To the Editor:

At 5:02 a.m. July 4, 2011, the radio alarm goes off to Willie Nelson singing “On the Road Again.”

Mr. Barks thinks to himself, “This can’t be.”

Mrs. Barks awakes and sweetly says, “Sugar, what in the world?”

Mr. Barks replies, “I want to shape things up outside for the Fourth of July parade.”

It’s 11:15 a.m., Mr. and Mrs. Barks’ 2½-year-old son, Justin, and 4-year-old son Forester are on blankets waiting for the parade.

Boy Scouts are about 100 yards away, and Mrs. Barks screams, “Scott, we forgot the baby’s earplugs!”

Scott, making a 200-yard dash, unlocks the door, runs upstairs, looks through the drawers, finds the earplugs, falls down the steps and gets to the back door to find Hazel with the kids squalling.

“Scott, it was just too loud,” Hazel says.

Two hours later, Hazel tells Scott to write a letter to the editor and ask, “How do our bravest and most dedicated members of our community ride in a parade in a fire truck wearing headphones and microphones, and ring all of the sirens at one time and look at me, smile and wave?”

Come on, guys, we came to watch a parade, not to ruin everyone’s hearing.

Donald Raiford
Sedley