S’mores, Spools And Starlight: A Lake Fayette Labor Day
Labor Day has a way of sliding in right when August feels like it’s going to last forever—the official punctuation mark on summer and the breathless opening bell for fall. Even down here in Texas, where the mercury stubbornly flirts with the triple digits long after the calendar gives up, you can feel the shift. The evenings catch the ghost of a breeze, and everyone starts pretending they need hoodies.
This year, the camp hosts at Lake Fayette went over and above to make sure the holiday weekend was one for the memory books.
Things kicked off Friday evening at the brand-new Community Fire Pit at Oak Thicket Park. Campers, cabineers, and local friends rolled up for S’mores and Songs, roasting marshmallows and humming along to classic tunes. While kids walked that razor-thin line between golden-brown and charred to a crisp, one particular little camper stole the show.
He was about three, sporting bright yellow curls, and he kept returning to the fire with singular purpose. He had his own culinary method down to a science: pierce a fluffy mallow on a stick, bypass the fire entirely, and eat the whole thing raw in one triumphant bite. Watching him grin with a face full of marshmallow fluff was a quiet reminder of simple pleasures. Catch more Community Campfires with S’mores and Songs on the first Friday of every month this fall.
By Saturday morning, the energy shifted to “Parks and Crafts,” a brand-new program offered by camphosts Sarah and Michele. Kids fashioned custom rods taller than themselves, made from bamboo poles harvested directly out of Mayor Mike Stroup’s front yard. A pile of wine-bottle corks, bottle caps, pony-beads, and craft feathers were then transformed into the finest, most avant-garde tackle ever assembled in Fayette County. Whether those creations fool a largemouth bass is up to the fish, but the process was an undisputed win. “Parks and Crafts” runs every Saturday through the end of November from 9-11 a.m. at Oak Thicket Park.
Saturday evening brought our Free Family Lakeside Movie Night featuring Pixar’s Hoppers. The pavilion filled with families enjoying ice cream and a film celebrating our stewardship of the natural world. Mark your calendars: the next Free Family Lakeside Movie Night lands on Halloween night with the classic, Hocus Pocus.
Over the years, campers, cabineers, boaters, fishermen, and families have carved out some of their most treasured milestones right here on the banks of Lake Fayette. As the seasons turn and the air finally decides to crisp up, the staff out here keeps finding fresh, creative ways to help folks make those moments happen, day in and day out.
Until next time, keep your lines tight and your marshmallows just the way you like ‘em.
Gillbert Ives has been casting lines and sharpening pencils in these parts since before the valley was a lake, documenting the life of the Fayette County shoreline one ripple at a time.