Fire rings remain a tradition for many

Which came first, the concrete fire ring or "Beach Blanket Bingo?" I would have to say that the concrete fire ring came first.

When I was a teenager in the 1940s, that was one of the special events on the weekends - going to Castle Rock and having a "weenie bake" and making s'mores! The fire rings were called old-fashioned campfires. It was all innocent fun in those days with no mishaps of excessive drinking or being loud, obnoxious or starting fights. The other fire ring enthusiasts would share their victuals with one another in a cordial way, and many romances started at the fire rings ended up in marriage.

In later years, when my kids were of an age that they knew how to behave, all the same fire ring friends would meet on a summer night to resume the weenie bakes. No excessive drinking, being loud, obnoxious or starting fights.

I would hate to see the fire rings go, but I can understand the opponents'' grievances about the environment and the mayhem that can be caused. -- Lois Eisenberg, Valencia

Public beaches belong to all of us

For too long, the wealthy have been doing their best to make our country into a government of the rich, by the rich, and for the rich. Their efforts to ban fire pits at the beaches is another effort to fulfill that dream.

"How dare those unwashed peasants build fires close to our mansions?" is

Well, we unwashed peasants must stand up to those oligarchs and let them know they don't own the seacoast. It belongs to We the People! And if We the People want to enjoy fire pits at our beaches, no one - not even the rich - should prevent us.

I have a question: Did our forefathers fight and die in the War of Independence so that only those who are wealthy can enjoy the seaside -- or so that all of us can enjoy it? -- David Quintero, Monrovia

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Readers respond: Should beaches ban age-old rings of fire?