Residents take advantage of Labor Day holiday

Sep. 5—For many, Labor Day marks the end of summer.

Residents took advantage of the day off Monday to participate in family activities around St. Joseph.

Activities over the holiday weekend ranged from camping to playing at the park.

For resident Samantha Embery, it was an opportunity to celebrate her daughter's third birthday.

"We just, kind of, celebrate it all together," Embery said. "All the family's getting together anyway, so we just get it all done at once ... It's awesome, yes, because everybody's off work and everybody gets to come to the party."

The extra time off also was an opportune time to go camping, Embery said, as she had used the mild weather to do earlier in the weekend.

At Krug Park, families lined the pond's banks to fish and feed birds.

9-year-old Emma Bressman always enjoys the opportunity to go fishing with family, she said.

"It's very fun," she said. "And since we can't do this in the wintertime, it's very fun to do it now before we can't, and I love fishing."

Despite having fall around the corner, Bressman expressed confidence that she and her siblings would have more days to go fishing soon.

"I think there will be more fishing days before winter starts," she said.

The prospect of colder weather makes Labor Day that much more important, giving families and children a day off to get together when the weather is still warm, Embery said.

"It's getting ready to be the start of winter," she said. "They're not going to be able to be outside as much, so bring them to the park, let them run around and enjoy it."

Alex Simone can be reached at alex.simone@newspressnow.com. Follow him on Twitter at @NPNOWSimone.