One blast is enough

Dear Editor:

I wish to thank Jay Parker for continuing the long-standing Aspen tradition of setting off the cannon on Smuggler Mountain at 6 a.m. every Fourth of July.

That said, while Stefan Albouy was alive, I recall that the cannon would only go off once at 6 a.m. However, since Mr. Albouy’s passing Mr. Parker has taken over Smuggler’s cannon duty and has been setting it off three times, at approximately 15-minute intervals. I am not sure why the original tradition changed from one to three blasts but I would like to beg Mr. Parker to return to Stefan’s original one-cannon format.

Some of us need to sleep in on the very few days that we can, and being woken up by three cannon blasts starting at 6 a.m., 15 minutes apart, is not conducive to restful sleep, especially when the majority of the town’s working population lives just below Smuggler Mountain.

So Mr. Parker, please hear the pleas of the worker bees and return to the one-blast format for the Fourth of July.

Catherine Cross

Aspen