A scary good display

By OWEN PROTHRO

Staff writer

Standing at 7 feet 8 inches, Marion Assisted Living’s scarecrow is hard to miss.

It has a smiling jack-o-lantern for a head, a straw hat on top, and an oversized flannel shirt, and sits on hay bales surrounded by corn and milo donated by local farmers.

The display has caught the attention of people traveling on Eisenhower Dr., where for years seasonal decorations have been part of the assisted living center’s routine.

“This place has been putting up outdoor displays … since the rhinoceroses have been around,” maintenance technician Stan Thiessen said. “It’s quite a tradition.”

Thiessen built the frame, and farmers Daks Kennedy and Marlin Bartel donated the crops around it this year.

A boutonniere of fall-colored flowers also peeks from the scarecrow’s shirt pocket. A crow eventually will perch on its shoulder, while a black cat and pumpkin will be added to the base.

Thiessen had experience with projects like this before coming to Marion Assisted Living. He previously helped Mil Penner, a founder of Kansas Sampler Foundation, build frames for large displays — or “skeletons,” as Thiessen called them.

When Amy Boudreaux, executive director at the time, asked whether he could build a display for the assisted living center, Thiessen already had the know-how.

“When I got here, Amy was the director, and unbeknownst to me she goes, ‘Can we do this?’” Thiessen said. “I go, ‘Oh yeah. I know just how to build one of these skeletons for these things.’”

Activities director Tabitha Meier, who was hired in late June, said keeping the display outdoors was important, though the facility has had trouble with smaller decorations being stolen or vandalized.

“We’re trying to find ways to keep everything stationed here,” Meier said.

Because of hot weather, residents at Marion Assisted Living weren’t able to help with decorating outdoors, but that didn’t stop them from getting involved.

They brought fall indoors — filling the lobby and dining areas with wooden pumpkins, miniature scarecrows, and wreaths of oranges, yellows and reds. Some decorations have made it to residents’ rooms, too.

Richard Alcorn, 84, helped put out decorations in the lobby. He also has a couple of plush pumpkins hanging on his kitchen wall.

Helping was an easy decision for Alcorn. He knows how busy employees can be, and he wanted to take some work off their hands.

“There’s so many people out there who just run, run, run, run, run,” he said, “they can’t stop [to decorate].”

Since it was first displayed, Marion Assisted Living’s scarecrow has become recognizable.

Meier already has heard from people in Herington about it. A local officer who regularly drives on Eisenhower Dr. also has told her he likes it.

“I haven’t heard anything negative about it,” Meier said.

For Meier and Thiessen, that’s enough reason to keep doing it.

The display gives people something to look at as they pass by, but it also gives residents and staff a chance to work on something the rest of town can see.

“Just to show you how broad this community really is, the corn on there came from Marlin Bartel out of Hillsboro,” Thiessen said. “You think of these things as just an isolated community facility, but … something like that in a greater community atmosphere goes way beyond the facility here.”