Fireworks at Atascadero Lake July 4, 1982.
A recent letter to the editor in The Tribune complained about the upcoming Independence Day laser show in Morro Bay. According to the letter writer the only proper way to celebrate the birth of a free democracy is to blow stuff up.
Personally I thought that freedom and independence of thought were the point of the day but this letter writer took a dim view of change.
Studies show that fireworks are a source of perchlorate contamination in lakes. The chemical can accumulate in soil and water and has been linked to thyroid damage. Other fireworks recipes are less environmentally risky but they cost more.
When there is an oil spill and injured birds floundering on the beach there is an outcry for environmental reform. It is harder to get people to take on invisible unpronounceable chemicals when they end up in the drinking water.
One of the places that no longer holds a fireworks show is Atascadero Lake. I seem to recall the organizers found the cost and fire risk too high.
Here’s wishing everyone a safe and enjoyable 4th.
Ken Chen made the photo.
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i remember those. i also remember sitting on Cottage Hill in Templeton, before all those houses, and watching if i am not mistaken the very last one. Sad, but i am happy for the fish
I also remember taking our kids, sitting on the side of the lake, watching the fireworks and being almost run over by drunks in cars and on bikes. We didn’t go again but we could see the high fireworks from our house in So. Atascadero. We also went to Cayucos several times and saw colorful glows through the fog. We now stay home and have a party….
I’ve always fireworks to be somewhat overrated, regardless of the setting. I’d consider going to the laser show if I lived nearby, but I don’t.
Kinda sad to see that photo in the old newspaper clip of shuttle Columbia. Better days for the shuttle program back then.
I’ve commented before about the days of the family piling into the big ol’ Dodge wagon, and descending on the lake with great anticipation. We sometimes got there early enough to have a fun swim in the pool, or a turn around the lake in the rental pedal boats.
Always a wonderfully noisy show, and so close the debris would fall on us….that was good stuff!
Alas, far too many people moved onto properties surrounding the lake, making a safe show impossible.
One of the coolest sights I’ve ever seen was back in 1989 when I saw a massive demonstration of lawlessness along Cayucos Beach during the 4th of July. As you know, that beach runs for several miles, at least, to the north and it was filled with thousands of people. Fireworks were most definitely illegal on that beach at that time, but so many people were firing off them off across so large an area that the sheriff deputies who were there just didn’t even try to stop it, not that they could have without attacking with handheld guns and tear gas. In fact, there were two incredibly bright magnesium engine blocks on fire too. Ah, the inventiveness of the human race! Lawlessness just kind of goes with the 4th, you know?