An army of creepy straw-filled figures dressed in ragged old clothes are set to invade downtown Oxford from Oct. 6 through Nov. 14.
Residents will be powerless to stop these frightful creatures. Local officials are advising people to immediately surrender – and have loads of Halloween fun!
Plans are underway for first annual “Scarecrows in Oxford!,” a Halloween/Fall-themed event in which downtown merchants and village residents are being asked to decorate their storefronts, front lawns and porches with scarecrows.
Sponsored by the Oxford Community Development Authority, the purpose of the event is to “bring people and the focus to the downtown area” and promote it as a “viable shopping district,” according to Curves of Oxford owner Suzanne Ardelan, who’s chairing the event’s promotion committee.
Ardelan said the idea for the scarecrow-themed event came from Parkside Dairy, Catering and Carryout owner John Thomas, who during a recent brainstorming session among downtown merchants suggested holding something similar to the annual Scarecrow Festival that’s been conducted in Marshall, Michigan since 1999.
“The idea just went like boom, boom, boom,” Ardelan said. “Within an hour, we had the whole thing planned and pretty much outlined.”
“We thought it was a good thing because there’s kind of a gap between Celebrate Oxford and the Christmas parade,” said OCDA Executive Director Michelle Bishop.
Businesses are being asked to setup scarecrows in front of their stores – depicting any theme the owner chooses – from Monday, Oct. 6 through Friday, November 14.
Scarecrow scenes may be located outside in front of the business or inside the store’s display window.
Street light poles in front of the downtown businesses may be decorated with scarecrows, but no trees may be used.
Each business that creates a scarecrow scene will automatically be entered in a decorating contest to be judged Saturday, Oct. 25.
Although the business owners will judge each other’s decorations, festival-goers will be given the opportunity via a special ballot to select one business for a “people’s choice award,” Ardelan said.
There’s a $40 per business spending limit for the contest so that each scene “may be judged by creativity instead of buying power,” according to the promotion committee’s rules.
Village residents will also be asked to join in the fun by decorating their front lawns and porches with scarecrows from Oct. 6 through Nov. 14
Design ideas for scarecrow themes can be found on Marshall’s website www.scarecrowfestival.com.
No spending limit will be imposed on participants in the residential decorating contest, Ardelan noted.
A separate decorating contest for residences will be held and judged by the event’s promotion committee on Saturday, Oct. 25, which is also the day of the first annual Scarecrow Festival.
From 4 to 9 p.m. that day, downtown’s Centennial Park will be play host to a wide variety of Halloween hijinks and good, old-fashioned family fun including a mouth-watering barbecue put on by Parkside and photo opportunities with a mystery “Halloween Fright.”
The fun begins at 4 p.m. with a costume contest for dogs and their owners.
“Both are encouraged to dress up,” Ardelan said.
There will be prizes for the best costumed quadruped/biped combination.
Sculptors of the giant orange gourds will be able to show off their artistic talents at the 5 p.m. pumpkin carving contest.
However, Ardelan stressed that participants must bring their pumpkins to the park “already carved.” There will be NO carving in the park.
A trick-or-treat scavenger hunt through downtown businesses is set for 5:30 p.m.
“The kids will be given a list of certain items they have to get from businesses,” Ardelan said. “That way we’re getting people inside the businesses.”
Pumpkins from the carving contest will be lit in the park at 6 p.m.
From 6 to 9 p.m. a blue grass band will perform and festival goers are invited to participate in a traditional square dance.
Awards and prizes donated by local businesses will be handed out to the various contest winners at 8 p.m.
Merchants and residents interested in getting involved are welcome to attend the next Scarecrow Festival planning session from 8:30 to 9:45 a.m. at Victoria’s Delights on Friday, Oct. 3.
For more information call Ardelan at 628-5222.