Posted on 12/03/2009 8:31:35 AM PST by raccoonradio
NORTH ANDOVER (MA)— Town leaders learned the hard way this week: Don't mess with Christmas.
Five days after the town ordered firefighters to take down their decades-old Merry Christmas sign from the fire station, they got the OK to hang it back up yesterday afternoon.
"It seems like a happy ending," North Andover fire Chief William Martineau said, smiling as people drove by slowly, beeping and yelling out Merry Christmas. "It put a little joy back in the holidays."
The controversy had people across the country talking about North Andover.
Town Hall was flooded with angry phone calls this week. Residents were circulating petitions. And yesterday morning a dozen angry protesters stood outside Town Hall with signs blasting the town's decision. One resident even parked his car in front of the station with a Merry Christmas sign spread across the back window.
"This is the right thing to do," selectmen's Chairwoman Tracy Watson said. "We only took it down on advice from town counsel. There was a concern the town was at risk. We had the threat of a lawsuit. ... I personally have been torn apart by this."
"Part of leadership is uniting the community, and our community was being torn apart during the holidays," she said.
The 2-foot by 4-foot wooden sign was homemade by North Andover firefighters more than 50 years ago and had become a holiday tradition for anyone who grew up in town.
"A lady called me this morning and said her uncle, Bing Miller, was involved in making the sign back in the 1950s," Martineau said.
This was the second holiday controversy the town found itself in over the past couple of weeks.
Andover Rabbi Asher Bronstein threatened a lawsuit against North Andover after the selectmen would not let him place a menorah on the town common for the eight days of Hanukkah.
Selectmen voted on Nov. 23 to allow the menorah for one day. They said a town common use policy, voted in last summer, restricts all displays to one day.
A couple of days later, someone called in and complained about the Merry Christmas sign. Town officials never confirmed whether the complaint was in retaliation for the menorah snub.
With the menorah issue leaving the town feeling sensitive to holiday displays, they rushed to take the sign down last Friday, just a few days after it had gone up.
Selectmen are now also expected to vote to allow the menorah on the town common for all eight days of Hanukkah at a meeting Friday afternoon.
"We'll fix whatever needs to be fixed," Selectman Richard Nardella said of the town common policy.
Nardella said people seemed to get more worked up over the Christmas sign than the menorah. He was in Florida when news first broke about the Merry Christmas debacle, and was surprised to hear about it more than a 1,000 miles away.
"I personally think people overreacted," he said. "But the town's people have spoken loud and clear."
Earlier yesterday, a group of parishioners from St. Michael Parish brought signs to Town Hall protesting the sign's removal. They said the menorah also should be able to shine all eight days.
"Jesus is the reason for the season," one sign read. Another said, "A secular nation is a sorrowful nation."
They had been prepared to come back Saturday, along with a Santa Claus and an army of people.
"The whole world has gone wacky," said John Cronin, who organized the protest. "It's time we put an end to this political correctness. The country's going to die from it."
Jeanne Conte had spent an hour making her sign.
"I'm not surprised this happened," she said. "This country has become so liberal. It makes me sick inside."
Former Selectman Don Stewart parked his car by the station with a Merry Christmas sign. He said he was ready to go to a selectmen's meeting dressed as Santa and hand out miniature menorahs.
"They made the wrong decision. ... You don't mess with Santa," he said.
Town's statement
Being well aware of the controversy this has caused, having heard all views and in the spirit of the holiday season, the Chairman of the Board of Selectmen and the Town Manager have granted permission to the North Andover Fire Fighters to restore their Merry Christmas sign to be displayed on the Main Street Fire Station.
Their original decision was based on the fiduciary responsibility held for the Town, a concern that the ambiguous and conflicting court decisions on holiday displays may potentially leave the Town at risk and the well publicized threat of a lawsuit.
While it is a constant balancing act to protect the interests of the Town, problems and issues cannot always be avoided. It is how a community reacts, responds and resolves these issues that are most important. The Townspeople have spoken and they have been heard. They have clearly indicated which direction they would like the Town to proceed in.
There will also be a Board of Selectmen meeting on Friday, December 4, 2009 where the Chairman will be recommending to the full Board that they amend the Town Common use policy to allow holiday displays such as the currently pending application for the display of the menorah for eight days.
Looks like one of the town’s “leaders” house was fully involved and the firemen couldn’t get the truck out of the fire house. Radiator problem no doubt.
Guess they got the message.
I used to live in North Andover. It is genuinely nice to see those signs; it makes me feel as though there is hope.
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