Summer vacation

On Wednesday I heard the happy voices of dozens of children on the way to the park. It could only mean one thing--the end of the school year was near and the students were having a recess day. It is an ancient tradition--I remember park days at the end of the school year when I was in grade school in Minnesota half a century ago. One of the big deals for the St. A's kids is that the older ones are allowed to ride their bikes.In past years students from Demotte and Lafayette have come to Brookside park for their end-of-the-year park day. The Lafayette kids sometimes would come up on Amtrak, be met at the station by their bus, and ride the last bit to the park, and then go home on the bus at the end of the day. That must have been quite an exciting day for them. I vaguely recall that one year the train hit some cattle on the way up and was delayed for several hours. Or was it a vehicle? That may be the reason they are no longer doing it.
The kids are excited to be at the park. You would think that they had never been there before.
Some were on the basketball court, and one of the teachers, Mrs R, told me that they were playing a game called Knock Out. I watched for a while but could not see any sense to what they were doing.