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WESTBOROUGH, Mass. – Don and Nancy Landroche have been decorating their yard for Christmas since their daughter was born. This year they went all out for the first time since they moved to their home at 210 East Main Street but it seems someone isn’t too happy about it.
On Tuesday, Dec. 20 the Landroches found an anonymous letter in their mailbox telling them their decorations were too over the top.
“The letter basically said they are tacky and gaudy and we were wasting electricity, which is a precious commodity, and we’re rubbing it in people’s faces that we can afford it,” Nancy Landroche said. “Everyone has their own opinion, but then the last part said that if we didn’t take some of them down, they would do it for us.”
Nancy said the letter was upsetting because they had always decorated their yard for their children and other families to enjoy.
“We put a lot of work into it for our kids. We’ve been doing it for about 20 years now and they enjoy it and my husband really puts a lot of thought into it,” Nancy said.
The Landroches reported the letter to the Westborough Police Department.
Police Chief Alan Gordon said they have dealt with people stealing holiday decorations in the past but they’ve never seen something like this.
“We’re monitoring the situation and working with the family,” Gordon said. “We just hope whoever wrote it realizes it’s just in the Christmas spirit and the decorations just bring joy to kids.”
Gordon said that leaving the anonymous letter in the mailbox was in violation of federal law.
“Technically by federal law, mailboxes are for the post office to utilize only,” Gordon said. “By leaving it in the mailbox they were technically tampering with the mail.”
Despite the letter, Nancy said they will not be taking down any of the deocrations.
“Everyone has their own opinion,” Nancy said. “We’re getting a lot of support from people who like to show their kids the decorations.”
Comments (2)
My suggestion is: Ignore the ignoramus and enjoy!
I feel sorry for the neighbors who wrote the letter. They obviously are having a very tough time financially to feel that a lot of Christmas decorations is somehow flaunting wealth. The amount of electricity that those decorations use probably doesn't even register on the electric bill. It's unfortunate that the neighbors couldn't embrace the spirit of Christmas and just enjoy the decorations instead of trying to make the Landroches feel bad. I hope the neighbors find that 2012 is better to them than 2011 must have been. And I hope the Landroches will look beyond the meanness of the letter to feel compassion for the neighbors who wrote it.