Scarecrow selfies part of 2016 Mary Valley festival

Do you want to be a part of the Mary Valley Scarecrow Festival this year? Take a drive through the valley and take up the local sport of “scarecrow spotting” with your smart phone in hand.

Snap a selfie with a scarecrow, hashtag #mvscarecrows, and organisers will post it on their Facebook page Mary Valley Scarecrow Festival.

Coordinator Heinke Butt wants to see who gets the most likes, and the person with the most selfies with different scarecrows can win $50 as well.
Ms Butt is president of Mary Valley Artslink, the art group which manages the annual scarecrow festival.

From Conondale through to Dagun, you might find a scary – and not so scary – straw creature on a farm gate or in the main street of the little villages along the way.
They include the display titled “Weekend getaway” by award-winning creator Tonia Trewren, from Brooloo.

She has spilled her secret to a winning scarecrow – it’s having a solid frame to build it on. And she should know what she’s talking about!

Tonia was judged equal winner of the 2015 artistic/open category of the annual festival with her entry “Winning Smiles”. This year she has created a camping theme.

Tonia moved to the Mary Valley from Cooroy a couple of years ago, and has been a regular scarecrow fan since then.

“It’s a good idea to get people to drive out here and see the scarecrows sitting on the side of the road, it’s good fun,” she said.

She is lucky that her partner works for a furniture company and has a ready supply of timber offcuts available for her scarecrow bodies.

Scarecrows will be on display until November 12 in the Mary Valley, with winners receiving their cash prizes at the harvest dinner on November 19 in Imbil, a special event being planned by the auspicing organisation Mary Valley Artslink.

Whether you enter a ‘crow, or you just want to drive around scarecrow spotting, the festival is about good humour and celebrating our pastoral heritage. Once the scarecrows are judged, a Google map can be downloaded to let you know where all the entries are.

Contact Lyn Hughes on 0409 382868 or email info@scarecrows.org.au for more information. You can find the festival on Facebook or at www.maryvalleyartslink.com.au