A hometown newspaper with a local office, local owners & lots of local news
A hometown newspaper with a local office, local owners & lots of local news
Laurie Johnson, muni employee and competition creator, created a socially distanced group of drinkers for the Cromwell scarecrow competition.
If you've driven through Cromwell this past week, you'll have glimpsed the 10 scarecrows lining the main street downtown. Because the usually annual Harvest Fest had to be canceled, the Cromwell Area Community Club dreamed up a scarecrow competition as a fun way to lift spirits and capture a piece of the festival.
The scarecrows had to be mounted by Sept. 17. The club was delighted to find 10 scarecrows. "They liven up the town," said Tracey Goranson, one of the organizers. She and her sister, Lynn Odegaard, decorated every available pole with corn stalks and pumpkins donated by Dave and Jen Dahl, and sunflowers supplied by Jake and Jeana Zimmer.
"The judges had a tough (and humorful) time picking the top three, because they were all very creative," Goranson said. They spent quite a bit of time walking around the scarecrow sculptures and appraising them from across the street, also imagining what they might look like from passing cars and trucks, all of which must stop at the four-way signs in the middle of town.
The winners are the Northview Bank farmer couple ( first place), Deb Switzer's farmer lady surrounded by her produce (second), and Haley Freiermuth's angler (third).
My favorite is the one near the muni, a socially distanced, outdoor group of drinkers, one a skeleton, in various postures of dissolution over a picnic table.
Over the intervening days, with strong winds out of the southwest, some of the scarecrows lost bits of clothing and props, making it all that more amusing. Rod and I walked through downtown this week, five days later, and had a lot of fun seeing them all up close. And in some cases, restoring accessories.
When we can't gather as usual, it's delightful to see what enterprising community partners can do in a highly visible and accessible fashion, whether you're walking, driving or waiting in a lobby.
Ann Markusen is an economist and professor emerita at University of Minnesota. A Pine Knot board member, she lives in Red Clover Townshipc with her husband, Rod Walli.
