A reader posted this entry on the Pine Journal Facebook page over the weekend: "It's sad that this town has stopped the fireworks on Labor Day! Especially since our kids in Cloquet don't start school now until the Wednesday after."
And it's true - up until a few years ago the fireworks were always a fittingly spectacular end to the summer here in our community. Families companionably made their way down to the park at twilight (which comes considerably earlier than during the July Fourth celebration) and, for those few precious moments, kids could race around once again with their friends, eat teeny weeny donuts and watch a spectacular display of lights as they lay on their backs on blankets in the dewy grass.
It was a delightful way to prolong childhood for just one evening longer, a way to forget for just a heartbeat the lurking spectre of school and schedules and responsibility.
As hard as the good folks of our community work to put on this or any other event, it seems as though there is little that is as memory-making as fireworks in summer. It just is.
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It's sad that looming costs have threatened the viability of fireworks displays in small communities throughout the country, and our town is no exception.
This year's Labor Day celebration in Cloquet had much to its credit. In fact, it was jam-packed with labor activities, an amazing parade, the car show, inflatable bouncy houses, displays by firefighters and lots of food. The good folks who pulled it all together once again deserve a sound pat on the back.
But if it's fireworks that really make Labor Day memorable for you and your family, then maybe we as a community need to take a long, hard look at what we can do collectively to help make that happen in the future.
Wendy Johnson
