We have plenty to celebrate this summer

It was a touching moment. Mike Day and his granddaughter, 6-year-old Cabriella Day, posed in front of a semi for a photo at Monday night's Touch a Truck event in Norwalk's Suhr Family Park. But this wasn't just any semi-truck, this one has special meaning to the family. The truck was from Ohio Eastern Express, Inc., in Sandusky, and was brought to the event by company president Gene Hartman. Hartman had the truck painted in honor of servicemen, including his son Craig and Scott Day. Scott died on June 22, 2019, when the pressures of life got the best of him. Scott's dog tags are painted on the side of the truck — 7-10-1988 to 6-22-2019. The truck is a great tribute to all who have served and who are presently serving. And there is no perfect time to showcase the truck with Memorial Day coming up. Monday's event kicks off what should be a great summer in Norwalk and Huron County. The annual Strawberry Festival will be a one-day event this year on Saturday. There is a full schedule of events (see story on page A-1) and a dry, cool day is in the forecast. There are five local graduations this weekend — Willard on Friday night, Western Reserve Saturday afternoon, Bellevue Saturday night, and St. Paul and South Central on Sunday. The annual Memorial Day Parade returns Monday morning with a program to follow at Woodlawn Cemetery. Next weekend there are four more graduations — Norwalk on Saturday, June 5, and Monroeville, New London and Edison on Sunday, June 6. This all leads up to the return of the annual Norwalk Lions Club Fourth of July Parade and fireworks. Fireworks are set for Sunday night, July 4, with the parade on Monday, July 5. This is the 75th anniversary of the parade, which steps off at 10:30 a.m. at the intersection of Wooster and East Main Streets and ends at the Huron County Fairgrounds. This year the community parade marshals will be the front line workers and money raised with the parade raffle will help support the Norwalk Arts Center, LLC. Members of the parade committee are John Flickinger, chairman; Jay Ewell; Linda Bersche; Jeff Little; Ed Leroux; Clarence Poole; Treena Wallace; Keith Kovarik; Wayne Babcanec; and Ken Leber. It's been a tough 15 months since the pandemic hit in March of 2020 and it looks like the worst is in the rearview mirror. It's time to celebrate. Have fun but still be safe. God bless America. Joe Centers is Reflector managing editor. He can be reached at jcenters@norwalkreflector.com.