In the years since WW II, Labor Day has become a widely observed United States Holiday. government offices and many businesses will be closed that day for what has become for many their last chance for a summer activity.

School has started and schedules are filling with activities more typically associated with fall.

While this newspaper’s office will be open much of the day on Monday, services will be limited.

The Lovewell State Park staff is gearing up for what they hope will be a busy three-day weekend.

As is often the case, this is the end of the irrigation season and the lake shows the effects of a dry summer. But it is still possible to launch boats and some people enjoy the vast expanses of lake bottom that are now exposed.

At dusk Saturday night (about 8:30) the Lovewell Lake Association will present a fireworks show. If you haven’t been to a fireworks show yet this year, this likely will be your last chance. Or, if you enjoyed the Independence Day shows and want to see another show year, this is your chance.

In a change from prior years when the fireworks were shot off Walleye Point, this year they will be shot near the Cedar Point boat ramp.

The fireworks show is financed with donations collected throughout the year by the lake association.

If the weather should make it impossible to hold the show this week, Sept. 4 is a possible alternative date.

Weekend rains and the diversion of Republican River water via the Courtland Canal have brought the lake up a bit. Tuesday afternoon the lake level was 1,577.25 feet above sea level. A week earlier it was at 1,576.47. This is more than six feet below the conservation pool top. This week the conservation pool is considered to be less than 59 percent full. The lake reached a seasonal low of 1,576.45 feet above sea level on Aug. 24. The lake reaches the inactive level when the elevation declines to 1,571.7 feet above sea level.

As is the norm throughout the year, a permit will be needed to enter the park this weekend and personal fireworks will not be allowed.

Upcoming events at the state park include a chili cookoff sponsored by the marina on Sept. 25.