James Steppe’s attention recently was caught by a pair of smiling teddy bears, seated in a field. He submitted the photos.
These gigantic “strawbearies” are located at 13557 Black Road, Fenton, IL, on the farm owned by Harold Packer, Jr. and his wife Margie. The location is across from the Bike Barn.
This idea began with Junior Packer and his nine grandchildren. He had seen something similar on the internet. “I wanted to start a family tradition,” he said.
Construction began “the week before Christmas,” using his “John Deere loader and tractor. [Each bear] is almost 20 feet high,” he estimated. ” It took ten round and 12 small hay bales.”
“We’ll make it bigger and better next year! We already have separate ideas.”
“With all the bad things [happening] in the world,” Packer explained, “I just wanted to make people smile.”