Scarecrows Take Over Secret Garden at Cumming Library

Visitors to the Cumming Library’s Secret Garden and Storywalk are in for a special treat this fall – handmade scarecrows have taken over the garden!

Library staff, Forsyth County Master Gardeners, and Forsyth County Public Library Friends & Advocates all worked to create a series of seven silly, sweet, and sprightly scarecrows for children and families strolling through the Storywalk to enjoy.

This month’s story, The Lonely Scarecrow by Tim Preston, winds along the garden path as readers learn what happens to a lonely scarecrow whose scary face keeps him from making friends with the animals around him. Each page of book has been posted on a garden stake along an easy-to-follow, numbered path.

“Our Storywalk promotes literacy, physical activity, family togetherness and being in the outdoors,” says Holly Raus, Information Specialist for Youth Services at the Cumming Library. Raus led efforts to launch the Storywalk and increase patron awareness of The Secret Garden earlier this year.

“As soon as we finished building the scarecrows this week and re-opened The Secret Garden and Storywalk, right away families were eager to read The Lonely Scarecrow and see our life-size scarecrows,” says Denise Leeson, Branch Manager at the Cumming Library.

The first scarecrow is suspended upside down, as he’s in the middle of turning a cartwheel. Designed by the Cumming Library staff, this scarecrow will surely have visitors going head over heels for the Storywalk.

The next scarecrow is fashioned from painted clay pots and moss and was made by the Master Gardeners. The third scarecrow scene includes two scarecrows lounging on a bale of hay while reading a book. This charming set of scarecrows was made by volunteers from the Forsyth County Public Library Friends & Advocates.

Other designs for the scarecrow scenes include a prairie-style scarecrow picking flowers, a set of formally-dresses grandma and grandpa scarecrows dancing, and a farmer scarecrow bidding visitors farewell as they leave the garden.
 
The Storywalk is free and open to the public during regular hours at the Cumming Library. The library will also host a special Scarecrow Fall Festival Storytime on Saturday, October 18 at 11:00 a.m. Children will enjoy scarecrow-themed stories, music, and crafts and then explore The Secret Garden and Storywalk.