Sorry guys, we had to cancel freedom this year because you might catch a cold.
But don’t take it out on me, I’m just the messenger:
They are Fourth of July fireworks traditions that might be considerably muted this year as coronavirus concerns have led several suburbs to cancel patriotic pyrotechnic displays in what could prove to be a growing trend in the coming days and weeks.
“It’s not something we wanted to do,” south suburban Beecher President Greg Szymanski told the Chicago Sun-Times on Tuesday. “We were holding out, hoping and praying we could still pull it off, but I think the writing was just on the wall.”
Public safety was the chief concern, but it was also not the right time to ask local businesses for money to pay for the event, which is entirely funded through sponsorships, Szymanski said. The cancellation was announced Monday.
Melrose Pyrotechnics, the company that had been contracted to put on the show, is waiving its normal 50% cancellation fee and allowing its customers who cancel to use the money — $15,000 in Beecher’s case — as credit for a future show.
“Everyone’s calling and saying ‘What are our options?’” Melrose Pyrotechnics President Michael Cartolano told the Sun-Times.
Carol Stream, Oak Brook and Lisle also canceled, said Cartolano. Hundreds of other customers remain undecided, including Navy Pier — one of Melrose’s biggest accounts — which holds weekly summer fireworks displays in addition to its Independence Day show.
“Given the fluidity of the situation, Navy Pier has not reached a definitive decision on plans related to its annual summer fireworks series or the Fourth of July fireworks show,” Navy Pier spokesman Payal Patel said in an email. “We will confer with our partners at the city of Chicago as we get closer to the dates, and announce any change of plans or adjustments at that time.”
Uncertainty is the only reliable metric at the moment.
“No one knows how this is going to play out, it’s going to depend on how the virus is moving and what the governor says,” said Cartolano, whose sales team is beginning to call customers to figure out how they want to proceed.
…
“It’s sort of weird, in some ways it was an incredibly hard decision to make,” said Tia Messino, assistant to the village manager. “At the end of the day, we understand the most important thing is the safety of our residents. I think most people are understanding. Of course, everyone’s disappointed.”
…
“I just can’t see the Fourth of July without fireworks,” she said. “Maybe some communities could have a drive-in style show at a park, but that doesn’t work for the big cities.”
Bad news for Tia but she is very wrong about “the most important” thing.
I’m pretty sure there is a quote somewhere that explains why she is wrong. Oh, here it is:
Benjamin Franklin
Which sums up this whole COVID debacle in totality. We have traded a little temporary safety from a minor flu-like illness in exchange for hundreds of freedoms.
Such as the freedom to keep your business open. Or the freedom to pay your employees. The freedom to walk in your own paid-for public lands. The freedom to visit a store. The freedom to enjoy a parade on the birthday of our nation. The freedom to barbecue with your buddies.
We even lost the freedom to protest. Well, until it was politically convenient to the left. Then it was allowed for a couple riots here are there. But before then it was the highest crime to protest the lock-down because you’d spread COVID!
The full list of our sacrifices of liberty is endless.
When the governments around the world start acting similar to China in shutting everything down, you should know there is a problem.
But who needs those freedoms anyway?
Better just shut up and put on your mask. Wouldn’t want your friends to think you weren’t virtue signalling hard enough.
Since freedom is cancelled this year, you have more time to read these articles next:
COVID Is Overblown. The Media Is Lying About The Numbers
The Response To COVID-19 Is Ridiculous
Remember The Covid Panickers When This All Ends
We Must Censor Everything I Personally Disagree With
6 Lessons Learned [The Hard Way] From The Recent Race Riots
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