A few days ago, I wrote about how one of our Webster neighbors, fondly known as “Nanny,” would be celebrating her 91st birthday. Nanny is especially fond of gnomes, those colorful little lawn sprites. So in honor of her birthday, her niece Rebecca came up with a fun idea: fill her lawn with gnomes so she can see them all every day as she sits in her front window and watches the world go by.
Rebecca originally posted the request for birthday gnomes on a Facebook group. She was hoping that by her birthday on Friday April 26, Nanny would have received 91 gnomes — one for each of her birthday years — and was happy to report that the goal was reached. By Sunday, about 80 gnomes, large and small, were sprinkled around her yard, and if you add in all of the hand-drawn ones on cards she got, they surpassed that goal.
What’s been really neat about this story is not how many gnomes have been collected (that’s cool, too), but where many of the gnomes have come from. For example,
A gnome lamp was shipped to Nanny from Florida. Another stuffed gnome, complete with a hand-drawn birthday card, was dropped off by someone in a red car (thank you!). And yet another wonderful lady who lives in Penn Yan saw my blog and mailed a box filled with hand-painted wooden gnomes, one for every holiday, along with a beautiful hand-crafted card.
Judging from the Nanny’s big smiles in all the photos, she certainly has enjoyed her special birthday surprise. A friend did ask her if she had a favorite gnome, to which she replied, “No, not really. All were adorable!” And what was the best part of her day? “Seeing and being surprised by everyone who came to see me.”
The gnomes are still out there, in front of Nanny’s house at 790 Webster Rd., so take a look next time you drive by. Nanny will probably be sitting in the front window admiring them as well, so give her a beep and a wave! And if you’d like to add to the gnome invasion, please do! The more the merrier.
Here are some more photos from the gnome gallery:
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(posted 4/28/2024)
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