A Lehighton councilwoman publicly defended herself Monday night against what she called false claims about her involvement in a popular holiday event.

Councilwoman Autumn Abelovsky used the borough council meeting to address “rumors spread throughout the community” regarding her role in Christmas in the Park, an event she helped launch a decade ago.

“Last year, I made the difficult decision to step away from an event that I started 10 years ago and grew from an inspiration into one of Lehighton’s most beloved traditions,” Abelovsky read from her prepared statement. “I put my heart and soul into Christmas in the Park with the assistance of several other members of the Parks and Recreation Board.

“This year, I chose my family over the community, and now, due to falsehoods being spoken about me, I feel regret for doing so. No parent should be made to feel guilty for choosing their children over anything.”

Abelovsky said that when she resigned from the Parks and Recreation Board at the request of the borough manager, Dane DeWire, she turned over all necessary documents for the 10th annual Christmas in the Park — including bylaws, budgets, applications, schedules, and a list of previous tree participants.

She said she provided the files to the borough manager on Feb. 19, who then forwarded them to Councilwoman Becky Worthy, the Parks and Recreation. chair, the same day. Abelovsky accused Worthy of spreading “falsehoods” that she failed to provide the materials, saying, “This is a blatant lie.”

Abelovsky said she recently met with DeWire, and Jordyn Miller and Tina Henninger, both of Parks and Recreation., to review the event documents and explain the planning process. She said she asked the board to issue a public retraction, but that it declined to do so.

“I want nothing more than the Christmas in the Park event to succeed,” she said. “Any obstacles that stand in the way are not due to a lack of me providing the necessary tools.”

Abelovsky said that since these accusations were made public, she personally reached out to DeWire, Miller and Henninger, and has since met with them and walked them through how she accomplished Christmas in the Park, as well as reviewed all the documents that she had made available to them upon her resignation from the board.

She added, “I made it clear that I would support them as well as their advancements with the event and be available should any further questions or assistance be requested. “

After the meeting, Worthy declined to elaborate, saying, “Responding to attention-seeking behavior only validates it. I’ll pass.”

Henninger, the Parks and Recreation vice chair, said tensions over the event have been ongoing for more than a year.

Henninger said Abelovsky was asked to upload all board information to a borough Dropbox when she resigned in January, but initially only included meeting minutes and bylaws.

“Apparently toward the end of February, she gave the borough manager a jump drive with most of the information,” Henninger said, calling it a miscommunication.

Henninger said the borough manager’s email forwarding the link to Worthy had no subject line, and board members never realized it contained the needed materials.

Last month, Henninger posted that the board no longer had contact information for previous tree adopters — a message Abelovsky “took as a personal attack.” The issue was resolved during a Sept. 25 meeting among the parties, Henninger said.

The 10th annual Trees in the Park event is set for Dec. 7, and this year will also feature a Yule Market on South Street.