To the editor:

With Bristol's 4th of July festivities in full swing, the story in town that has by far received the most attention has been the moving of the nightly concerts from Independence Park to Roger WIlliams University, a move that has basically divided the town into two camps — those who don't mind the new location, and those who are totally against it. There has been fierce debate throughout the town with the most vocal proponents of keeping the concerts at Independence Park leveling harsh criticism toward the 4th of July committee, police chief, town council, Roger Williams University, and various other groups and individuals. In the last 10 years or so, the concert series has become so popular, it can be argued that it's now the marquee event for the celebration, overshadowing the other various events, and even becoming more popular than the parade. And while the debate over the location of the concerts rages on, as a native Bristolian, I have seen changes in Bristol's 4th of July activities that have barely received any mention, and those would be societal changes and how we celebrate the 4th of July in our town.

When I was growing up in the 1960's and 70's, Bristol's 4th of July celebration was pretty much "the only game in town", and by that I mean people planned their entire lives and schedules around the town's 4th of July festivities, including taking time off from work, hosting numerous out of town family and friends, and never leaving town from Flag Day to the 4th of July itself, and if you did leave town during that time, people thought you had rocks in your head. Fast forward to today, and we have become a much more mobile society. Families with children involved in youth sports travel all over the country for tournaments, individuals cannot or choose not to take time off from work for the myriad of events that take place in Bristol during the weeks of celebration, and many people who don't have a personal connection to Bristol choose to travel to other destinations both domestically and abroad during the 4th of July festivities, as they have no traditions to uphold. That's not to say that the town does not do a great job with the celebration, but there are numerous other places and activities at this time of the year that Bristol is competing with as compared to when I was growing up.

Circling back to my previous thoughts on the controversy regarding the concert series location, I feel that whatever decision the town makes going forward regarding the location of the concerts, the Bristol 4th of July celebration will live to fight another day, but it may become more scaled back in the future, not because of a change in concert venues, not because of a lack of volunteers needed to put on these events, but simply because people have so many more recreational options these days. And while some people will not be happy with the changes in Bristol's 4th of July celebration that seem to be inevitable, it all comes down to how society in general changes, whether that be for the good or the bad.

Mike Proto
Bristol