BLUE FLAGS SPOOK GOYIM IN CHAPPAQUA, NY

BILL AND HILLARY'S "HOME TOWN" IS SCARED BLUE FLAGS TOO JEWISH, MAY SCARE GENTILES.

Holiday Flag-gate Hits Affluent Chappaqua (WCBSTV)

(CBS) CHAPPAQUA, N.Y. The flags read "welcome." But not everyone shares that sentiment about the flags, now hanging in the hamlet of Chappaqua. "I most certainly was warned I'd receive backlash," said business owner Tara Caverzasi. "I did not believe it. I was a little naïve."

Caverzasi said she was just trying to spread a little seasonal cheer, and draw shoppers to Chappaqua businesses, including her jewelry store, Desires by Mikolay. So she spent $3,000 of her own money to buy about 50 flags from an online vendor. Each features a blue background with white snowflakes and the word "welcome" running vertically down one side.

The Town of New Castle approved the flags, and town workers installed them on utility poles throughout downtown in early December. "I was told to keep in mind that we didn't want anything too religious," said Caverzasi, who spent several weeks looking at flags before settling on a design. "We wanted something that was neutral, and snowflakes and the word 'welcome' in my mind was neutral."

But where she sees neutrality, others see favoritism towards the Jewish faith. Officials at the New Castle Town Hall have received about 20 phone calls and e-mail messages from residents who don't like the flags. They're unhappy with the blue and white color scheme, which is commonly associated with Hanukkah and also appears on the flag of Israel. Two of the snowflakes are six-pointed Stars of David, and the flags are tapered at the bottom, making them resemble a symbol of Hanukkah, the dreidel.

"My first reaction was, actually, it was a Jewish thing," said Jennifer Cook, who operates a spa in Chappaqua. "I thought it was supposed to be a dreidel, to be honest." Cook said after taking a closer look at the flags, she doesn't mind them at all. "I think it does liven up the town, so it was definitely nice to do," she said.

Still, one town official, speaking to CBS 2 on background, worried shoppers offended by the flags will avoid Chappaqua.

Caverzasi told town officials to give her number to anyone who called to complain, so she could address concerns directly. "I have no regrets," she said. "A little bit of frustration, but no regrets."