The end of the Labour Day holiday weekend means a return to school for millions of Canadian children and hundreds locally, the end of holidays for most working people and resignation that the end of another glorious South Okanagan summer is rapidly approaching.

While we’re blessed here in Osoyoos to know that much more wonderful warm weather will still come our way long after summer officially ends on Sept. 21, this will most certainly be a summer to remember for most local residents.

An extended drought that started late last year and continued into this spring and throughout the summer of 2015 has meant local residents had to deal with an outdoor watering ban for the past several months.

There have been many droughts in the Southern Interior of B.C. over the past several decades, but there haven’t been many that have lasted this long.

The extended period of warm and dry weather was also directly responsible for the worst wildfire season in British Columbia in many years.

Those fires stayed away from the South Okanagan for the most part until about one month ago when Mother Nature brought her rage to massive wildfires in and around Rock Creek and several in the Oliver and Osoyoos area.

While many people lost their homes and other structures, it’s almost miraculous, in retrospect, that no one in B.C. lost their lives as a direct result of the hundreds of forest fires that have taken place over hundreds of thousands of hectares over these past few months.

Considering the scope and size of the wildfires that spread out of control over large swaths of this beautiful province over the past several months, we should all be thankful that no loss of life took place.

The community response here in Osoyoos and across the province to try and help those devastated by these wildfires has been impressive.

When there is an emergency in this region, local residents step up to the plate time and time again and that was certainly the case over the past month as relief efforts to help wildfire victims took place across the region.

So many have lost so much, but there has been an overwhelming community response in Rock Creek, Oliver and Osoyoos and we hope that all those who lost so much will be able to begin their road to recovery as quickly as possible.

The beautiful and seemingly endless sunshine and nice weather is what attracts so many people to the South Okanagan and that’s not going to change any time soon.

But with this incredibly hot weather, there are risks involved as was proven time and time again during this blazing hot summer of 2015.

Here’s hoping that with the end of summer just around the corner, that Mother Nature will help instead of hinder and drop some much-needed rain.

We could sure use it after this summer to remember. Hopefully we won’t have to experience another one like it any time soon.