Labor Day

Labor Day was first established to give the working man a day off to rest.

Now, most view the holiday as a symbol that summer is officially over and spend more time celebrating than resting.

“I don’t even want to think about Labor Day,” Sarah Tweddle, 14, of Rehoboth Beach, said while sunbathing on the beach Thursday afternoon.

“That means summer is really over, it feels like it goes by faster every year.”

Her brother, T.J. Tweddle, 16, said despite his sister’s opinion, he is excited about the weekend.

“I don’t like the fact that summer is over,” he said, “but I am looking forward to cooking out and eating some steaks.”

Stores at the beach dread the end of summer because business slows drastically when the tourists go home.

Angel Smith, of Milton, is a sales associate at Sunsations in Rehoboth Beach.

She said the store is open from May until November but after August business is very slow.

“In the summer months you get used to being really busy at work every day, helping customer after customer, and it makes the time fly by,” she said.

“When the summer ends, it can be so boring, because in September through November, business is so slow. Some days we close early, and other days we don’t open at all.”

Marie Kilpatrick of Georgetown is the manager of Dolle’s candy shop on the Rehoboth Beach boardwalk.

She said she is sad to see summer come to an end, but also looks forward to cooler weather.

Ms. Kilpatrick said in the past Dolle’s was open only during the summer months.

However, she said for the first time this year the store will remain open through December.