Independence Day on Mercer Island went off pretty much without a hitch.

After complaints last year about people setting off fireworks in parks and on school grounds — turning them into what one resident termed as a “war zone” — this year police, firefighters and parks employees stepped up enforcement of the city’s fireworks ban on public property. Aside from some unfortunate incidents of vandalism and mischief involving pyrotechnics, city staff thankfully had little to report about the abuse of fireworks in parks. According to police, the number of fireworks complaints reported this year decreased from last year. Lets applaud everyone for keeping fireworks off public property.

City leaders planned to evaluate how things went this year to see whether it should re-look at the city’s rules regarding fireworks. Although the increased enforcement worked out this year, the danger from fireworks is always there. A fireworks ban should again be considered, or at least the increased enforcement should continue.

Summer celebrated

Summer Celebration, Mercer Island’s own Seafair-sanctioned festival, took place this past weekend. Along with the Firehouse Munch during the holiday season, Summer Celebration is one of the few truly community-oriented events that involves everyone. Where else can you see children from Mercer Island preschools parading down 78th Avenue S.E. along with golden retrievers and dachshunds, and the Citizen of the Year, Aubrey Davis, just to name a few of the 70-plus parade entries. The well attended parade jump-started the weekend-long street fair, which featured food and crafts vendors, live music, kids’ activities, a classic-car show, boat rides, booths of our own civic organizations and mostly fine weather for all to enjoy. It was not just a celebration of summer, but of our Island.