To the Editor:

As the last flicker, emitted from the fireworks display this past Saturday, drifted silently down from the moonlit sky, I caught a glimpse into the eye of a small child staring awestruck at the marvel she had just witnessed and then wondered to myself ... does she know?

Was she aware of the certain demise that one of Newburyport's true treasures was facing?

Sure, anyone could accept the sad fate of the old Sportsman's restaurant (gone to the birds) on the causeway to Plum Island, the Cherry Hill development where thousands of bison used to roam and graze freely, and not to mention the untimely end of Stickney's beer, used food and candy store on Lime street situated directly across from the Brown School (OK, maybe we'll let that one slide).

But later that evening, as I sped on my Segway along High Street (unsure whether or not I should be in the bike lane), I could swear that I saw a bronze teardrop coming from one of George Washington's bronze eyeballs. As history states, George was able to cross the Potomac River and save our adolescent nation from, I believe, Mexico way back when.

It seems clear, though, now that George's sentry mission, this time to guard the Frog pond and beyond, failed and we south-enders will soon be without our good White Hen Pantry franchise as it will be enveloped by the evil CVS franchise.

Tell me, how am I ever going to explain this to my grandchildren?

Bill McCarthy

Newburyport