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July 14, 2004 - Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Valley&State Backpage O&E Sports Archives Classifieds Faith&Beliefs Obituaries Revels July 7, 2004 Too loud for small ears My family attended Ashland's Fourth of July parade this year and will not again, the main reason being a group of motorcycles in the parade. My family has an appreciation for Harleys and their trademark sounds, but in this instance the motorcycles were much too loud to be enjoyed. One particular rider had no muffler and would rev the engine every few feet. My 6-month-old daughter was very frightened and it was simply not healthy for her small eardrums. Adults were grimacing and plugging their ears. It was too much. I encourage the parade organizers to keep the motorcycles but to please loose the extreme level of sound. April Rudy Talent Cycles too noisy at the parade This letter is to the Ashland City Council and those in charge of parades and our city streets. In general, I do not wish to complain about events or circumstances in Ashland as I have great respect for what it must take to manage any city or town, but I wish to address two things: Even though the Fourth of July parade was a great success and it appears much fun was had by all, I found the noise and pollution of the smaller motorized mountain bikes to be not only incredibly noisy, smoky and somewhat dangerous, but generally offensive to all of the people in my group and I suspect of others. I would ask that they not be allowed to perform next year. Second, what has happened to the computer controlled light system on Siskiyou Boulevard? Prior to the upgrading, every light was timed beautifully for the flow of traffic. Now, the lights are all mistimed. You can sit for minutes with no traffic coming from the opposite direction and lights change against you for no apparent reason. Please put it back the way it was. Thank you for your consideration and for the generally excellent way in which you manage our very special town. Gary Gillespie Ashland Tidings Fourth edition a hit Passing out the old-time Ashland Daily Tidings, with its wonderful stories from past years and ads from stores long gone was a wonderful idea. The weekly history page paved the way for this. Thank you! Seeing the Tidings staff working the crowd was fun, too. Laurie Jones Ashland Fourth 'holy day' a problem Each year I get more disenchanted with the Fourth of July "holy-day," and this year was the worst. What's holy about celebrating the 1776 and 1812 murders of probably thousands, just so people could draw an arbitrary line across the Earth and say, "This is my country?" The U.S., like all nations, is a human concept. The birds who fly back and forth daily across the border don't recognize a difference. I strongly suspect that a main reason July 4 is celebrated so lavishly is that it feeds the fervor of patriotism: "My country is great." Puffed up with patriotism, the masses are quicker to acquiesce to government when, for example, it creates a Patriot Act, or slaughters Iraqis. I find it ironic that peace groups march in a parade celebrating war. (Even the children are pulled in, as candies are thrown at them. Without that sugar fix, how many would beg mama next July 4, "Take me to the parade"?) The celebration of war continues into the night, as we listen to "And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air," oooohing as colorful simulated bombs explode in the sky and the band plays military marches. What does it say about our town - that our biggest celebration is military? When communities are revved up like this annually, is it any wonder that the U.S. is always at war? Ambuja Rosen Ashland Kerry backers ruin parade I was deeply disgusted by the behavior of the Kerry campaigners at the Ashland Fourth of July parade. Tossing around an effigy of the president of the United States on the day which we celebrate our country's founding was very much in bad taste, and was more in line with something I expected to see in Europe or Middle East but not on the streets of America. If these people represent John Kerry and what he stands for, then we really have a polarization problem in America. V Moscaritolo Medford Whimsy back in Fourth parade To the entrants in this year's Fourth of July parade, crazy cars, purple poodle and all: Thank you for putting the whimsy back into the parade. After several years of ho-hum it was refreshing and fun to watch again. Joan Spear Ashland DailyTidings.com Home Page Valley&State | Backpage | O&E | Sports | Archives | Weather | Classifieds Columnists | Faith&Beliefs | Obituaries | Revels | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2004 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Click Here Site Search: .:Advertisements:. RESOURCES - Mail Tribune News - ODOT Road Cams