Scenes From A Scarecrow Contest

A highly arbitrary selection of entries in the second annual Scarecrow Contest sponsored by the Falls Village Community & Cultural Center and the Falls Village Children's Theater--especially arbitrary because I accidentally erased two dozen photos from my camera. (And thanks to Ed Herrington for donating the lumber for the crossbars.) If you click on an individual picture, you can see a slightly larger version of it.

Flower Children

The more I learn about the Lee H. Kellogg School, the more it sounds like a progressive private academy in Vermont. (That's meant as a compliment.) It's a cooperative community of learning that is intense, intimate, eclectic and humanistic: a school with a soul in a town with a heart.

Every year for the 8th grade graduation, the school reaches out to the community and asks residents to cut flowers from their own gardens to adorn the stage. No one seems to remember when or how this tradition began, but everyone honors it.

Donations can be left in the multi-purpose room at Kellogg anytime on Thursday, June 14. Bring flowers in containers with water, labeled with your name and phone number, and the containers will be returned to you. If you have questions or want to help with the flower arranging, call Maria MacNeil at 824-7958 or Joan Wingard at 824-5238.

Then come back at 7 PM for graduation in the gym. Betsy Howie (whose peonies will no doubt make it to the stage) tells me that of all the heartfelt events that take place annually in Falls Village, nothing compares to 8th grade graduation. Her advice: Bring Kleenex.