Neighborhood Fun on the Fourth

Once again, The Times (June 30) hammered away in an attempt to take away the one remaining holiday when our neighborhood gets outside (in front yards; not enclosed in our backyard walls) and has fun together. The occasion is the celebration of the independence of America, the Fourth of July.

There are no firecrackers, no rockets, no Roman candles. It is a very pale imitation of what occurred when I was a child, but it’s a lot better than nothing. “Nothing,” in my view, is sitting in a huge stadium with a bunch of strangers, looking at far-off explosions.

If the present celebrations are banned, as is the fervent desire of The Times, we can all jump in our cars and have nice, safe and sane fun rides on our freeways.

Halloween, to give another example, has been severely damaged by scare stories and overemphasis (by the media, of course) of the few maniacs that perform their weird actions every day. How sad. Others have tried to convert Halloween to political purposes.

Let’s keep what’s left of the Fourth and of Halloween.

RICHARD L. GAUSEWITZ

Santa Ana