Scarecrows were the subject of the program presented to the September Garden Club meeting by club president Nancy Swafford.
The evolution of scarecrows, the tall ungainly creatures created to keep birds from destroying crops, began with the ancient Greeks and Romans and extended until fairly recently in agricultural communities and vegetable gardens of the United States. However, today they are rarely seen in farmers’ fields due to advances in audio devices which create sounds to accomplish the deterrent in larger farming operations and the use of metallic strips in smaller spaces.
Today scarecrows are primarily a decorative item often found as friendly, attractive additions to autumn displays.
They have been the subject of classic literature such as Nathanial Hawthorne’s eerie morality tale, “Feathertop,” and characters in children’s stories like L.Frank Baum’s “The Wizard of Oz.”
Swafford highlighted her presentation with photos and a story of weirdly scary, horror-inducing scarecrows designed to frighten humans instead of crows. They are the creation of  an unknown artist living in rural Pennsylvania who calls himself Pumpkin Rot after the first scarecrow he designed for an annual scarecrow competition at Peddler’s Village in Lahaeka, Pennsylvania. During the Halloween season, he specializes in twisted, dark scarecrows which he displays in unexpected places. He creates them from pumpkins, bones, twigs, branches, roots and creepy looking materials, and  gives them names such as Blight, Hollowman, Roots and Bog Man. Images of his Halloween creations and his scarecrows from several Peddler’s Village competitions can be found on the Internet at pumpkinrot.com.
During the Garden Club’s business meeting, the 14 members held discussions and made decisions concerning the club’s maintaining and financing of both the rose garden’s memorial plaques and the cemetery’s rose beds for the upcoming year. The cost for having a name engraved on a Rose Garden Memorial Plaque has been raised to $25 for a single name and $40 for a married couple. Mark’s Custom Signs will be engaged to refurbish two of the Memorial Plaques. Plans for securing professional help with the maintenance of the rose garden will be made. Get well cards were signed for two members.  
Delicious refreshments were served by Darlene Boley. The next meeting of the Garden Club will be at 10 a.m. in the Barton County Extension Meeting Room on Oct. 15, with Alice Young giving the program and Kerri Lampe as hostess. The new cost for a year’s membership will be $20.