Smells invoke memories. Growing up with Dad and Grandpa Manwaring running a small farm and dairy in Groveland, there were many scents to remember. Fresh cut alfalfa. New cow pies. Cleanser and sterilizer in the dairy barn. A potato cellar full of freshly piled potatoes. Beds of straw spread out for the new born calves. Sweat from an unsaddled horse. The grain bin filled with barley. Tractor diesel. Bags of freshly cut wool. Wet dog.

As Labor Day weekend approaches, other smells come to mind. For all of my childhood and continuing today for many Southeast Idaho families, the way we have celebrated the holiday is the way originally proposed for its observance — a street parade, followed by a festival for the recreation and amusement of the workers and their families. Each year on the first Saturday in September, typically after attending a few first days of school, the Eastern Idaho State Fair kicked off with a grand parade down Shilling Avenue on the east side of the railroad tracks. Now, the fair kicks off a day earlier, but a Saturday parade still follows.

There was always a quick pace to a race to get to the opening gates of the fair at the end of the parade. The smells of the fair hit your face quickly. A broad mix of grease, sweets and every other food and people smell you can think of. Depending on the event, the smells coming from the grandstand arena changes. Horse races, tractor pulls, rodeos, concerts and a demolition derby each provide their own aroma, mostly mixed with tinge of tiger ear.

I remember the smell of the new belts and rollers on the Milestone Potato equipment on display at the fair. I have an image of my Grandpa Ward talking to friends and fairgoers about his machinery before returning to the grandstands with us to bet nickels and dimes on the horse races. I’ve always thought of each of my grandparents and great-grandparents as substantial contributors to the strength and well-being of our family and our country. I have a copy of my Grandpa Ward’s patent on the first potato seed cutter in my home as a reminder.

Like many other ancestors, our American workers led the industrial revolution, built the transcontinental railroad, drove horses and then machinery in our fields, installed electricity in our homes and erected steel in our great buildings. They permanently changed society. This was a charge of the American spirit that added materially to the highest standard of living and the greatest production the world has ever known.

Labor Day is a celebration to honor the greatest worker in the world — the American worker. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, this holiday is dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers and is a tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity and well-being of our country.

There is still some dispute on who first proposed the holiday. It seems the argument has been narrowed down to two individuals: Peter J. McGuire, general secretary of the Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners and a co-founder of the American Federation of Labor, or Matthew Maguire, a machinist, later secretary of Local 344 of the International Association of Machinists. Either way, Congress passed an act making the first Monday in September of each year a legal holiday and President Grover Cleveland signed it into law on June 28, 1894.

In recent times, we have seen new challenges and opportunities for workers. The technological and digital revolutions with computers, robotics and other artificial intelligence have created a more intertwined, complex and fast-paced world for innovation and labor. We have hegemonic challenges in global trade and continue to see the theft of our intellectual property by other nations and foreign competitors.

Through these challenges also bring great opportunities for new innovations and leadership. Locally, we can make sure our children are prepared and plan to get a strong education, including through technical training and apprenticeship programs that are relevant to providing the labor for a 21st Century American economy.

What I hope remains with our traditions of celebrating Labor Day is our American tradition of innovation, grit and determination to work hard and smart. With the gift of freedom comes the gift of responsibility. Responsibility is not a passive action. It requires our constant labors, the results of which we have many examples around us to be proud of and to follow.

My first job off the farm was maintaining baseball and soccer fields and then mowing grass on the Blackfoot Golf Course. I still love the smell of fresh cut grass and the memories it brings of my labors and friendships from years ago. I love the crisp smell of fall that just starts to creep in during the early morning and evenings this time of year. These scents are markers of the past and set my expectations for good days ahead.

Dustin Manwaring is a business and estate planning attorney in Pocatello and served in the Idaho Legislature from 2016-2018.