La Pietra, Co-Founder/SCMiGreens
    jalp5dai@catesby.org



"Spring into Action" with Labor History Walk
in Marshall Saturday 5/4 Starting at 11:30am
============================================
Sponsored by South Central Michigan Greens

Please note that the Marshall District Library is at 124 
West Green Street.

A walk between two labor landmarks in Marshall on Saturday, May 4 will 
give people an opportunity to "spring into action", put some of their 
own labor into cleaning things up, and talk afterward about next steps.

The event, which is open to the public, is posted at

https://www.facebook.com/events/289001138684843/

The walk will start at 11:30 am at the intersection of East Drive, East 
Mansion Street, and Michigan Avenue, across from the VFW Hall -- 
original site of the house where a union known as the Brotherhood of the 
Footboard was founded in 1863.

The site has a monument put up by the union in 1943 -- and a plaque to 
another piece of what could be called Marshall's "labor" history and its 
standing as an early sanctuary city:  the 1847 Crosswhite Incident, 
where city residents helped protect an escaped slave and his family from 
agents of his former owner.

The house, home to founder Jared C. "Yankee" Thompson, has been moved to 
633 West Hanover (at the corner of Linden) -- where the walk will end. 
One of Marshall's many state historical markers stands there.

The union -- perhaps the oldest in the US -- has also endured, and is 
now known as the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen.

After reading the inscriptions on the two monuments at the start, 
walkers will pay their respects to those who have labored before -- 
including a site clean-up, weather permitting -- and then start toward 
the Thompson home.

On the way, walkers will see the year's first outdoor Marshall Area 
Farmers' Market in the parking lot across from the Marshall District 
Library -- which will be

Walkers will also stop at the Marshall Peace Park on the south side of 
Michigan Avenue a block and a half east of the Fountain Circle, clean up 
the park, then finish the 1.3-mile trip to the Thompson House site on 
Hanover.  A map of the route is available at

https://jalp5dai.wordpress.com/labor-history-walk-map-saturday/

After the walk, participants can decide to continue the discussion over 
lunch or a snack.  The endpoint is near the Dark Horse Brewing Company, 
511 S. Kalamazoo; other possible sites are in the downtown area on the 
way back to the VFW parking lot.

The walk is sponsored by the South Central Michigan Greens local, which 
covers Calhoun, Jackson, and Hillsdale Counties -- but is open to anyone 
interested in celebrating the history of working people.

"Michigan has a total of fifteen entries in the Inventory of American 
Labor Landmarks, and two of them are right here in Marshall," notes 
local co-founder John Anthony La Pietra, who has been making similar 
walks on Labor Day for years -- and started a spring walk close to 
International Labor Day (May 1) last year.

"We welcome anyone who is willing to join us in taking time to spring 
into action and help clean up our state -- physically and politically."


# # #


The Four Pillars of GPMI:
    Grassroots Democracy
    Social Justice
    Ecological Wisdom
    Non-Violence
For our Ten Key Values, add:
    Community-Based Economics
    Decentralization
    Feminism
    Future Focus/Sustainability
    Personal and Global Responsibility
    Respect for Diversity


[================================================]


WHO:
The public at large; sponsored by South Central Michigan Greens local.

WHAT:
"Spring Into Action" Labor History Walk

WHEN:
Starting at 11:30 am on Saturday, May 4.

WHERE:
Starting at the intersection of Michigan Avenue, East Drive, and East 
Mansion Street in Marshall (across from the VFW Hall).

WHY:
To kick off an effort to "spring into action" and work to clean up Michigan.


[================================================]


LINKS

map of the walk's route:
https://jalp5dai.wordpress.com/labor-history-walk-map-saturday/

list of US labor landmarks:
http://www.laborheritage.org/inventory-of-american-labor-landmarks/

picture of the Thompson home:
http://www.michmarkers.com/pages/L0282.htm

South Central Michigan Greens Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/SCMiGreens/

Facebook event page:
https://www.facebook.com/events/289001138684843/