Lobethal Lights stalwarts the Chartres threaten to pull out this year after explosive committee meeting

The couple behind Lobethal’s arguably most spectacular Christmas lights display may pull out of the event after a tense committee meeting.

For almost 40 years Bill and Peg Chartres have been lighting up their Lobethal home at Christmas time, bringing the joy of the season to young and old alike. This year they’re not sure that they’ll bother.

The Lobethal Lights stalwarts say they have become disheartened after being frozen out of any decision-making in a heated committee meeting earlier this month.

Mr and Mrs Chartres' decorated house – on Christmas Lane, of course – has become a highlight of the Adelaide Hills’ tourist attraction since they put up their first string of lights back in 1983, but they now say the magic of Christmas has been lost among the growing tensions within the committee.

Bill and Peg at their 2020 Christmas lights display. Picture: Naomi Jellicoe

“It has become very divided, and instead of Christmas being something that brings the whole community together in the state which we’re proud of, everyone’s feeling very stressed and upset at the moment,” Mrs Chartres said.

In the April meeting community members who were not official committee members were banned from being involved in any discussions about the event, Mrs Chartres said. “Anyone that wanted to talk wasn’t allowed to talk and they just voted in all the existing committee members,” she said.

Lobethal couple Peg and Bill Chartres at their home with hundreds of Christmas lights and displays in 2020. Picture: Naomi Jellicoe

Mr and Mrs Chartres said they were confused as to why they were not considered members, after having been involved in the lights for so many years. She said the committee seemed to be only interested in the main street area where stalls and food trucks were located and that Lobethal’s residents were being ignored.

“They just do the main street and the stalls, and all they seem to be interested in now is that part of it. Somewhere along the line it’s lost what it needs to be,” Mrs Chartres said.

She and Mr Chartres will not hang their lights if residents remain blocked from conversations about the event.

Lobethal couple Peg and Bill Chartres at their home with hundreds of Christmas lights and displays. Picture: Naomi Jellicoe

“It’s stressing us both out so much,” she said.

“We start setting up in the first weekend of October, we’re actually getting the garden ready beforehand and by the time we get them down it’s nearly five months of our lives.

“We love the lights and we would like to go out on a high … going out on something like this probably doesn’t leave a good feeling.”

Vice chairwoman for the Lobethal Lights Committee Marianne Foristal said the situation has been very stressful for members, particularly those who are elderly.

“We don’t want to see the Lights of Lobethal in jeopardy,” Ms Foristal said

“The committee is working to resolve the dispute and bring the event back to what it should be about – Christmas.”

Lobethal local Pat Parson, 85, has been decorating her Wattle Street home for 13 years and felt confused by the situation.

“What do they gain out of excluding people?” Mrs Parson said. “It’s the lights, it’s not the stalls that people come to see. To me, the Lobethal lights is just that – the lights.”

Originally published as Lobethal Lights stalwarts the Chartres threaten to pull out this year after explosive committee meeting