Labor Day isn't a holiday for some

McALLEN — Every day is a labor day for Marlon Orellana.

The 33-year-old was at a new spot at the corner of North 10th Street and Freddy Gonzalez Drive while most of America rested for Labor Day.

Orellana was at his usual job of selling watermelons out of the back of his pickup to passersby.

He helped Margie Smith select a perfect seedless melon when she pulled over to take a look. She hesitated, but eventually relented when deciding whether she wanted to buy ears of white corn.

Orellana, an Edinburg native, worked for a Nissan dealership in Seattle as a handyman before the economy got bad and jobs dried up.

He returned this year to the Rio Grande Valley, where he’s helped his family sell watermelons that his father-in-law purchases by the truckload.

For Orellana, the holiday only meant a shorter trip home. He usually drives his truck to Harlingen to sell produce, but he chose to stick around here to save money on gasoline.

“I would love to take a day off, but it’s impossible,” he said in Spanish. “I’ve got to work every day to put food on the table.”

Most Rio Grande Valley residents celebrated a Labor Day that coincides with one of the highest unemployment rates in a quarter-century by doing what they generally do on this date every year: Nothing at all.

More precisely, they cashed in a day off from work for picnics, barbeques or trips to the beach. They recovered from a weekend of watching college football or enjoyed the weather on a day that signifies the switch from summer to fall, for most.

At McAllen’s Bill Schupp Park, the smell of hamburgers on the grill wafted from family gatherings as a jogger prepped for an afternoon run.

Alycen Hughes and Crystal Crossler relaxed on benches under the shade of a live oak tree as they watched their children run around the playground equipment.

The stay-at-home mothers put their home-school children through a few lessons in the morning before taking them to the park to play.

Hughes said taking her daughters, Aubrey, 10, and Jordan, 7, allowed their father, a University of Texas-Pan American professor, to concentrate at home while he prepared for the work week.

“They enjoy coming out here to play,” she said. “Tomorrow is back to normal.”

Jared Janes covers Hidalgo County government, Edinburg and general assignments for The Monitor. You can reach him at (956) 683-4424.