Thomas David Kehoe: Boulder should’ve postponed fireworks

Last night, July 5, my wife and I drove to Loveland to see their fireworks.
Thousands of people brought blankets or lawn chairs to the high school’s
athletic fields, enjoying a perfect summer evening. My wife is from Cuba and
this was her first fireworks; she said it was the most beautiful thing she’d
ever seen.

In contrast, on July 4th we considered walking to Folsom Stadium and waiting
in cold, pouring rain for fireworks that might be late or cancelled. The
event website (http://boulder4thofjuly.com/) had no info on whether the
fireworks were cancelled. The Daily Camera website said that the fireworks
wouldn’t be cancelled because of weather but the article had a dateline of
1:22pm, when the weather had been good. Without clear information that the
fireworks were on, and no information that they were delayed, we didn’t go.
We later heard that 95% of the people who usually go had also stayed home.

Why didn’t Boulder postpone the fireworks until July 5? To 95% of taxpayers
it was a waste of our money; to 95% of children, it’s a year of waiting to
see the next fireworks show.

Thomas David Kehoe
Boulder