On Labor’s Day . . . : For Some, Meaning Lost but Not the Fun

Southern California enjoyed the final hours of the final summer holiday at beaches, in the mountains and deserts, in parks and amusement centers--and in traffic--as the long Labor Day weekend wound at last to an end Monday.

Labor Day is an annual celebration of the pride, dignity and contributions of the nation’s work force. It has been observed in various ways since the early 1880s and became a legal holiday before the turn of the century.

But not all of the celebrants seemed to know why they had the day off.

“Labor Day? All I know is that I have a three-day weekend before I have to head back to work. Call me an informed citizen,” secretary Judy Starks, 32, said as she rubbed suntan lotion on her arms under a sky full of kites and amid clusters of children making sand castles at Santa Monica Beach.

“Somehow,” she said, “Labor Day just doesn’t have the same significance as Memorial Day and the Fourth of July. Those holidays seem to have a reason. You got me as to why they call this Labor Day.

“It’s just great to have the break from a routine. I plan on catching up on some chores after soaking in the sun. . . .”

“It just seems to be there--just a paid day off from work, but I’ll take them anytime without asking why,” said Vickie Blois, 24, who was taking a day off from her job as a customer service manager at a Los Angeles restaurant.

“Let’s talk about a holiday without a purpose,” she said, turning up the volume on her radio. “Labor Day is the perfect holiday because it falls right in the middle of the summer--when you can get the most out of a day off from work.”

Rocio Gamboa, 10, didn’t really know--or care--which holiday it was. But she knew what made it special to her.

Playing Baseball

“All I know,” she said, sniffing the aromas from a barbecue and watching people playing baseball and softball at Griffith Park, “is that today is a day that my whole family gets together and we have fun. We cook, eat, play baseball, play volleyball and just goof off. It’s fun to get together, all of us, and do nothing but spend time with each other.”

“This is our way of keeping the family together,” said Walker Harbison, 62, who also spent the day at Griffith Park.

Harbison has organized a family reunion there for the last 15 years, and there were more than 75 relatives and friends gathered Monday for chicken, ribs and fish.

“Makes it all worth it to see the faces of everyone here,” he said. “Labor Day is definitely the time for family to get together.”

Of course, some people didn’t get the day off.

The Ultimate Challenge

“I look forward to Labor Day the whole year. It’s the ultimate challenge because the beaches (are) all filled to capacity and you try to prevent chaos and save lives,” said lifeguard Albert Roche, 32.

“Hey, it sure beats working at McDonalds. On a day like today, you forget about trying to enforce all the beach ordinances, and you concentrate on just making sure people don’t kill themselves in the water.

“The pressure doesn’t get to me. I get more stressed out on the freeways these days.”

Roche and his fellow lifeguards up and down the coast had plenty to do Monday.

About 1.8 million people visited beaches from Zuma to Newport during the day, and the Coast Guard said 50,000 or so managed to get offshore in an assortment of private boats ranging from eight-foot sabots to converted minesweepers.

Few Beach Rescues

“But the beach rescues were few,” said Los Angeles County lifeguard spokesman Jim Hammond. “A few people managed to get in trouble with heatstroke, and there were the few really serious cases of sunburn you can expect on a day like this.

“But the surf was only running two or three feet in most places, with good shape and no really dangerous currents, and everyone seemed to have a good time.”

By mid-afternoon Monday, a total of 151 boats had required assistance from lifeguard, Coast Guard or Coast Guard Auxiliary craft, but few of these required towing, and no serious injuries were reported.

Other recreation facilities reported overflow crowds.

Amusement Parks Full

Spokesmen for Disneyland, Knott’s Berry Farm and Six Flags Magic Mountain said their crowds were from 5% to 10% more than Labor Day levels in recent years, and aquatic amusement parks in the vicinity said the heat--and perhaps the looming of the first day of the school year--left them filled throughout the day.

The National Weather Service had promised a nice day.

A high-pressure system hovering over northern Mexico was credited with producing a dry southwest wind flow that held daytime temperatures to the mid-80s in Central Los Angeles and kept them mostly in the two-digit range elsewhere--except in the low deserts, where an afternoon with readings below 100 is cause for curious comment at this time of year.

Traffic remained light through midday, but law enforcement agencies said they were expecting problems beginning in late afternoon and lasting well into the evening as holiday crowds turned homeward.

By Monday afternoon, however, authorities were guardedly optimistic.

Death Toll

The traffic death toll throughout California rose to 41 as the last hours of the holiday trickled away, down eight from the tally for the same time last year, and a spokesman for the California branch of the National Safety Council called it “a hopeful sign.”

“Maybe people are taking it just a little easier,” John Pope said. “We can always hope.”

Six of the deaths were in Los Angeles County:

A 59-year-old Cerritos man was killed when a car swerved to avoid a table in the fast lane of the Simi Valley Freeway near Louise Avenue, crossed the center divider into opposing traffic and crashed broadside into his automobile.

The dead man’s identity was withheld pending notification of his family. The driver of the other car, Lisa Kaufman, 18, of Simi Valley, was taken to Granada Hills Community Hospital, where she was reported in good condition.

Edge of Road

On the Antelope Valley Freeway near Sand Creek Road, a 46-year-old Pasadena man died when his car crashed into the back of a pickup truck stopped at the edge the road.

The truck driver, Jesus Soltero, 24, of Pacoima, was not injured, but the Pasadena man, whose name was withheld until his family could be notified, died shortly after arrival at Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital.

In Pearblossom, one man was pronounced dead at the scene and three other people were injured when a pickup truck went out of control and overturned on a winding stretch of canyon road, spilling passengers from its camper shell.

County fire officials said the three survivors were taken to Antelope Valley Hospital, where two were reported in serious condition. None of the victims was immediately identified, and the Sheriff’s Department said the cause of the accident was under investigation.

Drunk Driver

In Compton, police said a car driven by a suspected drunk driver was southbound on Alameda Avenue when it swung into oncoming traffic in an apparent effort to bypass slow-moving vehicles and collided head-on with another automobile.

Guadalupe Diaz, 32, a passenger in the drunk driving suspect’s car, was pronounced dead at the scene, near the Oris Street intersection, as was the driver of the other car, Salvador Castellanos, 30. The drunk driving suspect, identified as Guadalupe Alaniz, 19, was taken to Los Angeles County-Martin Luther King Jr. Drew Medical Center, where he was reported in critical condition.

In Carson, a tanker truck loaded with 10,000 gallons of liquefied natural gas hit an automobile, killing the driver of the car and injuring five other people.

Sheriff’s deputies said the car, driven by David Rosales, 21, of Long Beach, was eastbound on Carson Street when it apparently ran a red light at Wilmington Avenue and was struck by a truck driven by Robert Breaux, 51, of Torrance.

Rosales was pronounced dead at the scene, and his passengers, Leonel Perez, 22, of Los Angeles, three girls and a boy, were taken to Harbor-UCLA Medical Center where they were reported in critical condition.

Breaux was released after treatment at the scene.

In a separate incident, Jesus DeAnda of South Gate was plucked by a sheriff’s helicopter from atop a 100-foot cliff where he had become stranded above the west fork area of the San Gabriel Canyon. He was not hurt.