A Mineola woman’s idea to rename her senior club’s Christmas party got an icy welcome, she said.
Mona Russo, 80, said her fellow Mineola Golden Age Club members shouted over her last Thursday when she made her case to call the annual party a “holiday party” to be more inclusive to non-Christian members.
“I felt like I was being stoned by this, and I’m so affronted,” said Russo, who is Jewish. “I’m not affronted, I’m embarrassed for the club.”
The club of about 200 people has a growing contingent of members who are Jewish and of other religions, Russo said, some of whom she thought an explicit Christmas party might alienate.
Russo said she thinks its largely Christian membership is reluctant to let go of the Christmas label.
She told members local governments and workplaces would not call it a “Christmas party” out of respect for other religions.
“Many of our members have blended families. I do not think you would be disrespectful of your families,” Russo said in her May 19 speech to the club, according to her notes.
Russo first approached the club’s leaders about changing the party’s name about three months ago, Vice President Mary Duffy said.
Officers put the issue to a vote and 107 voted to keep the Christmas label, three voted to call it a holiday party and four abstained, said another club board member who asked not to be named.
Duffy said she thinks the decision reflects members’ frustration with “political correctness.”
“I think you’re in an atmosphere today where people don’t want change anymore,” she said. “They’re sick and tired of all the changes.”
Russo said she respects the club’s choice, but was upset with how they treated her.
Duffy said she found the outcry embarrassing, and that the dispute should have been settled internally.
The club’s membership is largely Christian, Duffy said, but there are some Jewish, Greek Orthodox and Indian members. The club recognizes other holidays such as Hanukkah, she said.
The Christmas party is more a social gathering than a religious celebration, Duffy said.
“All we do is try to stimulate the seniors, have fun, and … there’s no religious aspect to it at all,” she said.
