George Flach, molder, led Belleville's First Labor Day Parade in 1895. Apprenticed as a molder at age 15, he learned everything he needed to know at Rogers Foundry & Stove Co. and its successor Excelsior Foundry, both of Belleville. In 1898, after 27 years as a molder, he opened Richland Foundry at Centreville Ave and the IC Tracks. As a foundry owner, he retained his membership in Molders Local 182 and in 1901 he was elected his union's financial secretary. A 56 year membership did not immune Flach from the labor problems of the times. At Richland Foundry, in 1908, 14 employees were held under $1,000 bond for rioting. The incident involved a double shooting. The company was exonerated but two years later, Flach returned to his workingman job as a molder. He leased his plant to Karr Range Co. of Belleville. (See Wilderman's History of St. Clair County, pub 1907, p 1013.)

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