Category Archives: Gnome News

1930s Gnomes Take Over Rock City

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Okay has anybody been to Rock City?

It’s around Chattanooga, Tennessee, and although we gnomes have passed through the area a couple times, we still haven’t’ had a chance to visit.

The oldest one of us living around The Gnome Abode was born in about 1970. But Fips has got nothing on the Rock City gnomes.

Photo credit: See Mid TN (Brent) via Flickr

Photo credit: See Mid TN (Brent) via Flickr

Rock City is a big amusement-type attraction, but what we really care about seeing is the trail with all the gnomes living along it. Some of those gnomes have been greeting visitors since the 1930s, so obviously they’ve grown a little tattered and torn over the years.

“They fit perfectly with Rock City because we are trying to make this a place where you can stop and appreciate what you don’t always get to because we are always on cell phones and don’t see our surroundings,” longtime employee Joy Giles told News Channel 9.

A dude named Matt Dutton is to thank for keeping all these ancient gnomes in tip-top shape. He looks at old photos to keep the gnomes’ coloring consistent and paints and repairs them as needed. Matt uses urethane resin and a hardner to fills his handmade molds, meanwhile restoring each little one’s unique personality.

smt2

Photo credit: See Mid TN (Brent) via Flickr

“They  become little sculptures, little pieces of art and if people understand that maybe they will have more appreciation of what they are looking at,” Dutton said. “This isn’t just a gnome, it’s a handmade gnome here in Chattanooga.”

Looks like we found ourselves another reason to head back down to Tennessee!

Happy Friday gnomies!

xoxo,
Caesar the Gnome

PS – for more great photos of the Rock City gnomes, check out SeeMidTN.com!

Bad Gnomes, Bad Gnomes…Whatcha Gonna Do?

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Take a moment out of your drunken Friday stupor to listen to the sirens wailing behind you.

Heh heh made ya look!

That’s probably the Scotch talking. Anyhoo.

Gnomes are being turned into cops, and cops are being turned into gnomes. Or something like that. Police in Durham (UK of course, where else?) have enlisted garden gnomes dressed in uniform to fight crime.

Photo credit: Ceri OakesSWNS.com

Photo credit: Ceri OakesSWNS.com

According to a Daily Mail article, a different gnome representing a different crime will be highlighted in the campaign each week. “Although the introduction of the gnomes is light-hearted and a bit of a gimmick it also has a real purpose for us,” said Chief Constable Mike Barton.

So what are the gnomes specifically fighting against? Theft, drunk driving and shoplifting. Road safety, cycle security, and neighborhood watch are also up for grabs.

I also read that a concrete business in Darlington, Dekra Crete, created the cop gnomes for local law enforcement free of charge. Mad props to local potter, Annette Metcalfe, who painted each one by hand.

Photo credit: Ceri OakesSWNS.com

Photo credit: Ceri OakesSWNS.com

So keep your eye out for these lil’ buggas if you’re in the area, because if you spot all 10, you might just win a prize!

DISCLAIMER: This is a “nudge nudge wink wink” to American police forces, who are entirely too stuffy for their own dang good. Bring on the gnomes. We know how to start shenanigans, which means we kinda sorta know how to stop ’em.

Stay safe out there, kiddos.
Lieutenant SpeakNoGnome the Gnome, Battalion 36

South Korea Gnomes Headed to England for the Summer!

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We often hear of gnomes getting up to their usual shenanigans in the UK, Australia, Canada, and the U.S. So when we caught wind of some gnomish activity brewing in South Korean, our pointy ears immediately perked up!

Year-six students at Seoul’s Dulwich College crafted some gnomes as part of an art project and vowed to send them off to England to join their distant cousins at the Gnome Reserve.

Photo credit: Paul Kerry/The Korea Herald

Photo credit: Paul Kerry/The Korea Herald

You remember the Gnome Reserve, right? It’s that woodland place with thousands of gnomes run by our all-time hero, Ann Atkins! Check out the pic the Gnome Reserve posted of Ann checking in today on the new South Korean arrivals…

annAccording to the Korea Herald, the students explained that they created the gnomes by “pinching out two pots and putting them together to make a hollow body. Then they added the head, beard and the rest before firing their gnomes twice ― but they all agreed that the legs were the hardest part.”

