Smiles, not scares: Hebron hobby farmer makes impact through social media

Some go for the blood-pumping scary themes at Halloween while others go for the cute and others go for the mysterious.

Sieanna Rawlings of the Hebron neighborhood, who has long enjoyed celebrating Halloween celebrates it in a way that falls into the cute, hilarious and mysterious category, with her skeleton friend George.

For the second year now, Rawlings is posting pictures of George getting into good-natured mischief around her hobby farm, called Legacy Farms and Gardens, on her Facebook account. The concept is a similar one to a Christmas Elf on the Shelf.

Rawlings is a paid digital creator for the social media company, something that gives her a first hand look into the good side of the impact of social media on the world and allows her to meet people from all over the world.

“I love to decorate for Halloween, it just seems I don’t have the time anymore to do a lot of decorating. When I bought the skeleton last year and was posting it, people really liked it. I did it throughout the month as a way to bring joy to people,” Rawlings said.

Rawlings admits that while you could say her role with Facebook is to “get clicks,” it is more about uplifting people, educating people and having something fun to do.

This year, Rawlings has been able to make people laugh by placing George in even more predicaments than he got into last Halloween.

“I try to come up with something new to post each day. George is pretty mischievous and gets into a lot of trouble. It’s a lot of fun because people from all over the world know George by name. It’s really neat that a lot of the elderly people who grew up on farms love to watch George and the trouble he’s getting into, and it brings back a lot of memories,” Rawlings said.

The list of species Rawlings has at her farm is endless. After the tornado hit Greenfield, she was able to have some kids out to her farm and their time was therapeutic, being able to be around the animals.

Rawlings raises Kunekune pigs, alpacas, miniature cows, baby doll sheep, Nigerian dwarf goats, miniature horses and miniature donkeys, ducks, chickens, a turkey named Jerri, two therapy rabbits, livestock guardian dogs, and farm cats from elderly couples moving off the farm and into town.

This year, George has been caught on camera having a bad “hare” day with a rabbit on his head, riding a dog like he’s on a horse in a rodeo, trying to sell one of the dogs, confusing baby chickens in an incubator with chicken nuggets, and more.

Orient-Macksburg special education teacher Palmer Scott has been behind a special visitor students have enjoyed getting to know this month named Jack, who has done several stunts throughout the month to make the kids smile. One highlight was when he got to sit in a fire truck and wear turnout gear when the Orient Volunteer Fire Department visited the school for Fire Prevention Week.

Rawlings’ friend George has brought healing to some while also bringing the laughs.

“I’ve had people all over the world who are going through bad times, like one time someone messaged me whose child had been murdered. When she needs a smile, she said she always comes to my page,” Rawlings said. “I like posting something that will bring a smile to people’s faces.”