But it is unfortunate it took a stupid act of vandalism to make the Dunedin City Council wrap the tree instead with its predecessor proclaiming ``Season's Greetings''.
It appears someone slashed the banner sometime on Friday morning. Council community development and events manager Joy Gunn says the replacement banner is now seven years old and that, before Christmas next year, the council will be ``talking with the community about options'' for decorating the tree and its base.
The ``Happy Holidays'' message proved unpopular with many in the city after it was highlighted in the What's With That column in this newspaper. In an Otago Daily Times poll of 1700 people, 61% would have preferred ``Merry Christmas'', while 25% did not mind the slogan in dispute and 14% were ambivalent.
It is encouraging to know the council will talk to the community next year about the right message. The trouble with the original message was it had little or no input from residents.
The ``It's the most wonderful time of the year'' and ``Happy Holidays'' banner did not gel for many when we all know it is actually Christmas that is being talked about. And those who would argue Christmas is not a word to be bandied around willy-nilly these days also know it is all about Christmas, otherwise they would hardly have put up a Christmas tree in a public place like this. So why be so coy about it in writing? Why even have a tree if you are going to take an emperor's new clothes approach to Christmas?
Things have come to a pretty pass when Dunedin people feel sufficiently moved by the situation to offer to pay for a new banner mentioning Christmas. Kaikorai resident Anne Marie Parsons, a beneficiary, was the first featured in this newspaper wanting to stump up the $1400 she was told would be needed for a replacement. Last Tuesday, Hard to Find Bookshop owner Warwick Jordan came forward wanting to pay to see ``Merry Christmas'' appear in the Octagon.
The council's community and culture committee chairman, Cr Aaron Hawkins, fronted up publicly to turn down any such offers. Instead, he accused some people of ``bullying behaviour'' and said the amount of abuse directed at council staff over the issue had been ``embarrassing''. The bullies needed to take a ``long, hard look at themselves'', he admonished.
Letter writers fired back. Marion Potter wondered if Cr Hawkins' embarrassment was ``due to the fact he completely misread the will of the Dunedin public''. Harry Love suggested the councillor take his own advice about bullying, particularly when the town hall imposes its idea of ``inclusiveness'' on language to reduce it to ``bland officialese''.
It would indeed be reprehensible if council staff were being harassed or bullied in the streets over their employers' decision. That is not in the spirit of Christmas or holidays. It is not something we would support and nor is the mindless damage of the banner last week.
The genesis of the wording for the now-removed wrapping remains rather puzzling - the council said staff looked at Christmas cards and chose the most popular comment. It is odd ``Christmas'' was not the most frequent word. Cr Hawkins says the approach to the message will be reconsidered next year.
``Happy Holidays'' is another unnecessary Americanisation creeping into our culture, one that will irk the thousands working in essential and emergency services, and in the retail sector, for whom Christmas is not actually a holiday.
The council may have been well-meaning in its efforts to be sensitive and inclusive. But in doing so it made big inroads into rendering meaningless a very special time of year for many.
