On the job: The bust season for volunteers is already under way

Feel the weekends slipping away.

Regardless of what the calendar and thermometer say, maybe last weekend was the real final weekend of summer, since school started this week for most students.

Or maybe it’s this weekend, since next Friday brings a new high school football season and a new season of festivals, kicking off with Santa-Cali-Gon Days on the Independence Square.

All of that means the pace has already picked up for a behind-the-scenes army of volunteers and other helpers: the festival organizers, the teams putting together booths for the non-profits that depend on successful festivals, the assistant coach who stays a couple of hours after school to work with an aspiring athlete, the booster rounding up workers for the concession stand at homecoming.

Thumbs up to the quarterback who throws the winning pass and the cheerleaders and the marching band. But thumbs up as well to the community-minded folks who do the quiet work needed to make the show a success.