Columns

Island Law: Cookouts and fireworks

July 1, 2025

1 minute read

I am Deputy George Bradbury. I work for the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office. I am a resident of Harpswell. I live and work among you.

Your monthly warning

The fine for unnecessary brake or acceleration noise is $152.

Celebrate independence — but be safe

Here we are in July, which means we are celebrating Independence Day. This means cookouts, family parties and fireworks!

We have to remember that the town of Harpswell has a fireworks ordinance limiting when and where fireworks can be used. Please refer to harpswell.maine.gov/ordinances. If you shoot off fireworks, make sure to pick up the mess, and try to keep your neighbors’ pets in mind.

If you go to a family cookout and decide you want to consume adult beverages, make sure you have a ride home. No one needs to get an OUI or, worse, get into an accident. Remember, the legal drinking age is 21.

Let’s be safe out there! And don’t get voted off the islands.

The views above are those of Deputy George Bradbury, not of the town of Harpswell or the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office.

Author

George Bradbury

A 37-year veteran of the Sheriff's Office, Bradbury has lived in Harpswell since 2002. To suggest a subject, email bradbury@cumberlandcounty.org.

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Your monthly warning

Celebrate independence — but be safe

Harpswell raccoon tests positive for rabies

First Person: ‘My job is to show up. God does the rest’

From a kitchen far, far away: Chef with Hollywood connections premieres at Harpswell Neck’s Auburn Colony

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