By Gary J. Groman, a.k.a. The Ole Seagull
Just how much “Christmas” is in Ozark Mountain Christmas may be decided by the city of Branson’s Board of Aldermen at its Dec. 10 meeting. At the Dec. 4 work session of the city of Branson’s Board of Aldermen, presided over by Mayor Raeanne Presley, and attended by Aldermen Jack Purvis, Sandra Williams, Bob McDowell, Dick Gass, and Stephen Marshall, Alderman Marshall presented a resolution supporting “the celebration of Ozark Mountain Christmas.”
Marshall said that the resolution was prompted by a column written by this reporter. That column entitled, “Will Branson celebrate Christmas or some other neutered politically correct holiday?” appeared in the Nov. 23 edition of this paper and on line at www.bransoncourier.com under “Editorials.”
The column said that the name of the celebration that the Branson community markets to the world is “Ozark Mountain Christmas” and that with every other festival or celebration, residents, businesses, and employees are encouraged to get with the spirit of the occasion being promoted. It expressed the writer’s hope that it would be important to that same community that Christmas is celebrated and preserved as its own holiday and not lost in a myriad of other holidays or hidden in a closet filled with “commercialism” and “political correctness.”
The resolution that Marshall presented contains three short operable sections. The first states that “the Board of Aldermen hereby states its support of the celebration of Ozark Mountain Christmas.” The next section says, “In furtherance of that support, the Board hereby urges Branson businesses to try to keep the word and spirit of ‘Christmas’ in Christmas and to foster the history and heritage of the traditional American Christmas in Branson, Missouri.” The last section reads, “The Board of Aldermen also hereby encourages all businesses and residents of Branson to show their support by the displaying of Christmas decorations during Branson’s Ozark Mountain Christmas to ensure that all visitors experience the old fashion Christmas they imagined.”
In introducing the resolution Marshall pointed out that the area markets “Ozark Mountain Christmas.” Marshall said, “People come to Branson because of Christmas’ and went on to say, “I believe that as a city we should endorse that.” He pointed out that as you drive around town you see less and less decorations happening and less and less use of the word “Christmas.” Alderwoman Williams said, “We do spend money marketing ‘Ozark Mountain Christmas’ and we pull lots of people here.” She continued, “I feel that if we are going to market it that we almost owe them what they expect when they get here.”
When the mayor referred the matter to the city of Branson’s attorney Paul Link, he started off by saying, “I can tell you that I haven’t seen the resolution but when I saw the topic I called the Missouri Municipal League about it and before I even got very far into the dialogue I was met with an absolutely do not do that….” Mayor Presley said, “We are fairly warned.”
At that point, Alderman McDowell said, “Wait, can you get clarification from them Paul on specifically what the areas of concern are?” Link responded, “The area of concern is the establishment clause of the United States Constitution. The government is not supposed to encourage one sect of religion over another.” When Link implied that the resolution somewhat mandated someone to say “Merry Christmas” both Aldermen Marshall and William pointed out that the resolution did not mandate anything. Link responded, “You are not mandating. What I am saying is that when you encourage one religion the establishment clause is set there to protect those so that they don’t think they are at a disadvantage with the government because they don’t follow the religion that’s being encouraged by that governmental entity.”
Alderwoman Williams then asked, “How can we take city money and market “Ozark Mountain Christmas?” Link said, “Um, as far as the difference, all I can say to that is I can’t guarantee you that someone that is not a Christian would not take issue with that and sue the city at some point for our financial support…” Link went on to say, “There are things that we do at this city that if the ACLU came down we would more than likely be prohibited from doing.”
Alderwoman Williams said, “Paul, let us know if you think we need to reword it.” Acting City Administrator, Frank Schoneboom, before Link could reply said, “I think what we are saying is that we don’t think you should do it.” Aldermen Williams and Marshall indicated that they wanted the proposed resolution reviewed. A comparison of the operable portions of the resolution, as presented on the city of Branson’s website and quoted above, are virtually the same as the draft resolution Alderman Marshall presented at the meeting.
Furnished courtesy of the Branson Daily Independent.
