More Votes Counted Than Ever—

6th Annual Scarecrow Contest Results In A Three-Place Tie

By Shannon Hicks

Local firefighters, a regional homeless shelter, and a foundation that most likely helped a young Newtown resident before his death of leukemia last year are among the organizations that will benefit from money raised through this year’s Newtown Middle School Sculpted Scarecrow Contest.

This year’s contest, the sixth such annual event, probably drew more attention than ever if the number of votes turned in is any indication. Perhaps it had something to do with most Americans wanting to return as close to normalcy as possible after the terrorist attacks on this country in September. Halloween, a celebration for children of all ages, was one of the first holidays that occurred after the attacks, and many people wanted to celebrate.

“I purposely drove by a number of times both weekends and after school a few days, and there were always crowds here,” Discovery teacher John Vouros commented.

Perhaps all the attention that was paid to the 6th Annual NMS Sculpted Scarecrow Contest also had to do with the quality of the work that was turned in. Teachers and students agreed that the presentations on the front lawn of the middle school during the week of October 20-28 were some of the most creative, inviting, and imaginative ones to date.

“We purposely keep the criteria for this contest the same year after year,” NMS Gifted Art teacher Claudia Mitchell said. “In fact, other than the beginning and closing date, we don’t change a thing on the sheets of paper we hand out to the students at the beginning of this project.

“This was a beautiful group,” she continued. “The creativity was absolutely amazing.”

There was a huge snake, coiled and poised to strike the crow that came too close to it. Elsewhere, giant ants were taking over a blanket spread out for a picnic; a Venus Flytrap held a Mickey Mouse head in its clutches; Sponge Bob Square Pants was seen leaning against one tree, while Peter Pan and Tinkerbell flew from the branches of another. A Virus Destroyer — seeking to wipe out computer, not airborne, viruses — leaned against yet another tree.

Two witches were created this year. One was reading from an oversized book that offered her spells, while jars marked Bones & Fangs, Worms, and Eyeballs dotted her desk. The second witch, who was also working on a spell, had a cache of bugs, lizards, werewolf hair, snakes, and monster eyes to work with.

A multicolored tunneling worm drew some admirers, as did an oversize Mr Potato Head complete with attachable mouths, eyes, and noses.

With results so close, it was decided this year that two teams would share each of the three winning spots. On November 1, six teams were announced as winners of the 6th Annual NMS Sculpted Scarecrow Contest at the middle school.

Remy Ball, Sadie Ball, Ashley Cronin, and Teresa Taylor had created the magic closet featured in the book The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, and the duo of Eric Erickson and Ashley Gillespie had come up with a huge bat that rested on the ground. Both of these teams were given the task of deciding to which charity they would each donate $300.

The girls have decided on the Dorothy Day House in Danbury, a shelter that offers food and linens for individuals and families who suddenly find themselves in need. Eric and Ashley, meanwhile, will be giving their money to Sandy Hook Volunteer Fire and Rescue Co.

“They’re all volunteers there, and they put their lives on the line sometimes, all out of the kindness of their heart,” Eric explained. The two wanted their money “to help a local group,” Ashley added.

Second place is being shared two groups who were obviously influenced by their patriotism. Matt Brayton and Chris Giorno designed Patriotic Mickey Mouse — a sculpture of the popular Disney character dressed up as Uncle Sam — and Tyler Nicoll and Kimberly Solheim designed The Bald Eagle. The eagle was sitting in a nest, the words “Justice Will Prevail” painted onto her chest. In her nest were five eggs, with the name of an American trait painted onto each: Freedom, Indivisible, Independence, Peace, and Liberty.

Matt and Chris will donate $200 to The Todd M. Beamer Fund, which has been set up to help the families of Flight 93 (the plane that crashed on September 11 in Pennsylvania), named for one of the passengers who stood up to the hijackers. The girls, meanwhile, know that they want to put their $200 toward the fight against child abuse, but were not yet sure which group they wanted to support.

The third place teams, each of whom have $150 to donate, were the ones that created Little Boy in the Bed (a sculpture of a little boy sleeping, a clove of garlic on his chest, and a book about scaring away demons on his nightstand) and Cookie Monster. Vicky Cardoso and Alissa Gross, who came up with the sleeping boy, are giving their funds to The Leukemia Foundation.

“We’re doing this in memory of Greg Chion [a 17-year-old Newtown resident who lost a nine-month battle against leukemia last October], because last Friday was the first anniversary of his death and we haven’t forgotten him,” Vicky explained. “Also, one of Alissa’s cousins had died from leukemia.”

The boys who came up with the Cookie Monster creation were also giving their money to fight forms of cancer; their money will be given to American Cancer Society.

Nick Lucas, who was part of the third-place team that also included Morgan Little and Mike Mangarella, said he and his teammates knew well in advance what their creation was going to be. The boys had made a large Cookie Monster (from the Sesame Street series), and then strung the sculpture by one of its feet from a tree branch. On the ground below the monster were chocolate chip cookies that had been the monster’s temptation, and its downfall.

“We’ve actually had our idea since we were in sixth grade,” Nick said. He and his friends will be giving their share of the collected money to ACS because Mike lost an aunt to the disease and, as Nick pointed out, “Everyone seems to know someone who has cancer.”

This year’s contest not only seemed to draw more attention than ever, it also pulled in more votes than before. Last year’s contest had 1,160 votes tallied; more than 1,410 votes were cast this year.