Nothing scary about Ligonier Country Market mascot

In recent years, a young woman dressed as a friendly scarecrow has helped keep little ones busy, and educate them, as they visit Ligonier Country Market.

Katie Andrews, aka Daisy Mae, is a 14-year-old freshman in the Ligonier Valley School District.

From mid-May, when the market opens, until it closes at the end of September, she greets children and does crafts with them and their families.

As the holidays approach, she morphs into Tinsel the Elf for the Ligonier Christmas Market.

Andrews began volunteering at the market four years ago, helping out during a festival weekend.

“I passed around seeds and told the kids they were magical seeds,” Andrews said.

For the last several years she has been a paid independent contractor, greeting arriving children and their families while in the character of Daisy Mae.

“Usually she has kids waiting for her,” said her mother, Bonnie Andrews.

Even though her daughter is now old enough to work alone for a few hours, Andrews said she likely will continue to “hang out” in the children’s garden area to help.

“I joke that I’m Daisy Mae’s support team,” she said.

‘Marketing’ the market

Cari Frei, the market’s executive director, said before her arrival four years ago, a casual study of market shoppers determined that about 70% were age 55 and up.

“The consensus was that if we didn’t attract younger generations, the market would age itself out,” Frei said.

A board member with young children noted parents and kids visiting the market could use a break, and the idea of the Children’s Garden and the mascot was born.

“By the end of the summer, Katie came to us and said she would like to do crafts. She was 11 years old. I told her to go for it,” Frei said.

Andrews continued to expand on Daisy Mae’s activities, she said.

“That January, going into her second year, she had an entire list of things she wanted to do for the season,” she said.

“She averaged 52 kids a week last year, 70 on holiday weekends,” Frei said.

“It’s gone from giving parents a break to something kids look forward to,” she added.

“One day last year it rained, and I called Katie off. A 4-year-old boy stood at my table and cried because she wasn’t there,” Frei said.

This year Daisy Mae will gain an assistant, Frei said, with Addison Gray, 11, helping out in the new role of the scarecrow’s little sister, Lilly Lavender.

Family event

Instead of dropping off their children and hitting the market aisles, family members can sit down and make crafts with their kids, Andrews said.

“We have a different craft each week. This year we are adding hula hoops, a jumbo Jenga game, bubbles and coloring pages for the ‘Market Sprouts,’ ” Andrews said.

“I like to connect with the kids, and I see how much it helps the families and parents. Going out with family is super fun; it’s also stressful,” she said.

Parents can spend some time with their children and also have their market experience, she said.

“I felt like it (program) brought in more families. … We have a couple of families that almost always come. I recognize the kids. Depending on weather, we are starting to get regulars,” Andrews said.

“We try to be as involved with the community as we can,” she said.

Last year, children who attended the Ligonier Christmas Market participated in the town’s gingerbread house contest at the Ligonier Ramada.

Children attending the market also paint rocks for #Ligonier Rocks once or twice during the summer, she said.

“The kids hide them in the kids’ garden, or I or they will take them into (Ligonier),” Andrews said.

During her free time, Andrews participates in a pre-professional dance program, Dance Mechanics, in Pittsburgh, in which she competes.

But she plans to don her scarecrow costume for a least a few more years.

“I would love to continue (playing Daisy Mae) at least through high school,” she said.