At a warehouse in the Harding’s Strip Mall in Buchanan, more than 200 freshly handcrafted scarecrows awaited a downtown destination Monday afternoon. The group of colorfully crafted characters likely will not be spotted amongst the average field of corn. Made to look like Superman, movie stars, historical figures and local icons, each scarecrow has a unique personality created with detail indicative of a work of art.

For the 11th year, the Buchanan Scarecrow Charities created the scarecrows and began placing them around town Monday, with the help of volunteers.

The scarecrows may be spotted in a variety of places, from nearly every street lamp to business in Buchanan.

This year’s theme is trolls from the animated movie “Trolls.” Five of the colorful movie characters can be spotted near the Buchanan city sign at the intersection of Front and Redbud Trail streets.

Mary Fisher co-founded the organization in 2007 with the late Carole Hedstrom as a way to raise funds for the Buchanan Art Center. But Fisher said she wanted to be able to give funds to a variety of organizations in Buchanan.

In 2013, the Buchanan Scarecrow Charity became its own nonprofit and has since raised between thousands of dollars for a number of local charities.

Since the charity’s earliest days, she has seen the annual project grow to involve a number of eager business sponsors and volunteers.

“It’s wonderful,” Fisher said.  “When this first started, we kept thinking the interest would die out, but it gets bigger every year.”

Fellow scarecrow creator and president of the charity, Jean Rose, agreed.

“We are going to have to expand the downtown,” Rose joked.

This year, more than 30 volunteers helped to create the scarecrows, including a number of young people, who were eager to help, Fisher said. The project typically raises between $14,000 and $15,000 a year, which Fisher said she expects to surpass this year. The money, after expenses is donated to a variety of local charities, including local student scholarships, Redbud Area Ministries, the Buchanan Art Center, Buchanan District Library and robotics team, to name a few. The charity also donates to new charities each year, that express a need for donations. 

“We do not just do this for the enjoyment, but for the community as a whole,” Rose said. “The goes back to the community and we hope they enjoy them.”

For Fisher, inspiration for her legendary scarecrows is often sparked by a quirky hat or colorful top. This year, it was the suggestion of volunteers Shawne and Steve Greenleaf, who said they saw characters from the “Trolls” movie in the windows of businesses at New York City. Fisher liked the idea of depicting the characters as scarecrows.

Committed to her research, Fisher bought the movie “Trolls” and watched it to get the characters attributes down, including the iconic troll hair.

“I had to do them at home, because they took so long,” Fisher said. “We like to work with children’s themes a lot and we knew they were popular.”

Fisher got her start creating the scarecrows while running a business in South Bend that sold decorative pumpkins. Wanting to add something additional to the fall ambiance, Fisher began creating the scarecrows.

Last year, Fisher published a book called “How to Make Your Own Scarecrows the Buchanan ‘Scarecrow ladies’ way.” The book is available at the Buchanan Art Center.

Those seeking to learn the craft can participate in any of the three scarecrow workshops that the charity is hosting.

Judy Chadwick, of Buchanan, has long admired the scarecrows and dropped by Monday at the warehouse, 4720 Niles-Buchanan Road, with the hopes of buying a scarecrow. She said she plans on attending one of the workshops to create a scarecrow for her daughter, who is also a fan.

“You do such nice work,” Chadwick said. “It makes our town beautiful.”

The workshops will take place 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 9, Sept. 16 and Sept. 23. The cost for workshops is $25. Those interested in purchasing scarecrows next year, can do so by contacting the organization at (269)845-6072.

Fisher said she hopes those who spot the scarecrows get some joy out of seeing them around town.

“I just want them to smile,” Fisher said. “I don’t think you cannot smile when you look at them.”