By STEVEN JUPITER
BRANDON—Once again, Brandon has been overrun by Leaf People, those scarecrow-like creatures that emerge from their hiding places every autumn and scare the daylights out of passing motorists who slam on their brakes when they catch sight of one seemingly about to wander right into the road.
But whence came they?
The story goes back to Wood’s Market in the 1970s, when Bob and Sally Wood created and posed the figures in vignettes around the farm, as a way to draw attention to their farmstand.
“We had around 30 of them,” said Sally Wood recently. “We had a farmer and his wife. We had a witch in a tree. We had kids playing ring-around-the-rosy.”
“People would stop to buy apples and take their pictures with them,” added Bob and Sally’s daughter, Pat. Pat recalls donating her black high-school graduation dress and boots to the witch in the tree.
Warren Kimble then had the idea of turning the scarecrows into a Brandon trademark by planting them all over town. The idea took off and by the 90s, it was an annual tradition overseen by the Brandon Chamber of Commerce (BCC).
“We took [the Woods’] idea and ran it through the rest of the town,” said BCC Executive Director Bernie Carr. “We put them all through downtown and on the roads coming into town and in the parks. People loved them, except for the people who hated them.”
It was Mr. Carr who had the stroke of Halloween genius this year to place a Leaf Person in a white wedding gown in the middle of the ancient town cemetery behind the Congregational Church, where she seems to wander among the stones looking for a long-lost love. A photograph of the figure earned hundreds of likes in a cemetery-enthusiasts group on Facebook, with dozens of people clamoring to know what town she could be found in.
In 2021, the Brandon Recreation Department took over the project and this past weekend folks were invited to create their own Leaf People at Brandon’s Harvest Fest at Estabrook Park. Wood-and-burlap frames (built by Arturo Mendiola) and piles of old clothing were provided. Sixty-six of the figures were made by fairgoers, to be planted in yards all around the area.
Other towns in Vermont, most notably Shelburne, have copied the idea. But no one does it with as much heart as Brandon.
So, the next time you’re in Brandon, keep an eye out for these autumn visitors. You might find one where you least expect.
