People enjoying Labor Day weekend at Wappapello Lake

WAPPAPELLO, Mo. (KFVS) - Thousands of people came out to enjoy the lakes throughout out the Heartland on Labor Day weekend.

What is traditionally known as the “unofficial end of summer” could lead to people not listening to COVID warnings which could lead to a rise in positive cases across the states.

We met up with people at Wappapello Lake which generally adhered to social distancing on beaches and stayed in small groups on boats.

People we talked with say even though 2020 hasn’t been the best year, they are just taking advantage of being together with their family this Labor Day weekend in a safe way.

“I work a lot so it was nice just to be able to come out and have a nice day with the kids. Be able to spend the day in the water,” Elizabeth Elbrecht said. “It’s very important to be together and spend time together. I definitely cherish the time with my kids.”

Casey Booth promised his children that the family would go to the lake this weekend before they started back in school. He said this whole year and COVID hasn’t really slowed them down from their normal routine.

“2020 has been a bust but we pretty much kept to our normal ways here,” Booth said. “We haven’t done too much. We throw a mask on every now and then but other than that, we live our regular lives and through it so far, it’s been fine.”

Booth and his family were separate from other people and stuck to themselves playing in the sand and water.

U. S. leaders hope people will heed their warnings and social distance and be smart so there won’t be a sharp rise in cases in the next couple of weeks.

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