Editorial: Summer’s last licks are here; where did the last 15 weeks go?

Almost three more weeks remain, but for the majority of us, this weekend is the accepted end of summer.

Labor Day weekend.

Time for the last licks on the water, the big barbecue, and the three-day — or is it three and a half to four — weekend. Tuesday we settle into a grind of workweeks without universal holidays until it’s time to pull out the tree, put up the lights and start checking our list to see who’s naughty or nice.

The last 15 weeks since Memorial Day have been frustrating. Coronavirus was bad enough, but then we had the overreach of a power-hungry lawyer from Nash County choking our economy even more.

We’ve been asked to — and most of us have — help the struggling small business owners in the community. Restaurants and others have been on our minds since everything went off the rails in March.

Summer 2020 will be remembered for many things. Who on their bingo card had a hurricane and an earthquake in North Carolina in the same week? Or two tropical systems marking a target on the Bayou with hits 48 hours apart?

Why, even CenturyLink sent us scrambling last weekend with a global internet outage.

Nah, we didn’t have those on our card. Nary a one of them when we welcomed in the new year with all those crazy 2020 eyeglasses.

Good news came Wednesday for the 2019 tourism season. Like every year since the last major recession in 2008 and 2009, spending increased. And that saved us more tax dollars, a few more in fact than the previous year.

We continue to be concerned about White Lake, the health of its water and the infrastructure for the surrounding community that is bursting at the seams. For now, all is good.

From East Arcadia to Tar Heel, and Bladenboro to Hickory Grove, that lake is so very important. If anything should happen to it, the people in those communities and all points in between and beyond will be forking over more tax money to keep our county running.

We’re hopeful the rest of 2020 improves. Fall gatherings that usually draw in thousands have already been canceled left and right. We’re hoping there’s a rebound, especially for attractions like Cape Fear Vineyard & Winery and Lu Mil Vineyard to name just a couple.

Downtown Elizabethtown, which by the way will be bustling with sidewalk sale shoppers today, Saturday and Monday, is quite vibrant with a little something for everyone. Let’s all take a walk downtown and check it out. Shop local.

We hope these fading days of summer bring a nice boost for Bladen County merchants.

And here’s to hoping everyone has a safe holiday weekend.