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There's always a killjoy ... somewhere.

I commend the event hosts and the organizers who are trying to cobble together money for the 4th of July. Fireworks have been a traditional way to celebrate the birth of our Nation.

But, with the passage of time, things change, and maybe this should be the last year that Marco Island celebrates with fireworks. Like candles on Christmas trees, and buggy whips, times have changed and we (collectively) advance and move in different directions.

The fireworks probably come from China, and while fun to watch and listen to (depending on one's location), they are a one time, expendable, use 'em up and they're gone expense. So, we get to set off car alarms and probably scare a few birds to death with the bangs, choke some more birds (and people) with all the gunpowder smoke, and then have the debris rain down on our beaches and into the homes of the sea creatures we otherwise claim should be afforded protection from senseless pollution. At the end of the day, it may be a show, but it's also senseless pollution.

Maybe the City of Marco Island, this group of well intentioned folks, and the hotels on Cresent Beach could purchase some laser-light equipment and sound systems that could be stretched out in two or three spots along the beach, and do a controlled 20 or 30 minute sound and light show (on July 4th and maybe a couple other times a year).

Sadly, the equipment would probably still come from China, but it would be durable ... hopefully with a life of 10 to 15 years, and all of the "problems" associated with fireworks are eliminated (provided a sane person controls the volume knobs).

As forward looking and environmentally concerned some Marco Island citizens profess to be, maybe this is an idea whose time has come.