Sunflowers, Service, and Survivor Strength: Susan Creath’s Gavers Barndance Story

How Susan Creath Helps Barndance Come to Life

Every summer, before the music starts, before the crowd fills the tent, and before the first guests arrive ready for the Best 7 Hours of Summer, Susan Creath is already thinking about sunflowers and cornstalks.

For Susan, the longtime volunteer who spearheads decorations for the Gavers Barndance, the details matter. From table centerpieces, entrance displays, and sunflowers to cornstalks, straw bales, cowboy boots, and sponsor tables, all the creative surprises help set the tone for an event built around hope, generosity, and community.

Those details matter because of the hope and joy they represent. “Volunteering and sharing your time and talent lifts you up just as much as it lifts others,” Susan said. “It fills your heart and soul.”

A Gavers Barndance Volunteer Since the Beginning

Susan has been part of the Barndance since the very beginning, back when the event was held at Donley’s Wild West Town. She got involved after hosting an October pig roast shortly after moving to Woodstock. A mutual friend of Steve Gavers connected her with the Gavers group, telling her she’d be a natural fit for decorations.

Susan went to the first volunteer meeting, and the team gave her room to create. “They just let me fly,” Susan said.

In those early years, when the Barndance was smaller, the creativity was already big. One fall event included carved pumpkins and cowboy boots. Over time, Susan learned what worked, what didn’t, and how to turn a fun idea into something guests could enjoy.

Sunflowers, Cornstalks, and Cowboy Boots: Creating the Barndance Look

Sunflowers remain at the heart of the look. Each year, Susan uses hundreds of locally sourced sunflowers, often arranged in mason jars across the tables. She also works with local farmers and volunteers to bring in cornstalks and straw bales to dress up tent poles and add to the event’s unmistakable Barndance feel.

Then there are the cowboy boots. Some became centerpieces. Others were transformed into lamps. Some were donated by friends who simply left a box on Susan’s front porch.

Over the years, woodworkers, florists, farmers, friends, and longtime volunteers have all added their talents to the effort. “Everybody has a niche,” Susan said. “It’s time, treasure, and talent.

Susan’s husband is a driving force behind all of these efforts. “He helps to build, create, simplify, haul, and set up some of my crazy ideas. He makes my ideas and dreams come true, year after year,” Susan said.

Creative Outlet with a Greater Purpose

For Susan, the decorating is more than a task. It’s a creative outlet and a meaningful way to serve. She describes the process as fun, challenging, and deeply rewarding. “It fills my heart and soul,” she said.

Her volunteer team has become part of that joy. Some volunteers return year after year without needing much direction. Others text to ask what she needs. Some remove labels from jars, pick up supplies, return finished pieces to her front porch, or simply show up on setup day ready to help.

“My volunteer team is priceless,” Susan said.

 Finding Hope Through Cancer, Family and Community

Susan’s connection to the Gavers’ mission became even more personal when her son was diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma in 2021. The following year, Susan was diagnosed with endometrial cancer.

“Going through cancer teaches you so much. Sounds strange to say but cancer brought many gifts along the way,” Susan said.

Through those wild turns, Susan said the Gavers community offered something priceless: connection, encouragement and hope from people who understood. “It makes you optimistic,” she said. “When your life journey takes these wild turns, it’s helpful to have Gavers by your side. It gives you a whole new second life- hope and faith, a positive lesson.”

Shining Bright at the Gavers Barndance

Susan never expected to call herself a cancer survivor. She also never expected how much she would receive by giving her time and talent to the Barndance. But after decades of decorating, organizing, creating, and simply showing up, she sees the work as part of something much larger than flowers and tablecloths.

It’s about healing, community, connection and using your talent to brighten others’ lives. “All the volunteers are just sharing the gifts they have to bring a bright light to others,” Susan said.

That light is visible throughout the Barndance, from the front entrance and the sponsor tables to the sunflowers placed with care across the tables. It shines through the volunteers who return year after year, the friends who quietly drop off supplies, the growers and builders who lend their skills, and the survivors and families who come together for a cause that continues to matter deeply.

For Susan, the Barndance has never been about the pain that cancer brings. It’s about the brightness that follows. And Barndance gives her the chance to continue shining bright.