July 4 – this one will be the busiest of the three

Of the three big summer holidays that keep our tourism business alive in Albany and County – Memorial Day, the Fourth of July and Labor Day, this weekend’s Fourth of July is certainly my favorite, and the favorite – or at least the most participated in – of all.

The degree of “busy” that we experience each year during this celebration of Independence depends on exactly when the actual July 4 date falls in regards to the rest of the week, and this year, with the holiday hitting on a Monday, we can expect some big, big numbers.

The July 4 celebration will once again greatly increase the number of people, both residents and tourists on our highways, using our waterways, and in this case, at our park Monday evening enjoying our schedule of events and fireworks show.

Try to remember, we have invited these tourists into our area to be our guests, to enjoy our lakes and surroundings, and to bring plenty of money to help boost our economy.

Give yourself a little extra room and extra time this week and weekend, and we’ll all have a better – and hopefully safe – Fourth of July celebration.

New attraction at Mountain View Park promotes

“active – get healthy” concept to our youngest

Take another look at this week’s front page then head out to the Mountain View Park this week or at least on Monday afternoon/evening for the Fourth of July celebration and you will notice the latest addition to the playground equipment.

The new toddler section that was a project spearheaded by the Healthy Hometown Coalition, with assistance from the park board and other valuable sponsors, was installed by a group of local volunteer citizens this past weekend and is a welcomed addition to our community park.

While you might think the subject really doesn’t have much to do with local sports and doesn’t really belong in this sports related column, that’s actually not the case.

The new equipment is designed to promote physical activity among our youngest citizens – the toddler aged group, and will hopefully develop active lifestyle habits that will continue through adolescent and even adult years.

That will translate into even more healthy habits and will include, hopefully, an increase in participation in athletic events by our younger group of citizens – more baseball/softball, more volleyball, more soccer, more basketball, more football.

That would mean less video games, less television time, less sitting around eating junk food.

Congratulations to everyone involved with the Healthy Hometown Coalition on yet another successful project for our community and especially for our youth.

Job well done – again!