By DEBRA HAIGHT | For Leader Publications

BUCHANAN — There’s something about scarecrows that brings people together.

That was certainly the case last weekend as people descended on the Buchanan Scarecrow Charities’ scarecrow factory in the Redbud Square shopping center to make scarecrows of their own.

Last Saturday’s event was the first of two workshops the Scarecrow Charities volunteers are having this fall. People can also stop by this Saturday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. to make a scarecrow to take home. The cost is $25 per scarecrow and people can pre-register by calling (269) 845-6072.

Last Saturday’s workshop drew a variety of people, from youngsters coming with parents to make a scarecrow to groups of family members and friends meeting to do a fun activity together.

Mark Cramer, of Niles, came with his three grown daughters for a special father-daughter activity. They made two scarecrows, one for Cramer’s grandson that had a little toy truck glued to it.

“This is the first time we’ve come,” Cramer said. “We saw a flyer at the Prime Table restaurant and decided to come.”

The workshop was also a place for friends to come and spend time together. Former Buchanan resident Sandi Zeidler came with friend Geri Klug of Buchanan, while Niles residents Linda Freeze and Linda Gunder came together. Zeidler said she and Klug heard about the scarecrows at the Buchanan Farmers Market.

Likely the most interesting group going to Saturday’s workshop were the nine women who came from Chicago. Linda Anderson said she and her friends were in the area in August for the U.S. 12 Garage Sale and stopped by a home outside Buchanan where they were selling Scarecrow Charities T-shirts.

This is the ninth year that Buchanan has hosted the fall scarecrow invasion and people have come to expect to see the whimsical creatures at various locations throughout the downtown.

The scarecrows went up in late August and will be on display through Halloween.

This year’s scarecrow season has a variety of themes, from the characters from “Frozen” at the Garden Club Gazebo and the scarecrows playing checkers at the Ross-Sanders House to the tribute to the Buchanan School Farm at the Welcome to Buchanan sign.

Other scarecrows pay tribute to individual businesses and organizations, such as the scarecrow dressed in uniform at the American Legion to the scarecrows representing literary characters inside and outside of the Buchanan District Library. Overall, there are about 150 scarecrows installed in and around the downtown this fall. The Buchanan Scarecrow Charities, which began as a project of the Buchanan Art Center, now has around two dozen members who work 10 months out of the year planning and making the scarecrows.

Although now independent, the Scarecrow Charities continue to support programs at the art center and at the Buchanan District Library, P.L.A.Y. and Redbud Area Ministries. They also give out scholarships every year and make other donations.