by Alan B. Gibson

The “dog days” of summer are here – finally

The summer that seemed like it would never arrive – after a nasty winter and a spring that just wouldn’t give up any meaningful warm weather, has finally arrived. None too soon.

More time on the lakes, golf courses, softball fields and any other outdoor sporting venues in the area is certainly in order.

Schools are out for summer vacation and with that, the local athletics reporting business comes to a crawl – which for us is also a welcomed break from trying to keep up with all the high school happenings.

The Clinton County Fair continues through the end of this week, and on Tuesday night – too late for press deadlines this week – I was again scheduled to emcee the Family Night activities in the center ring, the Athletic Events that were scheduled to see foot races, egg tossing, tug of wars and other events for all ages.

With the exception of an absence a couple of years ago when the program was scratched from the fair schedule, these athletic events have been going on each year for as long as I can remember.

Was a time when the center ring would be filled with kids wanting to get involved in the foot races and sack races for the chance to win one of those $3 first place checks that would be handed out at the end of each event.

Of course you first had to listen to the rules and regulations for each event, as explained by Coach Lindle Castle and the late Otis Brown, who for many, many years were the Athletic Events coordinators.

Times have changed, and the number of participants each year at the Athletic Events seemed to dwindle for awhile, but in the past few years, it seems the numbers may be climbing again.

In any event, get out and enjoy the summer while you can, and take in the activities this week at the Clinton County Fair. Summer officially arrives next Tuesday (June 21), but before you know it, we’ll all be wishing for warm weather again.

Get outside and move a little – it will do your body good.