My Labor Day with the President of the United States

Ticket to see the president's speech

I had the whole day free. No class. No work. So when my dad invited me to march with his union in the Labor Day parade in Milwaukee, I said yes. And after I said yes, something exciting happened.

It was announced on the news that President Obama was going to be speaking at Laborfest. How awesome, I thought, but I was sure that people would be lined up for miles to get tickets. I probably wouldn’t see him. But then I heard on the radio that those marching in the parade would receive tickets to hear the President speak… That meant me! I was going to hear the President of the United States speak in person. Wow.

We left early that morning because we figured security was going to be tight. We wore shirts with the union logo and carried flags. They provided us with ponchos when it started to rain right before we lined up. But as it was time to start walking, the rain let up and we were able to take our ponchos off and march down the streets of Milwaukee. Our marching took us down to the Summerfest grounds where the President was to speak at one of the stages.

Lining up for the parade

As the ticket had explained, we went through airport-like security. They checked our tickets, our purses, and I walked through a metal detector. Surprisingly, we got there early enough to sit on the benches. I was glad to have a seat after marching quite a distance in what had now become a very hot, sunny day. We weren’t very close to the stage, but not very far either. In fact, we were near the cameras that were set up on a platform. Since I am studying video production, I took notice of the camera crew getting situated while we waited two hours for the President. We knew he was on his way soon when we saw his airplane fly over.

It was an exciting day and well worth the sunburn across my face and arms.

Taking my seat before the speech

Security

The camera crew setting up

The president speaking on stage