SCARECROW ADVENT CALENDAR

Unable to celebrate Christmas as usual due to the coronavirus restrictions, Lindores Church in Newburgh, Fife came up with a novel way to celebrate the nativity.

Inspired by an annual local scarecrow competition, the church’s pastoral assistant, the Rev Valerie Walker, came up with the idea of developing a Scarecrow Nativity within a life-sized Advent calendar.

Valerie invited people and groups within the town to dress scarecrows (and create animals) to create, one day at a time throughout Advent, the nativity scene and then a tableau of the wise men coming from the east. The Scouts donated a pile of unused disposable overalls left over from their last scarecrow mission; a local farmer donated a pile of straw; and a group of volunteers met in a local barn and, working two metres apart, stuffed numerous scarecrows. Local individuals and organisations, including primary schools, dressed scarecrows as shepherds, angels or wise people.