July 4th Celebration Causes Fireworks Among North Brookfield Town Officials
NORTH BROOKFIELD (CBS) – The North Brookfield Board of Health is happy the Board of Selectmen decided Tuesday night to cancel a Fourth of July celebration it was planning for Saturday.
The event was to included a parade, activities on the Town Common and a night time laser show.
"It seemed to take awhile, it was a little last minute but I think ultimately that was the way to go," said Ethan Melad of the Board of Health of the cancellation.
On June 23, the Board of Health advised selectmen against having the celebration because of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. It wasn't until Tuesday night's meeting where the Select Board canceled the event and released a statement slamming the Board of Health saying in part:
For overtly hypocritical and purely political reasons, the BOH opposed this small event as a serious public health threat.
"Of course it's political," said Board of Selectmen Vice Chair Jason Petraitis.
He said the event was intended to be a safe celebration for North Brookfield residents only.
"Well it's outside, OK, and there is no difference between marching in a parade six feet apart, actually better marching in a parade 3-6 feet apart, then crammed on a sidewalk with a whole bunch of people," said Petraitis.
"Our goal throughout the whole thing was just to keep people safe. We're just trying to go by the guidelines that we're given to us," said Melad.
The Board of Health said North Brookfield has had a total 16 coronavirus cases with two still active.
