Labour Day unofficial end of summer?

Watch above: to some, Labour Day is the unofficial end of summer

SASKATOON – Leaves are starting to turn, there’s a briskness in the air; to some Labour Day Monday means the unofficial end of summer.

“Everything’s closing, kids are going back to school, pretty much summers over,” said Christine White, a summer enthusiast.

In Saskatchewan, summers are short. White and her family camp at Pike Lake Provincial Park every year and after over a month at the beach, they didn’t want it to end.

“The kids are already asking how long to May long weekend, cause they don’t want to leave here today.”

Summer officially ends on Sept.  23 but some consider Labour Day Monday as the unofficial end of summer. People were making the most of it.

“Just came out to Pike Lake to play in the sand, maybe rent a canoe and have a weiner roast,” said Melissa Racine.

“Oh it’s the best, everyone wants to be at the lake, every one wants a little bit of extra cash in their pocket, I get to be at the lake and have extra cash in my pocket,” said Matthew McEathern, a Boat Rental Shop employee.

It was a bitter sweet day for the convenience store which was open for its last day of the season on Monday.

“Getting to meet all the people that come, we’ve seen people that have been here since the first year that we started the business, so see a lot of young kids kind of grow up and come adults. It’s just enjoyable to have people come out that we’ve seen for the last several years,” said Sheila Purcell, Huddle co-owner.

It might have been a cold, wet start to the summer but the weather didn’t stop people from enjoying the outdoors.

“It was actually very hard to get out here this year, camp-sites are booked solid, if you didn’t book in March you didn’t get out here,” said White.

Many campers at provincial parks were packing up and heading home on Monday but they weren’t the only ones. Closed signs were already up at Pike Lake Provincial Park with another season in the books.

Off-season camping is available at some provincial parks; off season camping started Sept. 1 at Pike Lake and goes until May 14.