The Gnometown tale of Gnome Woody

June is always a delicious time of year for Gnome Woody. The rhubarb is up, tender and red, the blueberries are abundant and the strawberries are the sweetest. June is pie month! He decided to make his first pie of the season. The rhubarb was so thick that Gnome Woody had to squeeze himself in so he could cut the rhubarb stems. He slashed off the big leaves, dragged them in and baked a pie. His work of art smelled so delicious as he carefully set it in the window to cool. While it was cooling, he cleaned up the kitchen, swept the front steps and watered the flowers. Now it was time to eat a piece of the pie…..but it was gone. He checked the ground. It hadn’t fallen off the sill. Where did it go? Later in the day he discovered the empty pan under the willow tree.
He concluded that it must be raccoons. The next day he got busy and baked another pie. Just like the first day, he set it in the window to cool. When he came back to eat it, it was gone! This time he found the empty pan by the big elm, quite a bit farther away. “I haven’t seen any raccoons around” Gnome Woody thought to himself. Suspecting it might be an irksome troll he decided to bake a pie with a big surprise. A few days later, to carry out his plan, Gnome Woody baked a blueberry pie with six large toy spiders in it. He took it out of the oven and set it in the window to cool. Again, he got busy with his chores until he heard loud shrieks of terror. Running toward the noise, he discovered a gnome family with blueberry pie residue all over their hands and faces. The pie and the toy spiders were spilled on the ground. Knowing they had been caught, the father pleaded for mercy. He had lost his job and felt desperate to feed his family. His strategy was to steal just a little bit from other gnomes’ gardens but they couldn’t resist the pies in the window because they smelled so good. The heart on Gnome Woody’s sleeve swelled up with compassion. “Please come in, all of you, I will gladly help you” he said opening his door. They all enjoyed a good meal and he invited them back again the next day.
He had promised to help this family so he went to the Gnometown Council members to make them aware of this problem. He approached several of them and told them about this incident. “I think there may be other gnome families that may be hungry” Gnome Woody said to Daws, the leader of the gnomes. “We need to help them all.” Daws immediately called a council meeting under the big oak tree by the river. The council of gnomes agreed and voiced their ideas. Mayor Al suggested a community garden. Mayor Dick said the town needs to employ a few more workers. Gnome Loren volunteered to build a produce stand to sell and give away extra produce from the gardens all over town. Gnomes Ruby and Dennis offered to manage the stand and contact other gnomes for donations. Gnomes Luanne and Dan were excited to plan a talent show at the new amphitheater as a fundraiser to support the project. The gnomes of Gnometown wanted to help. The Gnometown Council was excited.
By the next day the message had gotten out. The people of Gnometown shared their food supplies and many other items. Even Governor Ted got wind of the development and sent a generous donation. The church with the big bell offered a space to put all of the food donations so it could be out of the wind and rain, and of course, Gnome Woody volunteered to manage all of it. They called it Gnometown Food Shelf.
….and now, in Gnometown, there were no more stolen pies, instead, there are many shared pies!