Letter to the Editor: Please celebrate responsibly

Published 10:30 pm Tuesday, July 15, 2025

With the celebration of July 4, I am thinking ahead to next year’s 250th national birthday! I want to encourage all of us to celebrate responsibly.

This past July 3 our neighborhood experienced an “earth shattering” and noisy display of extremely loud fireworks, just outside our home. This was shortly after the city fireworks were complete; a neighbor twice set off fireworks so loud that our old house shook for seconds. It was startling!

The next day as our neighbors in the flats gathered in celebration, my daughter was asked about those extreme fireworks coming from our area, wondering if police had been called. They had not been called.

The morning of the fourth, it was immediately evident something had happened to our older fragile Labrador. Instead of usual happy greeting, he had to “army crawl” to me. He could not stand at all! His actions and entire body were “flat.” Obviously, he had experienced something overnight.

On July 5, we contacted the vet and prepared for what was to come. That afternoon the vet noted he acted like he had neurology issues, like no one “was home” … no pain or control.

So PLEASE think of you home, your neighbors, area pets and animals before planning and using excessive fireworks! Celebrate with love. In honor of Estes.

Carol VanHorn