Over time, the South Korean gnomes developed unique personalities – no surprise there. “We are glad that the gnomes have ended their gnomadic existence and that they will have a gnome to go to and not live in gnome-man’s land,” said school headmaster Daryl Orchard, to a mixed response from the students.

Considering that the gnomes will only enjoy a summer vacation in England and return to South Korea in the fall, the students weren’t too sad to see them go. They’re proud of their work – rightfully so – and they want to show it off to the best goshdern gnome museum in the world.

Right on, kiddos!

So what will the 12 brave South Korean gnomes get up to in England? Only time (and perhaps Ann) will tell.

Wishing the lil’ buggas lots of luck and jet lag relief,
ChumbawambaIGetKnockedDown the Gnome

Gnome Countryside is Back in Operation!

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After a February fire that devastated Gnome Countryside in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, we are happy to share that Gnome Countryside is back in operation!

gc3P.J. Reilly of Lancaster Online reported that Richard Humphreys has reemerged into society as the Gnomeman.

Richard dresses in woodland wear and preaches about the importance of saving the environment for both gnomes and (gag) humans. He captivated a group of Susquehanna Waldorf School students last week with his tales of gnomes, fairies, buttercups, and the woods.

Local gnome fans set up an online fund and raised about $15,000 to help rebuilt Gnome Countryside after the fire. Richard plans to put that money into developing the Gnome Trail that winds through his Pennsylvania property.

gc1Since the fire burned his house down and caused $350,000 worth of damage, the Gnomeman has resided in a barn on the property. He plans to build a new house using wood from trees that were damaged by the fire.

Gnome Countryside enjoyed its first post-fire visit just a couple weeks ago.

gc2The Gnome Trail is open for hiking and more tours are on the schedule. Fortunately, the props that Richard uses for his tours survived the fire. These include a pop-up gnome fact book, a paper-wasp nest and a cradle made from nut shells and an oriole’s nest.

Individual tours cost $10/person and you can reserve your spot by calling (717) 786-4928.

What are you waiting for?

Seriously! That was not a rhetorical question!!!

xoxo,
Kamikaze the Gnome

446 Gnomes Stand Proud at Australia’s Gnomeageddon 2014!

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The Guinness World Record for the number of humans dressed as gnomes in one place is 478. Betcha didn’t know that, did ya?

Well one Australian group celebrating Gnomeageddon 2014 almost broke that record…but not quite. They had 446 gnomes in attendance. Just 33 shy of record breaking!

gnomeageddon

How did this happen YESTERDAY?!

We could have helped!

Well, if Gnomeageddon tickets include round-trip airfare from the U.S., that is.

Anyhoo, this recent gnome activity came about as part of a “Gnome Macca’s in Tecoma” campaign. According to the Herald Sun, No Macca’s in the Dandenong Ranges protesters donned gnome hats, aprons and boots yesterday in attempt to shatter a world record for the number of people dressed as garden gnomes.

Gnomeageddon (1)

This is all part of a plot to thwart the success of an evil McDonald’s restaurant with a wretched 24-hour drive through in Tecoma. According to the gNOme Maccas in Tecoma’s Facebook page:

Tecoma is good habitat for us gnomes, the gardens and forest are lush and green and the residents lovingly protect and conserve these spaces. However, should McDonalds build their junkfood takeaway, our moonlight frolicking will be interrupted by lights and traffic, and our habitat ruined by litter. Where will some of us live if the Tecoma No Maccas community garden gets bulldozed?! There is no gnome habitat amongst the fake turf and plastic décor of a McDonald’s.

We hear you loud and clear guys. Down with McDonald’s! Up with nature!

gnomeageddon2

Now that the dreadful “restaurant” is operating for business, Gnomeageddon will be an annual event until it’s shut down for good. Stay strong, gnomies.

Sorry we missed it, and hope to join in next year!

FIGHT THE POWER,
Pablo the Gnome