UPDATE: This story has been updated to include links to a slideshow of pictures of the pumpkins and to the online voting site.

Newtown Middle School’s Painted Pumpkin Patch event — which is being held in place of the annual Newtown Middle School Eighth Grade Scarecrow Contest due to the pandemic — is set to be on display for the community Saturday, October 24, and Sunday, October 25, from 9 am to 5 pm both days.

Each year, NMS eighth grade students are challenged to work in groups to create larger-than-life-scarecrows that can withstand Mother Nature. Those creations are then put on display on the school’s front lawn so residents can cast a vote, for $1 per vote, for their favorite scarecrow. The money raised has traditionally been given to charities chosen by the top three winning groups.

This year the Painted Pumpkin Patch event is mandatory for eighth grade Art Enrichment students and open to participation by the whole student body. Students who participate will earn community service hours.

The students are being challenged to limit spending to $30, though that is not mandatory.

NMS art teachers Leigh Anne Coles and Kris Ladue are overseeing the effort.

In place of having the top three winning groups donate the voting earnings to charities of their choice as in previous years, as of October 22, according to Coles, community participants will be asked to make a canned or boxed food item donation to the FAITH Food Pantry or a monetary donation in place of the voting donations.

Voting will take place digitally this year. QR codes will be posted throughout the event for individuals to scan, which will bring them to a ballot form.

An online slideshow with photos by the school are available to view here: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1XjOdRkITwJR6wnTk8OhvbVjQAWQm4MHB6KD_m7sVup0/edit?usp=sharing.

And voting can be done through the evening of October 26 here: https://forms.gle/VnpC1iwtb89xQbhi8.

Last year the Eighth Grade Scarecrow Contest raised $2,857 for local charities. The top three winning scarecrows were No. 14 Electric Guitar by Howard Schuster, Evan Chaudhary, and Zosia Teraszkiewicz in first place; No. 27 Minecraft Chicken by Grant Ricks and Johnny Kwap in second place; and No. 5 Seeds of Hope by Paige Tarpey, Lauren Milgram, Maddie Roe, and Emma Formica in third place.