The long days of summer are upon us, with seemingly endless hours of daylight to be enjoyed. In fact, at least on weekends, you might as well call them the long, lazy days of summer.

Locally, there will be plenty of things to do on those on summer weekends.

For example, Lehigh River Days will be back from June 20 to June 22. It will include some traditional staples of years past, such as the log rolling contest. That consists of people standing on a log in a four foot deep pool of water and trying to keep the log spinning without falling off. It will include live music, mud volleyball, kids games and a parade.

But wait, there’s more as the old saying goes, because that is just the beginning of the summer’s special events. Coming up on June 27-29 is Manson Greater Crater Days. Pocahontas will mark 155 years of the community’s existence with a big celebration in July. Many other local communities will be having festivals, which for some of the smaller towns will be the biggest event of the year. Some of those communities, such as Palmer, will be marking anniversaries, like 150 years.

And before too long, county fairs, that mainstay of life in rural Iowa, will be starting.

We encourage everyone to get out and enjoy the various special events, festivals and fairs that will be held throughout the Fort Dodge region this summer.