Mineola Village Trustee Lawrence Werther offered the following statement at the December 5 meeting of the village board:
I do this at the beginning of every December because I want you guys to know where I’m coming from.
More than likely if I meet you during the coming season until the end of the year, I’m going to be wishing you a Merry Christmas.
Why do I wish you a Merry Christmas?
I was raised as a Roman Catholic, I was born to a Jewish father and an Italian Catholic mother, but I was raised as a Roman Catholic and to me Christmas is everything that’s pure and good and holy. And if I wish you anything other than that, a tepid happy holiday, I am not wishing you everything that is pure and good and holy to me. I’m going to ask you to do me a favor, to accept my greeting in the spirit that it’s given.
If you’re a Christian, please wish me a Merry Christmas in return. If you’re not a Christian, wish me whatever holiday it is, I will accept it in the spirit that my greeting is given, but I only wish everyone in this village the best and I will do that by expressing my wishes through the words “Merry Christmas.”
So God bless everyone in this village and a Merry Christmas.
Lawrence Werther has served as a trustee on the Mineola Village Board since 2003. He is currently the longest-serving member on the board and has been a resident of the village since 1980.
