The Arnolds go Hawaiian for annual hay-bale fun

Thursday, October 26, 2017
The latest hay-bale creations of the Becki and Bryce Arnold family at 3775 E. CR 50 North, northwest of Fillmore, are Hawaiian girl Lilo and her dog Stitch from the animated movie of the same name.
Courtesy photo/PENNY LONG

FILLMORE -- This time of year can only mean one thing along Right-of-Way Road near Fillmore -- another chance to view the colorful roadside hay-bale creations of Becki and Bryce Arnold and family.

It’s been cavalcade of cartoon characters over the years. The 50th anniversary of the Peanuts gang was etched in hay last year. The Minions from the “Despicable Me” film series stole the show a couple years back, while Mike and Sully of the “Monsters Inc.” movies and SpongeBob SquarePants and Patrick have been hits as well.

This year it’s “Lilo and Stitch,” the animated story of Hawaiian girl Lilo and her weird little dog Stitch.

“‘Lilo and Stitch’ was kind of a last-minute decision to be honest,” Becki Arnold said. “I had another idea, but the idea I had has a lot of pieces to it that we needed to cut out of wood and paint. And to be honest, my husband was about to harvest and I was about to become a farmer’s widow for the season, so I knew I needed to come up with something else.

“I am a secretary at Greencastle High School and decided to ask students about different characters in several movies, and when Trevor Wood, Jordan Meyer and Abe Wade told me they knew ‘Lilo and Stitch,’ I decided to go that route. To be honest, I have not watched the whole movie yet. But Stitch got me because he looked so cute.”

Becki said she started working on the bales right away. While working on and off it took about a week to make the display.

“If I sat and just worked at them it would have taken about one day,” she noted, “but the wind has to be right and not blow the paint everywhere as I am working.”

Then there’s this little oddity of the surfboard. Who in the world in Fillmore or all of Putnam County has a surfboard in their garage, attic or basement?

Turns out the Arnolds didn’t. But husband Bryce and son Sawyer drew on their inner Beach Boys to cut a surfboard from wood for Becki, who painted it and added the colorful names and decorations.

“For me that was harder than the hay bales,” she said, adding that she likes to add interesting details to the hay bale display -- as she did last year with the dog house for Snoopy -- so they don’t look so bland.

“My love for the ocean is known by my friends and family,” Becki mused, “and definitely Hawaii, the island of Maui is where if I could, I would retire to in a heartbeat. Yet another reason I ended up choosing ‘Lilo and Stitch.’”

The hay-bale creations can be seen at 3775 E. CR 50 North, Fillmore, in Marion Township. The Arnolds live along Right-of-Way Road -- the road on the north end of Fillmore that runs along the railroad tracks between Greencastle and Fillmore. If you are on that road you cannot miss them.

Meanwhile, Becki is already thinking about another crowd-pleasing creation for next year. But she’s not dropping any big hints.

“I will say that I cannot wait for next year’s hay bales,” she said. “We will have at lease three and we plan on starting it this summer as it has many pieces to it and I know the kids of all ages will love it. Until next year ...”

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