WENDOVER SCARECROW TRAIL

Congratulations to Alison Edmonds who took it upon herself to organise this brilliant family friendly activity for Wendover in August.

In June she started the campaign with posts on Facebook, posters all around Wendover and some leaflet dropping . Many High Street shops were delighted to display a poster and Fiona Michaels came on board early, always offering help and suggestions. Anja from the Shoulder of Mutton was another great source of enthusiasm. As the responses grew in number, meaning that Alison became overwhelmed by the workload, neighbour Sam Males started to help with the admin. She has a background in finance which helped with setting up spreadsheets and tracking everything.

There were 37 scarecrows in all! A magnificent effort by everyone. If you enjoyed taking part this year, you'll be thrilled that Alison wants to repeat the fun in August 2021 so watch this spot (and online) for more information when the time comes. There will be lots of opportunities for local businesses to become involved, too. Please email scarecrowtrailwendover@gmail.com if you would like to become part of the team. The Trail attracted a lot of interest from people who love to see these amazing scarecrows which were displayed all around Wendover. Photos of scarecrows were sent to Alison who released them from the start date, Saturday 8 August, on https://www. facebook.com/SummerScarecrowTrail.

Entry forms were purchased then completed by many individuals and families, and returned to Alison. The competition ended on 23 August which was after the September print edition of Wendover News went to press but full details are available at https://wendovernews.co.uk/news/ wendover-scarecrow-trail/ from Saturday 29 August. A small booklet showing all the entries is being prepared and will be offered to Wendover Parish Council for their Time Capsule as a record of what happened in Wendover in August 2020. Copies of the booklet will be available to purchase via scarecrowtrailwendover@gmail.com and Fiona Michaels Flowers and Gifts in the Barn behind First Class Barbers by the traffic lights in Wendover High Street. In addition, Carolyn Allen posted on Facebook a pebble she painted of a s c a r e c r o w. Alison thought this would be the perfect size to be put into the capsule.

Alison said, "I think my favourite aspect is the individual creativity, seeing the ideas that the maker comes up with and how they construct their scarecrows. That's what makes it so hard to choose a favourite, they are all brilliant. This year there has been a particular hero that has touched all our hearts and inspired so many people, and without the awful coronavirus we wouldn't have known his name, so to take something positive from a year of fear and negativity, see if you can recognise him."

Profits from the Scarecrow Trail will be donated to Wendover CofE Junior School and John Hampden Infant School. Alison is chairperson of the PTA at WJS. She is keenly aware of the loss of income because fund raising events had to be cancelled so any money raised will be greatly appreciated.