Page 55 - Joe Delaney and His Scarecrows

ISSUE : Issue 62

Published by Ronald Caplan on 1993/1/1

But we came home, and we said to ourselves, We're go? ing to make three scarecrows and we're going to make them almost real. We made them the height of basketball players--6 feet, 6 feet 2, 6 feet 4 inches high. And well-dressed. You know, suits, necktie, white shirt, gloves. Oh, they were better dressed than we were! Once we got through with them. And then we put these plas? tic flappers--strips of plastic around the waist. And some of those strips, we tied them in their hands. So that also, in the wind, would make noise. Keep the animals away. And that's how it sort of got off the ground--the scarecrows. That's how we sort of got started, eh? (You sort of stumbled upon something.) Yeah, it was by accident. Okay, we made the three of them. And we put them up at night so that nobody would see us. We put them up at a quarter to 10 that night. Full moon. One at each end and one in the middle of the field. And the next morning, when we got there, you know, at the garden, there was a char? tered bus parked on the side of the road. And there were about 10 cars behind that bus. And everybody was in the field. The bus had about 35 to 40 passengers. And some of them had white shoes. It had rained during the night. So those white shoes that the ladies had, once they left the field, the garden, they were black! But no fooling--about 35. And then there was about another 20 with the cars that were parked behind. Everybody was in the field with cameras. And they wanted a close-up shot of the scarecrows. They wanted to get as close as possible. And when we arrived there--I'11 never forget this. There was an elderly couple from California in the group. They had a cam? per. And the lady--we introduced our? selves, you know--and she said, "Joe, for the love of God, never mind your garden. Put up more scarecrows. That's what we want to see. If you can make those three, you can make more. And that's what people want to see. Instead of these gift shops and museums and all that." .canbethefirsi p.r a full list ojprograms' amj '''', 'kdls up Halifax. B3J }B7 iia Community I 2086, Staiio" 'g' Education ' ''' But then--down in this area here--in a way as an accident. But not in another. Because in this Acadian region, from Margaree all the way down to the entrance of Cape Breton Highlands National Park, well, the majority is French. And in this Acadian region, we have an old custom, an old tradition. And what is it called? It's called the mid- Lent, sort of the mid-Lent break--mid-Lent festivities. But in French, the real name for it is La Mi-Careme. Well, this old Acadian tradition has been going on for over 125 years. Some say that it's older.... We'd dress up. You've got to disguise yourself. Everybody was looking forward to that--the festivities--the old SHOES! 10% Seniors Up'to-Date Stock of Stylish Shoes • Canes • Walkers • Crutches Complete Line of ORTHOPEDIC SHOES for Men, Women, and Children CAPE BRETON BRACE LTD. 66 Cornwallis Street Sydney, Nova Scotia • 539-5100 •

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