One of the sheep is decorated with children’s hand prints. Another one was sprayed with insulation so it looked like real wool. Another one was all black and peppered with clocks and dollar signs.
The 30-cutout sheep are part of Boscawen’s “Flashy Flock” hanging out on lawns across town. The community art project spearheaded by Adele Sanborn, the owner of Twiggs Gallery, serves as a lead-up to this weekend’s Old Home Day celebration.
Boscawen residents used the sheep cut-outs – a nod to the town’s agricultural history – as a blank canvas to exercise their creativity.
“People were very, very creative,” Sanborn said. “A lot of people did both sides, which I never thought about because I just did it flat to the road. But Heavens to Betsy, it is fun.”
Judges drove around town and peered at each sheep for as long as it took to determine the flashiest members of the flock. The winners will be announced after the Old Home Day parade on Saturday.
The parade begins at 11 a.m. at the municipal office complex and finishes at the elementary school. Among other activities is a wool art demonstration at Twiggs from 1 to 3 p.m., while the town’s 85th annual Greater Boscawen Horseshoe Tournament begins at noon. Activities at Jamie Welch Park will continue throughout the afternoon.
The town did a similar project about 10 years ago with cows, which was a smash hit. Back then the cutouts were made of plywood. This year, they used fiber boards to save money.
“Plywood was 90 bucks per sheet. We could get two sheep out of that, but no one’s going to pay $45 for sheep,” Sanborn said. “So we finagled and used this underlayment board that you used in kitchens.”
Sanborn is a bit of a history buff and explained the roots behind a traditional Old Home Day celebration.
“So many families were moving out of rural areas because there was no money. They couldn’t make enough money farming, so they were moved to Manchester or they were moving to Concord to work in the mills. And so the governor at the time, decided he wanted to remind people where their roots were. So he created a New Hampshire old home day.”
There will be several activities in the lead-up to Old Home Day including a concert, golf tournament and 5K. More information can be found on the Town of Boscawen’s Facebook page, facebook.com/BoscawenNHCommunity.