Favourite Memories

Loughton's 2015 Scarecrow Trail is drawing to a close. Last day tomorrow! So I thought I'd share with you all some of my favourite memories to date:

• a train of small schoolchildren, complete with sun hats, excitedly walking round the trail with their teacher;
• a young Mum explaining the meaning of 'cowardly' to her toddler son;
• the eight dogs we welcomed into the church on the first Saturday of the trail;
• the joy on the face of an old gentleman from Becket House retirement home, over the road from our church, who was walked out in his wheelchair by his family to see some of the scarecrows and enjoy tea and cake in the church room;
• lots of images of proud Dads, leading their whole family round the trail, guide in hand and rucksack containing 'iron rations' in a backpack;
• Mothers and daughters doing the trail together and experiencing some quality bonding time;
• a whole family, going round the trail in two cars, daughter in front to show the way, and elderly grandparents in the back of the second car, looking about and taking in the sights;
• the homeless man who came into church on the first afternoon for a cup of tea, something to eat, and to experience a sense of joining in the community's scarecrow project;
• the delight on the faces of the Crane Court residents, when they learned that they had won a special prize for their group effort;
• the many expressions of pleasure from visitors, and their warm appreciation of the efforts everyone has gone to, to make each of the many individual scarecrows as splendid and detailed as possible;
• the Loughton Giant walking, especially to visit the residents of Becket House in the grounds of their care home;
• my lovely neighbour Shiela, painstakingly assembling her complex Mary Jane exhibit in front of her house every single morning. How dedicated is that? Every day, the tableau was slightly different!
• lots of groups of friends walking the trail together and having amicable fun deciding which 'crow' should get their Visitors' Choice vote;
• those wise parent who bought their children a guide each, so that they would not quarrel about who should get their vote;
• they young man in the wheelchair who spent time in the church, looking at the scarecrows;
• the laughter on the faces of visitors, as they looked into the tower ringing room and saw Quasimodo hanging on the bell rope;
• the generosity of the All Saints Church congregation, who have given generously in both cash and kind, to make the trail happen;
• evenings spent with my Advisory Group, planning the detail and haring a glass (or two) of wine together;
• my first trip round the trail, when it gradually dawned on me that all the scarecrows were in place and that the overall display was fantastic;
• the pleasure that each school took in making their entry (and the Scouts and Guides too).

So many lovely memories! These only scratch the surface. I'm already thinking of a theme for the next trail in two years' time.