Happy Festivus!

[Susan Freiman]

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Dec 16, 1:58 PM EST

Festivus pole proposed at Green Bay City Hall


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GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) -- The putting up of a nativity scene at Green
Bay's City Hall has prompted a tongue-in-cheek request from a suburban
man for permission to display a Festivus pole on the overhang of the
building's northwest entrance.

The Festivus holiday created by author Daniel O'Keefe during the 1970s
and popularized by comedian Jerry Seinfeld two decades later is
celebrated by some both in earnest and jest on Dec. 23.

The request by Sean Ryan of Allouez was made during the weekend after
Green Bay City Council president Chad Fradette received the go-ahead
last week from the city's advisory committee to install a nativity
display at City Hall.

Fradette said he proposed the display in response to criticism of a
nativity display at a city park in nearby Peshtigo.

A practicing Catholic who would prefer to see no religious displays at
a government office, Ryan said his request to put up an undecorated six
foot aluminum pole was intended to showcase how deciding what religions
to include in the display can turn to the absurd.

"I was turning over how extreme things could get and how loosely things
could get interpreted,

" Ryan said.

"The real feat of strength would be for the mayor to stand up and say
this is absurd," Ryan added. "Let us keep nativity scenes where they
belong in the churches, in our homes and in our hearts."

On Friday, a Wiccan pentacle was put up at the Green Bay City Hall
consisting of an evergreen wreath encircling a gold five-pointed star.

Wicca is a nature-based religion based on respect for the earth, nature
and the cycle of the seasons. But variations of the pentacle not
accepted by Wiccans have been used in horror movies as a sign of the
devil.

Green Bay Mayor Jim Schmitt said items besides the nativity scene to be
displayed need to associated with a religion, and the Festivus pole is
just pop culture.

"This is kind of making a laughing matter of something that's rather
serious," he said.

The mayor said "silly antics" would not help resolve the questions
facing the City Council on Tuesday, when it is scheduled to take up the
matter.

The mayor said he plans to forward some preliminary guidelines to the
council Monday, including a limit on the time period for the displays
and how to determine if a display is representative of a religion.

"This isn't an area that we have a lot of expertise," Schmitt said.

---

Information from: Green Bay Press-Gazette,
http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com <http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com>

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Buy your Festivus Pole at

http://www.festivuspoles.com/pages/Festivuspoles.htm 
<http://www.festivuspoles.com/pages/Festivuspoles.htm>