Parades are ok

I was originally looking to enter this section of the new blog into the Salem news. What I found is that because I live in Beverly and grew up in Beverly Farms this blog is going to read like somebody that grew up in Beverly Farms and lives in beverly. It is very wishy-washy. Maybe it means there is no real great solution to this particular parade problem. It's very hard for me to look beyond my alliances both in Beverly and in Beverly Farms which maybe means I'm too close to the ocean to see the depth of the water. It's all good. I submit this in my blog as a token of respect to my friends in beverly. I'm thinking of you and wish I had something to offer.

thanks.

For the purpose of full disclosure , I moved to Beverly Farms when I was four years old . I lived in Beverly Farms until 1982 . In the last 45 years I've lived all over the North Shore . Beverly has been my home since 1992 . I am a self-professed 'farmer.' I love West Beach, Dix Park , and all the other amenities the Beverly Farms has to offer. I love the people there. It is my home

Also..... I love Beverly. I love Lynch Park , Rices Beach, and all the amenities Beverly has to offer. I am blessed with many lifelong friends here. I'd like to think that I have friends all over Beverly. We agree on some issues, we disagree on others. We coexist and we move on . I love the people there. It is my home.

 I have read more than one editorial regarding the ever popular horribles parade. I feel it necessary to defend my friends from Beverly Farms who both participate in and manage said parade....volunteers are are coming under professional and personal attack. In my opinion, if you have an issue with the contents of a parade float, focus on the words and not the volunteers. Criticizing the contents of a float is fair game. Stereotyping the volunteers and participants into a particular economic category is not accurate nor is it terribly mature. I am not a First Amendment lawyer, but we all have rights. Name-calling, either in the context of being in a float or in the context of critiquing  the contents of a float is not terribly constructive.

 In my opinion, there is no reason for any person to take any issue  and lampoon to the point where people feel threatened . Feeling is in the eyes of the beholder, and is a very touchy matter to deal with. Do you really feel threatened ? Are you just looking for a judgment ? At the end of the day, no one wins here. An adversarial approach is not necessarily the best way to coexist and move on.

We all have choices. These choices have consequences. The fact that I am choosing to editorialize this particular issue puts me into the bright white spotlight. There will be no names mentioned here. There'll be no slandering here. We all have our First Amendment rights . We all have choices . Again these choices have consequences.

 It has been suggested by more than one person that maybe the best solution here is to allow self policing to take over. It is very difficult, in my opinion, to try to enact rules and sanctions or punishment in a scenario where we all have First Amendment rights. We all have the right to assemble. We have the right to express our opinion. We have the right to free speech. The more you peel the onion, the more bitter the taste gets . Unless you like onions , at some point maybe you just need to stop and agree to disagree . It is okay to agree to disagree . It's okay to be civil. If you choose to pop off at a particular individual in a parade scenario, consequences may be forthcoming . I am not a civil liberties lawyer, and I don't play one on TV, but I respect that everybody has the right to do what they need to do to handle the situation at hand.

 In closing, I suggest that maybe we take the mayor's suggestion and continue dialogue as an aggregate . The folks that disagree with the contents of the parade maybe need to be willing to get together with the mayor and any appropriate public individuals and the folks who run the parade and then maybe let nature take it's course. Cooler heads will prevail , and life will go on. If you don't like the parade, stay away. Allow people that want to convene and want to have a parade to do so in peace. If you don't want to be the subject of a float, you may consider your words . If you make a choice to engage in public activity and you are subject of a topic on a float ...You have rights . Exercise those rights. If you think you have been wronged, you have appropriate remedies. use your voice. Be prepared for an opposing response. I expect that some of my friends will not agree with my stance here . That's okay. I am an almost lifelong Beverly resident and stand by my words. I expect that others will do the same. We can meet at a table face-to-face and discuss this and coexist. We really can.

 Addendum....More than anything I have written in my life, I have struggled with this particular blog . I love my friends in Beverly Farms. I love my friends everywhere . In my opinion there is no clear-cut answer to this issue. I am not satisfied with my recommendation that people just let things pass , but that may be the only answer. If you want to create a divisive scenario, all you need to do is either bring up West Beach access or the horribles parade.....easy argument fodder and strong opinions

 That's it for now.

 Thanks and God bless.