Cashmere chamber vetoes Spanish language greeting

Published 9:00 pm Friday, December 19, 2003

CASHMERE — Can you say Merry Christmas in 11 languages?

DonnaLee Moore can, and did, as she marched through downtown Thursday waving a sign that espoused holiday cheer in Spanish, German, Gaelic, Greek, Ukrainian, Hebrew, Italian, Hawaiian, Navajo, Norwegian and Polish.

Her march was in response to a refusal by the local chamber of commerce to use Spanish on one of many large Christmas cards put up in the windows of the Chelan County town’s businesses.

Moore, an unsuccessful candidate for mayor this year, proposed the Spanish Christmas card idea two months. Chamber President John Clifford responded emphatically: "No. Not as long as I’m chamber president."

Clifford, who owns Clifford’s Hardware, said he could not afford to offend any customers. Last year, some people were upset when a Mexican flag was flown at the Cashmere Museum and Pioneer Village, he said.

"I can’t afford to lose a few customers over anything. If someone else wants to do it as president, that’s OK," Clifford said.

Ann Chipman, who becomes Chamber president in January, said no one is saying the Hispanic population is not welcome in Cashmere.

"The language spoken here is English, and that’s how we run the community," Chipman said.

Cashmere’s Hispanic population grew by 273 percent between 1990 and 2000, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures. Hispanics account for roughly 17 percent of the town’s population of more than 2,500.

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