Itís hard to believe that school starts in about two weeks! I am still waiting for summer to arrive! Maybe it will be here by the time you read this!And, this is the first year in 23 years that John and I have no children in school. Well, my youngest daughter is in school again this fall; but, this year, she is the teacher! My other daughters and I have had fun this summer helping Laura decorate her new classroom, which will soon be filled with fourth-graders.When my girls went away to college, the constant trips back and forth for school activities, and all the obligations that went with being a parent of school-age children subsided. However, I fondly remember each fall of their college years: making sure they had everything they needed in the dorm, helping them eventually find an apartment, the abrupt silence in my house; and, of course, all the checks we wrote! Speaking of checks, the statistics on what Americans spend on back-to-school items makes me smile because we donít have to worry about that anymore.Parents in the U.S. with kids in kindergarten through 12th grade will fork over $24.9 billion in back-to-school spending this year, according to the National Retail Federation. Total spending for back-to-school supplies for K-12 and college is expected to reach $68 billion. Although back-to-school spending in general has increased 42 percent over the last 10 years, the total amount spent in 2013 ó $72.5 billion ó was definitely up from this yearís expectations.On average, a family with school-aged children will spend about $630.36 this year, which is down from last yearís $669.28 and the lowest itís been since 2011.A big chunk of the back-to-school budget goes to clothes. More than 92 percent of families will spend an average of $217.82 on new clothing.And this is no surprise, back-to-school college costs (minus tuition) are more expensive, possibly because many in that academic group are doing their own shopping online, with mom and dad still footing the bill.So, to the parents of school age kids out there, I can tell you this: Before you know it, your student will be out on his or her own. If you are lucky, youíll still have a little in the bank to start saving for retirement!On another note, I am excited we are bringing back a popular column ó historical perspectives. Kathy Wallace is again writing the column, and we start off with a captivating story about a female serial killer who spent time in Colorado. Be sure to read ìBlonde Borgia: the end of the line.îAlso, thanks to Lindsey Harrison for pitching in for Angie Morlan, who has spent many weeks in Minnesota this summer because of her fatherís illness. Lindsey wrote Face to Face this month, and itís quite an interesting story about the life of Deacon Lynn Sherman of St. Benedictís Church in Falcon. We are also resuming the education series, so be sure to read Lindseyís article on school traffic issues.Although this meeting takes place prior to our publishing date, we will report in September on the July 28 open house at the Patriot Learning Center, hosted by the county. Commissioner Amy Lathen and other county representatives were on hand to provide information and answer questions about road improvement projects and progress with Falcon Regional Park. If you were there and would like to comment on the meeting, please be sure to contact our editor, Marylou, at the email address listed for her in the NFH.Obviously, as a monthly newspaper we canít bring you the news as it happens, but we try to bring you more in-depth articles on the issues or happenings around town. And we encourage you, our readers, to let us know whatís going on; and send us photos, too.I hope you enjoy the last days of summer, and to students, teachers, school administrators ó and parents ó have a great start to the 2015-2016 school year.See you in September (I loved that song). And please support our advertisers!– Michelle
