Walton Scarecrow festival as featured on the Walton village page on Facebook.
In August, 2020, which is the August bank holiday, a national holiday, because of Covid-19, the village of Walton cancelled their Scarecrow Festival which normally attracts many visitors. The organizers did not want visitors to the village. However, they held a Scarecrow Window Festival for the villagers to entertain each other, with prizes for children who participated.
If the same situation occurs in 2021, we can start planning to have online festivals, with people using their entries as Zoom backdrops. Toastmasters International clubs has done this for birthdays and Halloween, sometimes giving everybody the same backdrop, sometimes asking everybody to co-ordinate with the theme, such as balloons for birthdays and anniversaries.
Scarecrows make a great picture. Scarecrows are not just a toy. They are practical. Birds, crows and other birds, eat your fruit. In London, we watch in late summer and early autumn, we watch birds eating our apples.
UK
In London, England, we were able to eat small Chardonnay grapes from our garden for dessert. Alas we were not quick enough with the netting to protect the other vines. We were distracted by the joy of our son's wedding, and all the revisions as the Covid-19 rules reduced the numbers of guests and change of venue for the sit down meal.
Many people avoided crowds and instead went for walks or runs in the countryside. I recall driving past a scarecrow in a field last year. Apart from netting, another way to protect crops, popular with farmers is Scarecrows. You might drive past them without a second thought, but they are heavily embedded in culture as well as crops.
USA
I remembered scarecrows from my childhoods, but could not remember where. Then I discovered it was from the Wizard of Oz. Over in the USA, The Wizard of Oz, made in 1939, starring Judy Garland, features the character of a scarecrow.
Before Covid-19, I bought a scarecrow at a Motorway Service station in the UK, not in 2020 but in a previous year.
Scarecrow Speech
I used my scarecrow for a humorous speech on the topic: 'Don't Be Afraid - of Scarecrows'. Now my message has to be updated. Don't be afraid of Covid-19. Just 'hope for the best but plan for the worst', as American Founding Father, Benjamin Franklin said.
Whenever I tell my husband, "I have a problem," he replies, "It's not a problem. It's a task."
Yesterday I said, "We had so many problems today."
He said, "Every day you have new tasks. You forget about yesterday's task." Yes, we should deliberately forget about yesterday's tasks and move on to today's. That's how things get done.
Event Backup Plans - Online
I remember as a teenager going to attend meetings of groups which were fund-raising for charity. They always had a contingency plan for bad weather. Just in case it rained on the barbecue, they had an indoor room set up for a fast retreat.
What are we planning for next year. Now would be a good time to start planning events, such as a scarecrow festival, with both outdoor and online events.
Why Plan Ahead?
Why plan a year ahead? Who does that? Surely nobody?
Yes, they certainly do. Big carnivals such as Brazil's Rio, ver in South America, the world's biggest carnival, which attracts 2 million people. Also, in the UK's Notting Hill Carnival, the UK's biggest festival, is planned a year ahead.
As soon as once carnival is over they start planning the next one. Floats, costumes, accommodation security, advertising, all planned.
I keep all my costumes and props, greeting cards, bags or hats and banners, for anniversaries, birthdays, Halloween, Valentine's day (items with hearts - combine with birthdays and anniversaries or put in a note to look in the other two bags or boxes).
If you write blogs, you can recycle the information. If you have written a speech, you can keep a copy of it in your props bag. If you are asked to give an opening address at an event, you have facts or stories in the forefront of your brain.
When I started a new blog, I sought advice from my son who is an expert on SEO. Search engine optimization means maximizing how your website shoots up towards first place, or frequent mentions when somebody searches online with 'key words'.
You also need to be able to locate your stored online or physical items. You need an index or list of contents.
I know people who book their accommodation for the Edinburgh Festival the following year whilst they are checking out for the current year. One piece of good news. As a result of Covid-19 an increasing number of people are interested in attending overseas events online as guests, and an increasing number are planning to make events accessible to online visitors and performers.
Don't be scared. The Chinese word for crisis is danger-opportunity. Apparently this is not quite correct. Translate Google gives me danger-machine. Wikipedia has an entire article showing that Kennedy made the idea popular and it has been copied by several others.
Remember the Scarecrow Festival, and start planning to hold a festival, or visit festivals next year. The good news is that with every month that passes, we become more skilled at holding and attending online events. We can see cities and countryside. We can see the outside and inside buildings. We can watch and speak to people all around the world. We can enjoy events we previously did not have the time and money to enter. I hope to have the opportunity to see scarecrow festivals next year. At very least, I shall have my scarecrow ready for the August bank holiday, and I shall be ready to produce my Scarecrow picture for a humorous speech.
For your amusement:
To buy From Amazon
Useful Websites
https://www.waltons.co.uk/scarecrow-twin-pack
Not to be confused with
Walton Scarecrow Festival 2019
https://overtown.org.uk/scarecrow-festival/scarecrow-festival.html
or Walton Scarecrow Festival 2020 (in physical windows)
Nor with Walton-on-Thames Folk Festival cancelled in 2020
https://www.facebook.com/events/walton-folk/walton-folk-festival-2020/2964205266941606/
About the Author Of This Post, Angela
Angela Lansbury, travel researcher/writer and photographer, author and speaker.
Author of Wedding Speeches & Posts, Etiquette for Every Occasion, Quick Quotations, Who Said What When?
You can contact Angela through Facebook, LinkedIn, and Braddell Heights Advanced Toastmasters on Facebook or Toastmasters Interntional.com find a club . Angela is a member of four Toastmasters Clubs and BHA IPP, Immediate Past President, and VP PR (Vice President Public Relations) for 20202-2021
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