- July 6, 2026
Dear Editor:
Once again many of us were disheartened with our neighbors' blatant disregard for Palm Coast’s law against the use of fireworks.
We were likewise disheartened with the callous disregard for the well being of others, their pets, wildlife and the environment. What we witnessed on July 4th, and have to continually endure each year, was not a display of patriotism. It was self-centered disrespect.
The lawbreakers thumbed their noses at the rule of law, a core pillar of democracy, and they dissed their neighbors with their uncaring and perverse fascination with relentless window rattling explosions.
The freedom theme of 1776 is not an entitlement to be a lawbreaking nuisance and a disrupter of the peace, and disregard the safety of others for purely personal self-indulgent entertainment. That kind of thoughtless behavior does not constitute patriotism at all.
Ed Gardner
Palm Coast
