Considering the fact that the hills of SoHum are still on fire, shooting off fireworks for the Fourth did not seem like a good idea. Fire officials didn’t think so anyway.
This from Dee Way, executive director Garberville Redway Chamber of Commerce:
The 6th Annual 4th of July Community Picnic and Fireworks Display has been canceled. Cal Fire (formally known as CDF) sites fire danger and lack of resources for not issuing the permit required for the show. The Garberville Redway Area Chamber of Commerce will not be putting on any activities at the lake. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and wish you all a happy and safe holiday.
Jul. 1, 2008 at 8:57 pm
They called off the show but fireworks booths are everywhere.
Can’t wait for the year they pull the plug on those things.
Jul. 1, 2008 at 10:29 pm
heraldo,not with standing the fire danger and need for concern this season you are as usual a real jack ass
Jul. 1, 2008 at 10:48 pm
ever notice all the Lost Dog signs on July 5? I wish they’d call off the fireworks forever too. Probably won’t until some houses burn down a la SoCal and Bay Area, which are now firework-free zones. But I won’t call you a jackass for disagreeing with me and Heraldo.
Jul. 1, 2008 at 11:16 pm
Someone suggested on KMUD recently that all the money that goes into fireworks every year could be spent on a one-time purchase of laser equipment that could draw oohs and aahs year after year.
Instead, there’s drama about not having enough money for all those explosives, and then someone coughs it up and we get spooked animals running amok for days after the fourth.
Jul. 2, 2008 at 7:46 am
I grew up in Chatham, MA, where we had fireworks every 4th of July until the woods across the street from the fire and police departments caught on fire. Nowadays, there are fireworks on New Year’s Eve over Oyster Pond in the middle of winter, when there is less danger of fire. The town calls the event First Night.
I heard the caller that mentioned Laser shows, too, Heraldo. I think that may be a safe way to go.
Jul. 2, 2008 at 9:23 am
A few years back when we lived in Mcinleyville my wife was driving home from a 4th party. Just past the crest of the hill at Bella Vista, a spooked white horse came out of nowhere and leapt across the hood of our station wagon, then disappeared into someone’s yard like wraith. Later that night the horse found its way back to Central. Aonther driver hit and killed it.
Jul. 2, 2008 at 12:07 pm
What a sad story! The poor horse and the poor person who hit it. I bet your wife was in shock, too. Animals just do not like the fireworks.
Jul. 2, 2008 at 12:36 pm
It’s not the fire works, but the gun play that I don’t like. Fortunites seem to like to discharge firearms on the 4th.
Oh, and those annoying piccolo petes should be banned completely.
Jul. 2, 2008 at 7:49 pm
Fireworks do seem like more problems than joy over time. The color and excitement are great fun. And things that go bang! have their appeal. But mostly I have enjoyed them for the way they function to draw people in to big celebratory gatherings. Sitting on the lawn with all your neighbors, those you know and those you don’t. Going “oooh” and “aaaah” in unison as you share a little rare excitement. Pretty cool in ways.
Buut… (there’s always a but these days, isn’t there?) they cause a huge number of fires, injuries, lost and hurt animals, and the reason they’re so colorful I suspect is all the metals in them that make them so. That junk can’t be all that great in quantities. I imagine that’s not a huge factor in small communities like this. But the big shows in big cities have got to start to add up, chemistry-wise.
We should try to think of something else to draw folks together and go “oooh” and “aaah” and sit around on blankets in the grass with our friends and neighbors, and laugh.
Let the ridicule begin…
Jul. 2, 2008 at 9:00 pm
Mendocino County has banned fireworks for years. Let’s do it here.
Jul. 2, 2008 at 10:01 pm
Yes by all means lets ban everything. No one thinks heraldo is a Jack Ass because of disagreement. Only a heraldogressive believes that.Have a great 4th of July as you try to ban everything you don’t like.
Jul. 2, 2008 at 10:52 pm
I vote we ban 10:01