“Because it’s Booster Day,” he insisted.
“But don’t you see that isn’t an answer?” I pleaded. “I want to know what Booster Day is for—why they have it, why they send up balloons and call it Booster Day. They didn’t have a Booster Day when I lived out here.”
“I know,” called the boy in the tree gallantly. He had evidently been turning this problem over in his own mind, and now came to the other’s rescue. “It’s the day all the stores advertise to get people to come into town. It’s to boost the town.”
“Well, now, that sounds reasonable,” I commented. “And does it come on the same day every year?”
“I don’t know. I think so.”
“Well, how long have you been here?”
“I was born here.”
“And have you always had a Booster Day?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Well now, there you have it,” I said to the first boy. “Booster Day is the day you boost the town—advertising day. You think it’s always been and yet you don’t even know what day it comes on. I’ll bet you haven’t had such a day out here for more than ten years.”