Scarecrow Contest Was A Very Close Race

By Susan Coney

The fall scarecrow contest, one of Newtown’s most anticipated events, returned this year with great success, after a two-year absence. Despite extreme wind and rain, the popular contest raised more than $850 to be donated to charity and drew a wonderful response from the community who came out to support the event.

Newtown Middle School teacher and one of the advisors for the contest, Patrice Gans stated that the contest was a very close race resulting in a tie for first place between Uncle Sam created by Shannon Zamary, Scarlett O’Sullivan, and Christina Ciamara and the giant Jack-O-Bader pumpkin made by Joe Fedak and Dan Tibolla. Joe and Dan have decided to donate their portion of the winnings to the Children’s Christmas Fund, which provides toys for children during the holiday season. Shannon, Scarlett, and Christina will donate their winnings to Canine Advocates to be used to help build a new kennel facility.

There was also a tie for second place between The Hippy created by Ashley Cech, Jule DeAngelis, and Charlie Snyder and AC/DC designed and built by Alex Kron, Matt Iassogna, Louis Belanger, and Gina Pisacretta. Ashley, Jule, and Charlie decided to donate their portion of the winnings to Finca International, which is a group that provides loans to mothers who are unable to be self-sufficient without some assistance. The women then pay back the loan as they are able. Alex, Matt, Louis, and Gina have agreed to donate their winnings to Habitat for Humanity.

Third place went to Sponge Bob created by Jenna Himmelfarb and Dan Caragin.

The objective of the project was for the students to brainstorm, design, and erect a larger-than-life scarecrow using everyday materials. Resourcefulness and artistic creativity as well as the scarecrow’s capability to withstand inclement weather were all factors to be considered in the construction of the project.

Dan Tibolla, who worked on the winning scarecrow known as the Jack-O-Bader, said that he and his partner Joe Fedak spent more than 50 hours working on the gigantic pumpkin. “We started working away on it the day after we received the assignment,” Dan said.

Scarlett O’Sullivan whose winning team constructed the ever so tall rendering of Uncle Sam said about the project, “The best part was making it and seeing all the different versions of scarecrows that everyone else came up with, all from the same assignment.” Team member Shannon Zamary agreed, saying, “We were really psyched when the contest came back and we were going to be able to be part of it. It will never get old because people will always add their own ideas to it. Everyone who participated had wonderful ideas.”

Although eighth grader Zach Dlouhy’s team, who built a scarecrow stuck in quicksand, did not win, he said that he very much enjoyed the chance to participate in the contest. “It was really fun. We started out with an idea, a vision. It is really neat to see that vision completed in a project like this.” He continued by saying that his team chose an Indiana Jones adventure type theme and learned to work together to make the outcome of the project successful. Asked if the rain spoiled his project, Zach quickly remarked, “The rain really didn’t matter. Ours was a scarecrow stuck in quicksand so it just made the quicksand more realistic looking.”