Jefferson City has wasted no time at all in its transition to fall. Labor Day brought cool early temperatures with a grey sky and browning leaves on some of the trees leading to the Capitol.
Many of the workers in the city were not wasting time either. While many were preparing for a day of barbecues and relaxation, others were still hard at it, punching the clock at local stores, franchises and much needed emergency services.
The city police and animal control were out in full force despite the holiday, Sgt. Randy Werner said. They did not scale back on patrols, and detectives were still working their beats. It was just like any other day for the fire departments and hospitals as well.
"Today is just like any other Monday," said Jordan Cheatham, of Yanis Coffee Zone, about how many customers they had. "I have not had a holiday off in four years."
Cheatham, who has worked at Yanis's for five months, said when her shift was over she planned to take a nap.
Jimmy John's was still doling out "free smells" and sandwiches at what seemed to be their normal pace. Down the street, the Towne Grill was slinging breakfast and lunch at what co-owner Gloria Vast said was a "picked-up" pace because of the holiday.
Another business that was seeing more customers than usual was just across the street at the N 2 Serenity therapeutic massage parlor. Since nearly everybody is off work, more people werwe coming into N 2 for a relaxing massage session, especially state workers, said Jill Nichols who has worked there since May.
"We have got a lot of clientele today," she said. "But it has still been pretty quiet in here. I don't mind being here because this job is fun, so it makes it easy to come in to work."
Other businesses saw less of the holiday traffic. Next door at Nspire Nutrition, owner Jason Varner sat in his neat and clean shop patiently waiting for a customer or the after work barbecue he has planned.
Some shops lik Carrie's Hallmark gift shop on High Street, imposed reduced hours to combat the lack of customers. The store normally is open from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m., but holidays hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The employees running the shop were all smiles when asked about working on a holiday.
"I like working, it is probably not normal, but I like it," said Greta Roark at the shop.
The area YMCA locations are also on a reduced schedule, closing at 5 p.m. rather than normal later hours. Many other charity organizations are still open as well. The Salvation Army always has open arms to any who would like to volunteer or who need help, although some of its administrators have taken the holiday off after having an early celebration with a Sunday barbecue for the residents.