And now, you look at the calendar and August is waning. There are only a few days left until school. Oh, the agony, the dread.
"August was a bit too rainy for us," said Weehawken Recreation supervisor Donna Daly. "We had to postpone some of our events."
The watermelon and pie-eating contests did come off, but one of the most popular events, the Hot Dog Eating Frenzy, was initially washed away with the August deluges. There were many kids poised to participate in the third annual contest, but the weather didn't cooperate - much like it didn't cooperate throughout August.
So Daly had an idea. When all the kids convened on Weehawken Stadium for the annual End of Summer Field Day celebration, why not hold the Hot Dog Eating contest at that time?
"So not to disappoint the hungry kids who wanted to participate, we moved the contest to our annual Field Day," Daly said.
There was one last obstacle. The weather reports for last Wednesday called for thunderstorms - again.
"We were very lucky on Wednesday," Daly said. "They predicted rain, but we did not get it, and our end-of-summer bash turned out great."
For once, someone shined on the kids of Weehawken. Not only did they get their Field Day festivities, but they also had their hot dogs - and ate them too.
For the third annual Field Day celebration, which symbolizes the end of the summer recreation activities, organizers purchased 40 pounds of hot dogs. Sure enough, when you throw the contest on top of the regular event, those wieners were certainly bound to go fast - and not just to the winners.
Everyone's a wiener
There were watermelons and cases of soda to be distributed as well, but everyone was anticipating the hot dogs.
Especially 6-year-old Nick Schwanse, who was insistent upon entering the contest. It was originally set to only include the older kids (ages 10 through 15), but Little Nicky wanted to munch with the rest of the crew.
"He was adamant about entering our contest," Daly said. "He just knew he could compete with the older kids. So we gave him a shot."
With Councilwomen Carmela Silvestri Ehret and Rosemary Lavagnino judging the event, each child was given a plate with three hot dogs to start and a cup of water to wash down the franks and get ready for more.
Schwanse was placed among the 10-12 age bracket and he more than held his own, finishing fourth. The winner was Josh Hablitz.
Among the older group, Weehawken's resident eating champion, Gilbert Lopez, was back to defend his hot dog eating title for the third time. He didn't disappoint, eating a new record seven hot dogs to "three-peat" as the township's king of gastric delights. Gastric Gilbert was so much in cruise control in winning for the third straight time that he actually took his time and savored each bite.
Alexandra Gutierrez finished second in the older group and was one of several young ladies who participated in the event.
"This year we had more girls enter than ever before," Daly said. "They proved that they can do just as well as the boys."
The Field Day activities also went over well. There were basketball shooting competitions and a football toss. There were 3-legged races, a water balloon toss, horseshoes and a super-soaker water gun game that got everyone soaked - not just the aluminum cans that they were aiming at.
One of the highlights of the evening was the tug-of-war, which brought everyone together, cheering the little ones on.
"It's my personal favorite," Daly said. "Watching those little ones try so hard to pull that rope is amazing. The faces they make are adorable."
There was a new contest this year, the hula hoop contest.
"It was fun to watch the little ones doing better and beating the bigger ones at the hula hoop," Daly said.
All the kids who attended received some sort of a prize, like yo-yos, beach balls, pinwheels, inflatable hammers and bats - and of course, the old favorite from games of chance, stuffed animals.
"This night was a great way to end the summer program," Daly said. "All of the hard work from our Recreation workers paid off well. Every kid went home with a prize and a smile."
And that's all anyone can ask after all the rain and glum days. The summer can now end on a good note.
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