TAYLOR, Neb. (AP) - It takes you by surprise when you first spot the figures out of the corner of your eye. And they are all over this tiny Sand Hills town.
They are plywood people, called “The Villagers” by the artist who created them.
At the old Pavillion Hotel, it appears that two ghostly figures are stepping onto the porch. On Fourth Street, an old-fashioned lamplighter looks like he’s making his evening rounds. At the edge of town, there are two kids, fishing poles over their shoulders, crossing a pasture en route to a fishing hole.
The Omaha World-Herald reports that these eye-catching, black-and-white figures have a higher purpose than just startling passers-by.
Local artist Marah Sandoz says she’s hoping the Villagers will bring real villagers to Taylor, a far-flung Sand Hills ranching community whose population has dwindled to 182 people.
“I want to see this town thriving again,” Sandoz said. “I want to see businesses in these empty buildings.”
The Villagers are a project of a local community group, the Taylor Area Builders, and were cooked up by Sandoz after attending an economic development meeting years ago. The presenters at the meeting kept using the word “unique” in suggesting what was needed to attract visitors to rural communities.
The mother of five grown children said she was aware of a small town in Australia that had stopped traffic by posting scarecrows all over. So she borrowed and modified the idea.
The first Villagers were erected in 2003. Now, there are 117 scattered in and around Taylor, which is near the popular Calamus Reservoir, about 200 miles west of Omaha.
“We’re slowing down traffic to the point that people stop and ask questions, ’What are those?’” said Sandoz, whose husband, Loren, is a relative of famed Nebraska author Mari Sandoz.
In a studio behind her gift shop on the town square, the self-taught artist produces about six new Villagers a year.
All of the Villagers depict characters from the 1920s, an era when, Sandoz said, Taylor was thriving.
Most are modeled after pictures she’s found in books. But several depict former residents of Taylor, the county seat of Loup County. And some were produced by request.
One Villager depicts former Loup County Sheriff George Brock, who was killed in a 1940 shootout at a sod ranch house. Another depicts former Taylor bottle club owner Grandma Delpha Predmore, whose granddaughter, Jessica, now operates the Lazy D, the only restaurant and one of the few remaining businesses in town.
Nebraskans are known for waving at oncoming traffic, so Sandoz has Villagers posted at the entrances to Taylor and Loup County, waving a welcome.
If you want to track down all the Villagers, there’s a colorful brochure with a map. You’ll find them around the town square, at the local bank and county fairgrounds, as well as at the local rodeo arena and Loup County School.
As fame of the plywood people has spread, Sandoz has created a side business, producing almost 200 figures for others in other communities, from a museum in New Jersey to a hunting lodge in Gregory, South Dakota. She even painted a Bigfoot that prowls the roadside between Burwell and Ord.
Recently, Jim and Sis Trotter of Arcadia made the 30-mile drive to Taylor to check on the status of an order - a painting of a grandson, Tyson, and his yellow Lab, Jed.
They ordered it as a graduation present, designed more for Tyson’s mother, they said, so she can have a reminder of her son, who has enlisted in the Marines.
“It’s unique and it’s personal,” Jim Trotter said of the gift.
Some families who have moved from Taylor have purchased Villagers to remember those who once lived in the community, Sandoz said, “so there’s family here, not just in the cemetery.”
The artist said she’s not exactly sure when she’ll stop painting and installing new Villagers.
“For sure I’ll double the population of Taylor,” Sandoz said.
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Information from: Omaha World-Herald, http://www.omaha.com
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