Photo by Todd Weddle / St. Joseph News-Press / Purchase this photo

Destenie Linin, 13, and Patti Lawson, 13, race across Lake Contrary Monday as the friends enjoy their Labor Day activities. The group of friends planned on grilling out to finish up the holiday weekend.

On Labor Day, a time most Americans have to rest, the sun started off working overtime.

Overcast skies, cooler temperatures and even a bit of fog greeted St. Joseph residents Monday morning, but few things would stop people from enjoying a holiday that many consider to be summer’s last hurrah.

Late morning out at Lake Contrary, boat motors and elated screams were heard as DeKalb resident Steve Lawson brought his boat, his 13-year-old daughter, Patti, and three of her friends out to take turns being pulled on inflatable tubes. This may have been an unseasonably cool summer, but Monday’s conditions weren’t keeping them from getting out there one more time.

“We were still going, rain or shine,” Patti Lawson said.

“Well, maybe not rain,” her friend Destenie Linin quickly replied.

On the lake’s shore, a handful of fishing enthusiasts saw the brisk conditions as a perfect opportunity to get a good catch, like Jerry Downing of Amazonia, Mo., and his fiancée, Patty Rice of St. Joseph.

“Cool’s all right with me,” Ms. Rice said about the weather during their day-long fishing outing. “We’ll go (fishing) maybe a couple more times, depending on the weather.”

By the early afternoon hours, the clouds finally stepped aside to let the sun shine through and temperatures reached the upper 70s. Families could be seen fishing out at Corby Pond, feeding the geese out at Krug Park or grilling out in the park’s picnic areas.

And Krug Park was the ideal place for Lynnetta Bayer and 14 of her family members and friends to gather, grill out and celebrate the birthday of her 4-year-old niece, Juliannha Mendoza. The weather may have started off looking uncertain for their Labor Day plans, but Ms. Bayer said it changed for the better, even if it created a few new problems.

“I thought it was going to be chilly,” the St. Joseph woman said. “Now, I’m afraid the cake is going to melt.”

Blake Hannon can be reached

at blakehannon@npgco.com.