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Volunteers needed to help repair some monsters

The Twilight Zoo sculptures have a little more wear than usual due to COVID preventing last year's repair sessions
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One of the Twilight Zoo sculptures in Downtown Elora. Keegan Kozolanka/GuelphToday file photo.

Elora’s monsters are coming out of hibernation but they need a little help from the community before they get installed for October. 

Sensational Elora is calling for volunteers to lend a hand giving the Twilight Zoo sculptures some much needed repairs.

Kirk McElwain, Sensational Elora chair, said in an interview this is fairly normal for the monsters but there is a bit of catching-up to do.

“This year is a little worse than some because last year, because of COVID, we couldn’t get together and do repair work sessions,” McElwain said. “They never got any work done last year so they have one more year’s wear on them.”

McElwain said the characters remain dry all winter in an old truck trailer and the repair work isn’t hard, just time consuming. 

There are some regular volunteers and students sometimes help to get their required hours, but McElwain said students “feet on the ground” are required.

Tim Murton, the artist behind the Twilight Zoo, said in an email volunteers don’t need to be an artist to help. 

“The monsters are made of wire covered with cheesecloth, glue and tissue paper,” Murton said. “Not a high level of skill involved but there are a few dos and dont's to get it right.”

Murton further explained repairs may require stripping and replacing the old skin if it’s too deteriorated.

“Folks in the past have found it quite therapeutic and the help is always appreciated,” Murton said. 

For those who want to learn more about repairing, Murton is hosting a repair 101 session on Tuesday morning at 10 a.m. 

This will be held above the Gorge Cinema in Downtown Elora. To get there McElwain said to go to the end of the lane way between Mrs. Greenway and the Elora green space. 

Attending this session isn’t required and repair sessions will be held all month.

McElwain stressed all volunteering will be done with COVID safety protocols in mind but he still hoped for a good turnout of volunteers. 

“Hopefully we have volunteers coming out everyday, if you have two or three volunteers a day you make a lot of progress pretty quickly,” McElwain said. 

To inquire about volunteering, email [email protected].


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Keegan Kozolanka

About the Author: Keegan Kozolanka

Keegan Kozolanka is a general assignment reporter for EloraFergusToday, covering Wellington County. Keegan has been working with Village Media for more than two years and helped launch EloraFergusToday in 2021.
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