The organiser of this year’s Coupar Angus Christmas lights believes criticism of the display stems from her being a “newcomer”.
Avril Douglas, 63, moved to Coupar Angus from fellow Perthshire town Alyth a year ago.
She was a driving force behind this year’s display – unveiled on Sunday.
Despite more than 300 people attending the switch-on, there has been a fallout on social media.
Some have criticised the lack of stalls on Sunday, while others objected to a fundraiser she held at her home in the town.
Avril is originally from the Carse of Gowrie and moved to Alyth a few years ago.
She was upset at the criticism after her team of volunteers worked hard on the display.
She told The Courier: “Okay, some have stayed hundreds of years in the town and I have only been here for a year. So what?
“They are the ones who should be giving you the support and saying ‘ok, maybe we wanted a stall but we are not going to get stalls’.
“I am the one who has put myself on the line to do all this, it has almost turned into a full-time job.
“This was something I did to involve myself in the community when I moved here.”
Organiser responds to criticism of Coupar Angus Christmas lights
Avril said she organised bingo teas, coffee mornings and applied for grants to raise £4,000 for the lights.
“There are a few people in the town that are just not happy that I am a newcomer,” she said.
“I have come in and managed to achieve what we set out to do at the very beginning.
“Light up Coupar Angus.”
Avril organised a pop-up shop from her house to raise money for the Christmas lights earlier in the year.
She believes this ruffled some feathers even before the switch-on.
Avril ‘stabbed in the back’ after organising town event
Avril didn’t organise for any local stallholders to attend the event.
But a late cancellation of the Burrelton Christmas market meant some stallholders turned up last-minute.
A post by a user of Facebook community page Coupar Angus said: “It is a bit off that people were told there were no stalls allowed but at the very last minute that changed.
“Not very good for community spirit!!”
This sparked heated discussion on social media.
Avril said: “All I was wanting to do was have a great night for all the kids, switching on the lights.
“If somebody wants to come in and have stalls they could do it off their own back.
“I am only doing one thing, not the stalls.
“I went to the people who ran it before me, I went and spoke to them about how they went about things.
“Now I am getting stabbed in the back.”
Will the Christmas lights return to the town next year?
Despite the criticism, Avril says she would be happy to organise the event next year.
She was delighted at the support she received from the community for helping set up the switch-on.
“People have been messaging me and saying ‘we are really sorry that this has been said on the Facebook page’,” she said.
Local joiner J&S Rodger helped put up the tree and electricians assisted with the lights.
Conversation