Two beatniks, a church lady, a fiddler, Superman, Wonder Woman and many other characters are gracing the yards and porches of families in Athens.

The characters are among the odd and amusing scarecrows on display in the Robert Beaty Historic District to celebrate the fall season.

Residents can drive by and see the scarecrows or stop and take photographs or selfies with the scarecrow people about town.

The idea for the scarecrows came from Lee Goehler, of South Beaty Street, after a trip very far north.

“While traveling in Nova Scotia last fall, my husband and I happened upon a beautiful little town, Mahone Bay. For over 20 years, they have been decorating their stores and homes with scarecrow people. It was so charming, I knew I must bring the idea to our town.”

The scarecrows are based on story characters, superheroes or just funny or charming characters of the maker’s choice.

Spirit of Athens Director Melanie Newton invited people in the district to participate in what she called the Athens Main Street Inaugural Square Crow Crawl. The idea is to get visitors to downtown during the Tennessee Old Time Fiddlers Convention, which is today and Saturday at Athens State University.

She asked them to keep the scarecrows up the entire month of October so visitors can enjoy them, including those coming to the annual Storytelling Festival on the downtown Square.