A Day in the Life … Hosting at the Labor Pavilion at the 2016 Minnesota State Fair

Barry ZeVan at the Minnesota State Fair

"For a good portion of Sunday, Aug. 28, and Monday, Aug. 29, I was honored to use my SAG-AFTRA skills to act as host at the MN AFL-CIO Labor Pavilion at the 2016 Minnesota State Fair. As has been the case for me over my past five years of hosting, it was a special joy to be able to share significant union trivia with fairgoers, thanks to local AEA member Randy Schmeling’s groundwork to supply pages of informative facts about Labor Day, the labor movement, and why our unions are so very important to everyone in this country. 

"In addition to sharing facts, those in the audience who answered trivia questions correctly — when asked by yours truly — were given prizes supplied by some of the other unions there, including AFSCME tote bags, food gift certificates provided by UFCW, NALC’s beautiful coffee table-size commemorative stamp books, the AFL-CIO’s aluminum water bottles and tickets to Chanhassen Dinner Theater, and SPCO shows provided by AFM. In addition, the AFL-CIO kindly purchased 12 of my books to make available as giveaways for correct answers to the questions. 

"I also got to sing a couple songs — earmuffs and earplugs should have been passed out — with one of the musical acts who performed. There were four musical acts in all, courtesy of the AFM, performing from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 5 to 7 p.m. each day. Audience participation and attendance was up this year and many visitors stuck around to have me relate some comedic stories, too. Thanks to our union and to the AFL-CIO for giving me the privilege of being a MN AFL-CIO Labor Pavilion host at the Minnesota State Fair once again this year!"

A Day in the Life … Request for Submissions

Since SAG-AFTRA includes many types of members and so many of us don’t know much about the work of some of our fellow union members, we hope to include in every issue of this newsletter going forward short stories submitted by YOU — the MEMBERS — about jobs you currently have or contract jobs you have been on recently, about auditions or job interviews, or in general about your union-related work and experiences in and out of the Twin Cities. Please submit your brief story (300 words or less) by email to: twincities@sagaftra.org and reference “Day in the Life Story” in the subject line. Please include your full name and contact information with your submission.

Note: The editors reserve the right to make the final decision on whether or not to include your submission and also reserve the right to edit the piece if necessary. 

This item was originally featured in the November 2016 local newsletter.