Allendale October 31, 2012 THE VILLADOM TIMES III • Page 9 Borough approvees first holiday lawn display by John Koster After reviewing recent court decisions, the Allendale Council decided last week to approve the display of a Nativity scene, a menorah, and a snowman or reindeer in front of Allendale’s municipal building for the first time in borough history. The display will not be set off by flashing lights and will carefully represent Christian, Jewish, and secular responses to the winter holiday season. “This is a good decision,” said Councilwoman Jacqueline McSwiggan. “It’s nice that we’re representing the traditional religions in town.” Allendale had not placed any religious symbols on borough property in previous years, but when several Jewish women approached the council in the spring and asked permission to provide a menorah celebrating the liberation of the Temple at Jerusalem from pagan oppressions in 146 B.C., the council and the women agreed that a Christian symbol would also be a good idea. Allendale Mayor Vince Barra and the council said they would confer with Allendale Borough Attorney David Bole, and make a decision later in the year. Mayor Barra said he had been working with Wyckoff Township Administrator Robert Shannon on an unrelated project and had tapped Shannon’s expert knowledge on the public display of religious holiday symbols. Wyckoff had been warned by the American Civil Liberties Union to remove a Nativity scene from the display on the front lawn of Wyckoff Town Hall some years ago, but resisted and filed an appeal to the state court system. Judge Dickinson Debevoise ruled that Wyckoff could display Christian religious symbols on public property as long as Jewish and secular symbols were also displayed. Wyckoff retained the Nativity scene and several Christmas symbols that are not specifically religious and acquired a menorah. Shortly, other towns that had removed their Nativity scenes under threat from the ACLU began to restore their displays with the inclusion of the menorah and winter season decorations. The Allendale Board of Education has approved a number of student field trips that emphasize health and history. The board approved funding for the sixth grade students’ visit to Medieval Times in Lyndhurst at a cost of $43 per student. This event was the culmination of the study of the life of a knight in medieval Europe. Funding was also approved for the third grade students’ walking tour of the Borough of Allendale. The trip included visits to Orchard Park, the police station, the train station, and the center of town to supplement a unit on the history of Allendale. Kindergarten students visited Rohsler’s Nursery on the Franklin Turnpike at a cost of $15 each to celebrate the Board approves autumn field trips Mayor Barra noted that there had been several decisions following the Wyckoff case, but that the right to display Christian, Jewish, and secular symbols had been affirmed. He added that all religious symbols had been paid for without any use of taxpayer money. In other business, the council discussed the appointment of either one or two new candidates to the Bergen County Police Academy to eventually become members of the Allendale Police Department. “We are so over the top in overtime right now,” declared (continued on page 14) Fall Harvest. Kindergarten students also visited the Lee Memorial Library and received library cards at no cost. This week, the first grade students were set to visit the Health Barn at Abma’s Farm and explore the benefits of a healthy lifestyle at a cost of $21 per student. On Nov. 2, the second grade will visit Museum Village in Monroe, New York to enhance the social studies unit on Colonial times. Museum Village is a collection of buildings that includes a log cabin, church, museum, and houses with workshops that were rescued and removed to the village by Roscoe Smith to celebrate the development of handicrafts and light industry in early America. J. KOSTER