Evergreen Bans Menorah

Evergreen Bans Menorah, Keeps Christmas Tree

EVERGREEN, Colo. -- Jewish leaders are challenging Evergreen parks and recreation officials' decision to remove a menorah celebrating Hanukkah from the Evergreen Lake House while keeping a towering tree swathed in Christmas lights beside the building.

http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/29 ... etail.html


geeez.....why does everything have to be so complicated

Agreed....sigh...

I've always wanted to do some light decorations at the house but have never gotten around to it. I even know exactly what I'd want to do. I want three or four of those little reindeers, you know, the wire-frame guys w/the lights on them. I'd lay them on their sides in the yard on top of a generous distribution of red lights scattered on the ground. Then, in the corner, tastefully illuminated with red and green floods, the front end of a '56 Buick -- grill, headlights, bumper.

I think it would be spectacular. And non-denominational! :thumbsup:

rofllol rofllol

I had to share that with my son-in-law. I expect he will do something similar next year LOL. Great idea.

If he does, I want a picture!

Becky wrote:

Evergreen Bans Menorah, Keeps Christmas Tree

EVERGREEN, Colo. -- Jewish leaders are challenging Evergreen parks and recreation officials' decision to remove a menorah celebrating Hanukkah from the Evergreen Lake House while keeping a towering tree swathed in Christmas lights beside the building.

http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/29 ... etail.html


geeez.....why does everything have to be so complicated

Who is this new spineless Evergreen Park and Recreation District Executive Director Scott Robinson anyway? No one has had problems for years but he says, 'there have been no complaints about the 8-foot-tall decorative menorah, but that he was just trying to prevent future conflicts with Denver over the display'. That is like saying you should just get a divorce now even though there are no problems just to prevent any future issues, so it doesn't end up being an ugly divorce if it happens. I will bet he voted for Obama. When is the next election for his position? Next time they need to disclose if they have a set of balls before running.

The guy is obviously a jerk.

OK, I'll play devil's advocate.....
- Evergreen had nothing to do with banning this particular display, the City and County of Denver did. In the news story that I saw, the rabbi didn't mention appealing to the Denver City Council, which is the proper venue to ask for permission
- If this were a Muslim group wanting to put up their religious symbols, folks would be there with pitchforks and torches, including a few from 285Bound.
- The guy is spineless? I would argue that he has more spine than his predecessor. The rues of his employer, the City and County of Denver, state that a religious display is not permitted. It's his job to enforce the rules uniformly, which is exactly what he's doing. Sounds like his predecessor chose to not carry out his duties as required.

My understanding is that The Lake house is an "Evergreen Parks & Recreation District" facility- not a City and County of Denver facility. It may be located on land owned by the City and County of Denver - but it's Lake House was paid for by resident tax payers within the Evergreen Parks & Recreation District.
http://www.evergreenrecreation.com/facilities.php?id=10

And it appears that the 55 acre site has been "leased" from Denver- that makes it Evergreen's- not Denver's.

In 1980 the District leased a 55-acre site at Evergreen Lake from the City and County of Denver. Built in 1993, the 5,000-square-foot Evergreen Lake House is a showcase of rustic log and stone craftsmanship.

Source: http://www.evergreenrecreation.com/general_info.php?id=1

I would agree that this guy is playing politically correct politics here - and his job is now at risk by pissing off the taxpayers within the Evergreen Parks & Recreation District- he should have let this tradition stand instead of stirring up an issue and attempting to be a politically correct a**hole!

We own the facility- not the liberals in Denver.

Ahhh, talk about kicking the hornet's nest....

Scott was formerly Deputy Director of Denver Parks and Rec, though has lived here in Evergreen for several years with his family (so, IMHO, he should understand the demographic and the fact that there is a sizeable Jewish population up here, as well as many "live and let live" folks who probably voted for Obama and are not disturbed by a menorah). He has also been parks director for Louisville or Lafayette, can't remember which, and worked for the National Park Service for many years. I've known him for awhile and he is a thoughtful fellow.

All that said, I do think this is a really bad mis-step. Viking's "let's get divorced before something happens" analogy is spot on, I love it! I can appreciate wanting to build a cooperative relationship with Denver, but at this point Denver has no $$$ to maintain its facilities up here, and probably needs EPRD more than they need Denver. I also doubt Denver has any resources to go out and see if anyone is placing menorah or other religious symbols on leased facilities. This could have been handled entirely differently, without a purely bureaucratic response.

I will be interested to see what happens at the EPRD board meeting tonight. If he has alienated a huge segment of the community, then he will have a lot of rebuilding to do, and what will have been the point?