The town board in Litchfield announced it's final decision on the yellow ribbon controversy in front of an angry crowd Wednesday night. They decided to take down the five yellow ribbons on five trees, and replace them with one ribbon and two bows around one tree.
“I want a ribbon for my son,” shouted Steve Ardussi from the crowd after the announcement.
The board initially took down the ribbons that had been up since 2003, late last year. Their reason was that ribbons set a precedent for other causes to put ribbons on the green.
After months of pressure, and a meeting with public comments Wednesday night, the board compromised by allowing one ribbon. Still, the decision was met with yelling and screaming from crowd members.
“They didn’t compromise at all,” said Val Caron, whose wife has been a vocal proponent of the ribbons. “We asked for 5 ribbons.”
The board members tried to explain themselves in front of the hostile crowd.
“I knew we weren’t going to make them happy,” board member Peter Gay told NBC Connecticut after the meeting. The Vietnam Veteran went on to say, “She wanted 5 ribbons. It just got ugly.”
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There was also a suggestion from the board that they hold a ceremony Saturday to put up the ribbon, and raise a flag that says “support our troops.”
