CONTRIBUTED PHOTO Twenty-two colorful, playful illustrations will be on display during the Holiday Stroll indoors at McGregor’s Furniture. Former MHS art instructor, Julie Bousum, produced the nature-based illustrations for a new book about the sites and trails at the Grimes Farm. The silent auction of the artwork will begin at the Holiday Stroll and be completed in a few weeks when the books arrive.

Twenty-two colorful, playful illustrations will be on display during the Holiday Stroll indoors at McGregor’s Furniture, 111 W. Main St.

Julie Bousum, former Marshalltown High School art instructor and creator of the Animal Rescue League mural, produced the nature-based illustrations for a new book about the sites and trails at the Grimes Farm. The “torn paper collage” artwork will be auctioned through a silent auction with all proceeds going to the Friends of Marshall County Conservation.

Local celebrities will be on hand every half hour at McGregor’s to read the story to children starting with Police Chief Tupper at 5:30 p.m. and continuing until 8 p.m.

Leonard & Mildred Play Hide-and-Seek at the Grimes Farm was written by Carrie Barr. It depicts Leonard, the white-tailed deer with Mildred, the deer mouse. Their adventure takes them on a trail at the Grimes Farm leading to five special sites, some of them familiar and some may be a surprise even to Grimes Farm “regulars.” It is hoped that readers will take the books and follow the same trail Leonard and Mildred take. It is about 1.5 miles and includes about 118 feet of elevation. Although books have not been released yet, the book will be available online with a map to make way finding worry-free.

“Books are expected to arrive from the printer during the first week or two of December,” said Barr. “The infamous supply chain problem affected us, too. A shortage of paper and personnel has slowed the publishing industry. But we hope to have them in plenty of time for Christmas.”

The silent auction of the artwork will begin at the Holiday Stroll and be completed in a few weeks when the books arrive.

“Julie did a masterful job of creating unusual papers and then fashioning them into artful nature scenes. This art form allowed her to represent the layers that we see in the natural world. These panels would be fun to display in any home,” Barr said.