To: Christopher McCormick, President & CEO L.L. Bean Inc.

Protect Our Rural Environment

L. L. Bean, we the undersigned urge you to protect the environment, animals and residents of rural Freeport. Rethink your 100th Aniversary fireworks display. Move the launch site back to Morse Street. Scale it back to the duration, intensity and location of previous years on the 4th of July.

Why is this important?

L.L.Bean, please do not launch your fireworks from our Rural neighborhood!

(Below are excerpts from a letter recently sent to L.L. Bean)

Your website states that L.L. Bean has been committed to environmental stewardship for 100 years. Would L.L. Bean really want a celebration that:

* violates the local noise ordinance for Rural Residential areas

* pollutes the environment

* exacerbates existing health issues such as asthma and epilepsy

* strikes fear in those most vulnerable: the young, the elderly and those suffering from post-traumatic stress syndrome

* terrorizes/harms domestic, farm and wild animals

* produces a threat of fire in a rural area

I am concerned for the effects on my animals, which include four horses and 10 cows. As wells as the countless wild animals that call our farm home: the flock of wild turkeys, the herd of deer, the pair of red tail hawks, the wood ducks, and the foxes to name a few. A display such as this will produce blind terror and panic in all of these animals and could result in harm and possibly death for some. My pony, who is nearly 30, has been abused in the past, suffers from panic attacks and a respiratory condition, and is particularly at risk. It is not an option to move her due to her physical and emotional state. I am also concerned for my neighbors.

What you are planning is excessive and does not belong in a rural area. I urge you to reconsider your plan, scale it back at least to the level of last year or better yet switch to a display that is more environmentally friendly such as a laser light show.

Please, do the right thing and find a way to celebrate that is more in keeping with your mission.

For more information visit our website at: https://sites.google.com/site/savemypony

or email me at: [email protected]