SWEETCORN AND WATERMELON TIME

It may be the only one of its kind. There are lots of Bean Days, I'd suppose. Maybe lots of Straw and Hay days, too. The Old King Coal Festival in West Frankfort is probably unique, too. But when MTV started the Sweet Corn and Watermelon Festival thirty or so years ago, who would have thought it would have lasted that long?

In small towns or in larger city neighborhoods, festivals or get-togethers are vital. They bring out the best in people and allow some to peddle their wares. Food and drink are the animus for celebration. Of sweetcorn and watermelon? You bet. What would Summer be without them? It's also a time for the kids to have one more bash before heading back to the classroom. What? School already started? Well, that's something that needs fixed. Labor Day to Memorial Day is long enough. But it's still a blast because I don't know where they go, but kids disappear in the Summer. You see them everyday of the other seasons. So much that you get tired of seeing the same old faces. But some of them cannot be found in June, July, and August.

Bring out the new clothes. Show off the new you. The dark suntan. The new attitude. The new determination. Celebrate the old. But break out the new. And enjoy the parade. Even if it is hokey.