Today is the start of the long holiday weekend. Labor Day is on Monday and the end of the high summer season. All municipal buildings and the post office will be closed. The VTA buses begin their fall schedule on Tuesday and the SSA schedule changes on Thursday. We have had excellent weather, but, sadly, all good things must come to an end, as school starts on Thursday. Many other school systems in the commonwealth opened last week. There were several end-of-the-season parties last weekend and a few more are planned over the holiday weekend. If you have to go downtown you will immediately notice the drop in the volume of automobile traffic and you might even find a parking place. It is time to bid farewell to all of our August visitors. We hope you enjoyed yourselves and will come back again next year.

Well, the weather bureau reports that July was hottest month on record in the contiguous U.S. since record keeping began in 1895 and you won’t find any argument here. Last Friday a tornado watch was listed for this area. I don’t recall that ever happening before. We had some torrential downpours over the weekend, all much needed for the gardens.

This past weekend automobile traffic seemed to increase everywhere and it appears busy all around town. We have passed the peak of the summer season as some college students will begin leaving to return to school or get ready for it by next weekend.

People and cars are everywhere. The weekend weather was superb, hot and dry. Mary Blake’s pie stand has been very busy, and Mary is struggling to keep up with the demand. She has kept her husband, Gary Ellis, busy selling pies in the gazebo every day.