A busy week was capped by a busy weekend in our neck of LA.(Lower Alabama, of course). While some local folks headed north to my former stomping grounds' at Talladega to go to the stock car races, many others stuck around to enjoy some local fun (and games).

It was hot, it was humid

but relief is said to be just around the corner this week. And you can't let the good times pass you by!

The good folks at WestPoint's pillow plant mounted a family carnival on Saturday afternoon in the Camellia City's Confederate Park. One of my favorite pastimes is watching cute little kids having fun, and the carnival presented a great opportunity to do just that.

One precious little gal in pink and white, named Zymia, was having a royally good time in the bouncy castle'. At age one, she was too young to bounce, but what fun she had sitting inside and riding' while the big kids whooped it up. It was a Kodak moment' I just couldn't pass up…

The carnival is one of the events the team from WestPoint is using to raise money for this year's Relay for Life, the American Cancer Society's premier fund-raising event in the county. Kudos to Team Captain Kim Seaborn (who is currently recovering from neck surgery

get well soon, Kim!) and her team for their hard work in organizing and pulling off this event.

Many other teams are busy holding bake sales, rummage sales, car washes, raffles and other activities in the race to raise funds to find a much-needed cure for cancer. Once again, I urge everyone to support these efforts

because every little bit does help.

My able assistant (otherwise known as my spouse, Benny) and I headed over to Fort Deposit after church on Sunday to explore all the many attractions of the fabled Calico Fort Arts and Crafts Fair. We ran into some very familiar faces from Greenville and Honoraville, listened to some good bluegrass music and browsed, browsed, browsed.

More super photo ops' were discovered along the way.

There was certainly no lack of adorable tots to be found here beneath the tall southern pines. There were kids having their faces and hair painted, playing with old-fashioned handmade toys, enjoying the simple pleasures of a pony ride…kids being kids.

True, the heat definitely tended to sap your energy. Still, an occasional breeze soothed the body while the strains of bluegrass music energized the spirit. (The homemade ice cream produced by a genuine John Deere engine didn't seem to hurt folks seen enjoying it, either.)

There's going to be fun stuff going on almost every weekend as we journey on through spring and

dinto summer. Much of it, such as St. Thomas' Trash and Treasure' giant rummage sale on May 4 and the Relay for Life party on May 10 and 11, are opportunities to get out, enjoy yourself, socialize, laugh and love the bargains you'll find

all for very worthy causes.

Just one word of advice: If it's a daytime event

wear sunscreen.