The Bristol Fourth of July parade is a beautiful thing. It is a beacon of pride and honor for our town. Letters could and should be written about its glory. Unfortunately this is not one of those letters. Something needs to change about this yearly event, and it needs to be enacted before next year. People smoking on the parade route needs to be abolished. I'm sitting with my daughter and my pregnant wife, and the people sitting in front of us are chain-smoking through the entire parade. I don't want to smell it, I don't want to breathe it and I don't want to see it, not as much for me, but for my daughter and ALL the children and babies who are there for a day of family enjoyment. Smoking is a filthy, dangerous habit. If you choose to smoke, you are entitled to. But please don't pollute my family. It's not just a matter of being subjected to ignorance and filth, it's also a blatant choice to litter, as the ground under their seats was fettered with snubbed out butts, which were left there. Places all over the world are becoming more health conscious and outlawing smoking in open-air public venues. Why not have the Bristol Fourth of July Parade be part of that intelligent, progressive movement. The American Lung Assosiation says: "smoking around children is planting the seeds for their future cancers." There is a massive effort to thwart kids from smoking. It is our nation's #2 health concern, behind obesity. Not seeing your peers sucking back cancer sticks would go a long way in setting an example. Let's not pollute the ground and the air, but let's especially not pollute our kids. Thank you.

Kevin Centazzo

Bristol