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Interspersed with product displays were exhibits by skilled craft workers demonstrating everything from electricity to ornate sheet metal work, bricklaying, carpentry, decorative plastering, iron work and plumbing while offering information on how to get training to prepare for good union jobs and the pay and benefits those jobs provide.

The IBEW exhibit area was regarded by many as the best presentation of union craft work in the show. Members of local unions 1,2,4,1439 and 1455 created a 130-foot long display that illustrated how electricity is transported to the average home. A model generating station led to transmission towers, then to distribution lines. The electrical lines ended with a service drop into a house containing a ceiling fan, lights and a home entertainment system, including a big screen TV.

To demonstrate the power of electricity, one of the exhibits distribution live lines was energized to 7,200 volts. Visitors were captivated as IBEW members demonstrated their hot sticking skills by laying small tree limbs on the line and cooking hotdogs. When the linemen were not hot sticking on the ground, they were climbing the wooden poles demonstrating their proficiency in changing out transformers and insulators high above the trade show floor.

"The IBEW members that participated in the exhibition were great," says IBEW Support Services Director Will Paul. "Visitors with questions relating to work practices and job functions were quickly addressed by qualified journeymen and women in their related craft."

IBEW-organized employers Rockwell Collins, Solo/Sweetheart Cups and General Electric also featured displays, along with the NJATC.

The show received major play in the St. Louis media, with newspaper stories and generous radio and television news coverage.

Missouri Gov. Bob Holden and St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay joined with AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Rich Trumka, Herb Johnson, secretary-treasurer of the Missouri AFL-CIO and St. Louis AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Bob Soutier to open the show. "The story behind every product you see here is the story of what makes our country great," Trumka said.

Holden echoed the message of pride in labor's accomplishments. "Unions have made our nation what it is today...and labor is critical to the nation's future, essential to make sure our nation can grow and sustain a middle class," he said.

Seventy-two Boy Scouts were awarded the American Labor Merit Badge by Trumka and Holden at the opening of the Show. The ceremony marked the largest single group ever to receive the American Labor Merit Badge, which requires Scouts to study the history, objectives and contributions of U.S. workers and their unions. (See message: "Boy Scouts Learn Unionism from IBEW and Teamsters")

The show also hosted some 500 local schools, reaching out to

educational systems in the St. Louis area.

"The theme--America at Its Best--was a great description of the content and the purpose of the show. Hard work and dedication by union leaders from

St. Louis and throughout the state helped make this show one of the best we've ever had," declared Charles Mercer, president of the AFL-CIO Union Label and Service Trades Department that produced the exhibition.