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Celebrating Autumn with Morris Arboretum’s Fall Festival and Designer Scarecrows

Solidago at the Arboretum.

(Above) Solidago, commonly called goldenrods, in the aster family, at the Arboretum.

Each fall, scores of families across the Delaware Valley look forward to the Morris Arboretum’s Fall Festival, a weekend of autumn fun and activity held the first weekend in October. Celebrating its sixteenth year, the Morris Arboretum will host this year’s annual Fall Festival on Saturday, October 3 and Sunday, October 4 from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. The Arboretum’s glorious landscape provides the perfect backdrop for this lively event. Colorful trees burst forth with hues of orange and red as families gather to make scarecrows, paint a pumpkin or taste local apple varieties from Weavers Way Co-op. Fall Festival is a highlight of the Arboretum’s fall calendar with something for everyone. What makes the event so unique is that almost all the activities are geared toward both children and adults, allowing families and friends to spend a wonderful afternoon together. Some Fall Festival activities have an additional fee. Check the website for details: www.morrisarboretum.org

Among the favorite activities is the scarecrow making. The Arboretum supplies all the materials, including the scarecrow frames, hay and a vast selection of clothing to craft a super scarecrow. This is serious business for many folks who are intent on having the “best-dressed” ’crow around. Visitors are encouraged to come early for scarecrow-making, as many visitors head right to that area to ensure their pick of the best outfit.

Children also enjoy choosing and creating a pumpkin “masterpiece.” Pumpkins can be purchased and painted in a variety of colors and decorated with yarn and buttons. To add to the festivities, Elmwood Park Zoo will be on-site both days from noon-3 p.m. presenting Seeking Shelter—Architecture by Animals. This program is made possible in part by Inspire Energy, who will be on site with information about wind driven energy and fun giveaways.

Weavers Way Co-op will join the Fall Festival fun once again, with a selection of organic, locally
grown produce and other Co-op products. Visitors delight in sampling the various apple varieties and choosing an assortment to take home.

A kid favorite, the ColonialLUG® (Legos User Group) will return this year on both Saturday and Sunday, noon-3 p.m., to facilitate the building of a large Lego® version of Robert Indiana’s big LOVE statue. Together with the direction of ColonialLUG ® members, children will assemble bricks to contribute a piece of the statue. Watch LOVE grow to “embrace” all the builders!  At the end of the day Saturday, the statue will be disassembled for a fresh start on Sunday. ColonialLUG ® also has a new program they will debut called “2x4 Challenge: what can you build with just 2x4 bricks?”

For the eighth year and more popular than ever—October also features the Morris Arboretum Scarecrow Walk. From Saturday, October 3 through Sunday, October 25, entries from the Scarecrow Design Contest will be on display along the Oak Alleé. Visitors may submit their vote for their favorite “Famous Art & Artists” scarecrow, this year’s theme, to determine the prize winners.

To experience fall color in the Philadelphia area, there is truly no better place to see beautiful autumn trees than at the Morris Arboretum. The Arboretum is home to some of the area’s oldest and largest trees, as well as many trees known for their particularly superb color—including red and sugar maples, scarlet oaks and black gums. For a bird’s eye view of the trees and the changing colors of the leaves, stroll out on the Out on a Limb canopy walk, the 450 foot long walkway that is 50 feet off the ground, and the star attraction of the Arboretum-wide Tree Adventure exhibit. For more information about this or any other Morris Arboretum event, please call (215) 247-5777 or visit the Morris Arboretum online at www.morrisarboretum.org

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