By now, most of you may be aware that there’s a new Fourth of July coordinator in town, and it’s the Pine Knot News.

That doesn’t mean we are sponsoring the event: that’s done by residents, businesses and organizations through financial donations. What it does mean is we have been hired by the city to work with the Fourth committee and others to make certain Cloquet continues its tradition of offering a day filled with family friendly activities, most of them the same type of activities we parents may have experienced when we were young: parades, games, fireworks and fun in the sun, surrounded by community.

When longtime coordinator Alyson Leno stepped down to spend more time with her family, it made sense for the Pine Knot to step up.

I’ve served on the committee for close to a decade, and I’ve been through at least two committee cycles. I know what’s worked, and what wasn’t the best idea (like dunk tanks). My co-coordinator (and Pine Knot ad director) Ivan Hohnstadt, ran West Duluth’s Spirit Valley Days — a multiple-day affair — for a decade, and was the mastermind behind last fall’s West End Flourish celebration, which brought more folks to the historic part of Cloquet than had been seen in a decade.

But even more than that, it made sense because community is at the heart of what we do as a newspaper.

Let’s have a wonderful Fourth … together.