Summer nights are wonderful in a small town. You can walk the dog, chat with a friend on a front lawn, or go to to the beach to watch the incredible sunsets that splash themselves across the shores of Lake Erie.

Summer noise is sweet – crickets sing and kids laugh as they catch bugs in their mouths as they sail by enjoying every moment of freedom from school.

Another thing I have always loved about small town life is the local recreation schools and municipalities provide children. Learning to swim, or play biddy basketball or soccer has to be the highlight of the summer. I mustn’t forget little league baseball and summer fireworks.  MNE used to host wonderful fireworks on July 4, but since the economy took a huge dive, that has disappeared.  I loved those great summers when we would invite family for ice cream or watermelon on the front lawn as the fireworks burst into brilliant, flashes of light to remind us that we do live in a free country.

The Cherry Festival is coming soon and we will have more summer noise.  There will be squeals of fun as teens whirls around in the carnival rides on those sweltering summer evenings. We will also hear long blasts from the many pieces of fire fighting equipment that come from far and near to march in the festival parade to help us raise funds for our local fire fighters and emergency crews.