Page 1 of The Dreidl Disaster

Chapter One

Off the campaigntrail and back to work.

Newly elected member of the County Board of Legislators Olivia Nachman wouldn’t have it any other way. She had a spring in her step, a fantastic mix of pumpkin, milk, and java from the Cupcake Stop, and all of her materials prepped and ready as she returned to her seat in the room in town hall where the Briarwood village government held their special committee meetings.

“Welcome back, Liv!”

“Welcome back, Mayor!”

“Congratulations, Mayor Nachman!”

When a group of people used her name and her title interchangeably, Liv knew that she was home. Which, she noted, she was, considering she’d known a large number of people in the room since her childhood.

But more importantly, this particular special committee, which included representatives from the Briarwood Temple Sisterhood, the Interfaith Clergy Council, and the Briarwood Chamber of Commerce, had gathered together for a very important moment; one she’d been looking forward to.

“Thank you, everybody,” she said. “What’s our agenda for tonight?”

The question, of course, was a formality—always asked by the sitting mayor right before the beginning of the meeting.

“Presentation to the special committee by Flaire Hutton of the New York Empires,” said Mark, the longtime Briarwood cameraperson. The man responsible for making these committee meetings accessible to the entire town. “A proposal for the ceremonies and events surrounding the installation of the dreidl sculpture.”

“Is Ms. Hutton here?”

A hand was raised, revealing nails that were a blend of red and green and an Empires crest. The young woman wearing the distinctive colors was pale, with straight blonde hair, bright blue eyes and a tiny nose. “Present, your honor,” she said. “Uh…honored mayor…”

“Thank you, Ms. Hutton,” Liv said, smiling. “I think we’re ready.” After going through the formalities required of the committee at the beginning of the meeting, it was time. And because she decided to take pity on the young woman, she altered a policy. “Let’s save questions for the end.”

The young woman nodded, walking to the front of the room, wearing a bright red and green suit and a smile.

“The holiday season is important to the Empires,” the young woman began as she settled her materials on the lectern. “And with our donation of a collection of hockey sticks from our recent Men’s Hockey League Championship season and their use to create a dray-dell, it is very clear that team is quite interested in celebrating the season with Briarwood.”

As the laptop came to life, a schedule was posted on the ancient pulldown screen. Noises Liv could only explain as gasps of horror emanated from some of the participants. She caught some eyes and lowered her hand in the universal gesture for ‘quiet.’

“We would begin with a kickoff event on the Friday evening,” Flaire continued, whether she was oblivious to the noises or too excited about the presentation to notice, Liv wasn’t sure. “We will have a beautiful party, music, and excitement on the grounds of the Briarwood Temple. On Saturday morning, the children of the village will be invited to join the festivities with a beautiful gelt hunt, fun and prizes and festivities on the grounds of the temple. We would continue festivities through the day, continuing with a beautiful, quiet religious ceremony on Sunday, maybe with the pastor or a reverend leading the service with the children from the choir singing, and the dreedell being unveiled after the service, where it will be blessed by all of the clergy from the council.”

Flaire paused, as if she was expecting questions before she pressed the laptop again, revealing…a list of food regulations. Another part of the room gasped in horror.

Now it was time for her to say something. “Quiet down,” Liv interjected. “I want to remind everybody that there will be time for questions at the end.”

“Thank you, Mayor.” Flaire continued, “Part two is the food. Because everybody wants food at a holiday celebration. There would be food everywhere, celebrating the spirit of the season. Healthy baked food, with beautiful symbolic cookies including festive jelly-filled triangle cookies and buttery ma-taza crackers with salt water and honey with apples to celebrate the miracle of this season.”

Once again there was a pause, and more horror came across the screen, as the next group of people reacted to the regulations.

“We would also like to see decorations, of silver and green and red, as well as a blue that matches the Empires color palette; that is the only color that will need to be checked to specifications of course. No non-Empires blue allowed. Flags and beautiful noisemakers should be used on shop windows, in celebration of your festive season and the dreedell.”

Liv tamped down her own emotions, looking at the members of this special committee. “Are there any questions?”

There were, as expected, many hands raised.

“Okay. We’re going to take these questions topic by topic, to make things a bit more orderly if that’s possible?”

There were approving noises from the room, which relieved Liv just a little bit.

And then the questions started.

Reverend Kennedy, the representative from the town’s interfaith council, was the first to raise his hand. “Why would you have events on the grounds of the synagogue while there are services going on? There are so many other locations where events could occur.”

“Synagogue…services?” Flaire replied with a smile. “Aren’t services on Sundays?”

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