Enjoy a “Safe and Sane” Fourth: Don’t Allow Friends to Become a Statistic

Next week brings the Fourth of July, the celebration of the birth of our nation and an opportunity for all of us to partake in summertime fun with friends and family. As always, Winthrop residents will observe the Fourth as they have for generations with the Pt. Shirley Horribles parade and fireworks.

However, all of us should make it a priority to do what we can to ensure that our loved ones and others with whom we’ll be spending the holiday do so in a safe and reasonable manner.

That is doubly true if any of our activities are water-related or if driving is involved. But we should keep in mind that over-imbibing in alcohol always is an invitation for a tragic situation to occur even if we are just in our backyard.

The Fourth of July always reminds us of a friend, who was in his 20s at the time and an athletic young man, who became intoxicated at a backyard barbecue, fell off a small porch, and broke his neck, leaving him a paraplegic and wheelchair-bound for life. That tragic event happened more than 20 years ago, but we still remember it as if were yesterday.

In the 1800s and early 1900s, the Fourth of July served as a convenient excuse for young males to go on a rampage throughout their communities, destroying public and private property.  The term “a safe and sane Fourth” was introduced at the start of the last century to discourage such wanton acts of vandalism.

Although we no longer “celebrate” the Fourth as our ancestors apparently did, nonetheless we all must do our part to make sure that we observe the Fourth’s festivities safely and sanely.

We wish all of our readers a happy and fun-filled Fourth of July.