The season to be jolly has turned a bit nasty in Rhode Island, where residents incensed about Gov. Lincoln Chafee?s decision to refer to the 17-foot spruce in the Statehouse as a ?holiday tree? crashed a tree lighting ceremony Tuesday night.
After Chafee lit up the ?holiday tree,? dozens of carolers interrupted a children?s choir by bursting into the song ?O Christmas Tree,? while the Providence Diocese hosted a competing Christmas tree-lighting ceremony just a block away from the Statehouse, The Associated Press reports.
Continue Reading?If it?s in my house, it?s a Christmas tree, but when I?m representing all of Rhode Island I have to be respectful of everyone,? Chafee, who didn?t address the crowd, said after the tree lighting, according to the AP. ?Now we can get back to next year?s budget ? with pleasure.?
Chafee, a Republican turned independent, has bothered so many in his state with his insistence on political correctness that one state legislator has labeled him a ?Grinch.? Earlier this year, a symbolic state resolution declaring the tree in question be called a Christmas tree, not a holiday tree, passed the state?s House of Representatives.
The governor?s office reportedly has received some 3,500 calls, mostly from Rhode Island, protesting his controversial decision.
According to the governor?s office, the Rhode Island Children?s Chorus and the Governor?s Own 88th Army Band were scheduled to perform at the tree-lighting ceremony, while Santa Claus and Mrs. Claus also were expected to make appearances. The ornaments on the Statehouse ?holiday tree? are made by family and friends of military veterans.
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