Smoking should be banned at festival

Thanks to the recent Illinois smoking ban, my husband and I have really enjoyed going to restaurants and other public places without dealing with smoking. It is so nice to enter a restaurant and smell the food that is being served there instead of the stale smoke air that often lingered. Too bad that same fresh air can't be found at our Vernon Hills Summer Celebration. How disgusting it is to have to walk through clouds of smoke just to get around the fair. Why is smoking banned in stadiums and outside eating areas but allowed in the general public areas of Summer Celebration? It's hard to enjoy being outside when you're constantly breathing in someone else's smoke. We were hoping to sit and enjoy a concert but left early because we could not escape people smoking around us. Why is it that the state of Illinos and music festivals like Ravinia ban smoking but we still have to deal with it in Vernon Hills? Is it too much to ask for all of us to enjoy the music without breathing in this very disgusting air? What's even worse and very disappointing is that we saw our very own Vernon Hills police officers, in uniform, smoking. It was such a bad example for the many children that the festival attracts. Would it be appropriate for me as a teacher to smoke in my class while I teach? Absolutley not. Why is it any more appropriate for police officers in uniform to be smoking while on duty? I hope they read this and realize there are many kids that look up to them and would be such a better role model if they weren't smoking in a public venue.

Julie Fievet

Vernon Hills