NMS Scarecrows Will Be Up Until Saturday

By Eliza Hallabeck

A sparkling fish was already hanging from branches near the homes of the Three Little Pigs on Newtown Middle School’s front lawn by mid-morning on Saturday, October 23.

Art teachers Claudia Mitchell and Arlene Spoonfeather were busy overseeing the unveiling of this year’s NMS Scarecrow Contest entries, and students sat at a table behind the roughly 40 scarecrows to collect ballots for voters’ favorite scarecrows.

From the Geico Gecko to a vampire M&M, this year’s Scarecrow Contest creations range from the spooky and creepy to the sweet and happy. A large Barbie, decked out in a white and pink gown, was propped up near a tall and skinny representation of Michael Jackson, in a red coat reminiscent of his more thrilling days, by Saturday.

The Scarecrow Contest requires NMS eighth grade participating students to create structures that are durable, have a part that can move, are larger than life, and banish a “demon” of the students’ choice. Each group must also limit spending on the project to $25.

The Scarecrow Sculpture Contest is open only to eighth grade students, and the students work in groups to build scarecrows that follow the guidelines and requirements of the contest. Each year, the creations are positioned on the school’s front lawn for residents to vote for their favorite scarecrow. Each vote costs $1, and the top three winning scarecrow groups chose a charity of their choice to receive the money.

The scarecrows will be on display at the Queen Street School until Saturday, October 30. Ballots to vote on a favorite scarecrow, as in past years, are available at the middle school and at www.newtownbee.com. Ballots can be dropped off at NMS or at The Bee’s office, 5 Church Hill Road. If The Bee’s office is closed, votes, and the corresponding donations, can be slipped through the letter slot in the front door.

The top three vote-winning scarecrows will be announced the following week by the school, and the winning groups will choose a charity to donate the winning money to.

To see a photo slideshow of this year’s Scarecrow Contest entries go to www.newtownbee.com.