With 310 ballots cast in a very local contest the week before the General Election, dozens of Newtown residents turned out to participate in the first of what organizers hope will become a regular event for Newtown Parks & Recreation: a scarecrow contest at Fairfield Hills.

Groups were invited to adopt lamp posts, and then construct a family friendly scarecrow to be placed on their lamp post. Entry fees for the contest benefit Parks & Rec programming.

By Tuesday, October 27, there were 25 handmade scarecrows on display along Trades Lane, Keating Farms Avenue, Simpson Street, and 1st Street. The public was invited to vote for their favorites in three categories, once each day, free of charge, October 26-29.

On Friday afternoon, October 30, Parks & Rec Assistant Director-Recreation Rose Ann Reggiano was ready to announce this year’s winners:

*Newtown Girl Scout Troop 50382 picked up first place in the category of Most Original;

*Employees of Bee Publishing Company won Newtown Pride; and

*The entry from Church Hill Village was named People’s Choice.

Most Original

Five Girl Scouts created a scarecrow that honors the centennial of the 19th Amendment. Placed on a lamp post south of Newtown Municipal Center, the scarecrow depicted a woman dressed in early 20th Century attire, including a multi-layered ankle-length skirt, gloves, and a straw hat.

The young adults who crafted the sculpture were Sadie Baimel, Virginia Lynch, Jaclyn Mauri, Ella Renak, and Grace Snowden.

In addition to the scarecrow for the contest, the Scouts spent a lot of time learning about the Suffrage Movement, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The studies were part of the work needed for the Scouts to earn the Girl Scout Suffrage Centennial Patch.

While learing about the historic movements, the troop created a related web page. Visitors to their scarecrow within Fairfield Hills last week had the option of scanning a QR code, which took them to the troop’s page dedicated to their Suffrage Centennial Patch Project.

In a year with one of the most contentious election seasons in history, this scarecrow’s appearance — and the unspoken reminder for all viewers to do their civic duty in November — was not only very attractive, but also perfectly timed.

Newtown Pride

Employees of The Newtown Bee paid homage to the town’s hometown paper with their creation, a larger-than-life newsboy named “Buzz.”

Buzz was one of two scarecrows staged on the southern corner of Washington Avenue and Keating Farms Avenue, in front of Newsylum.

With a knit cap atop his head, a bowtie around his neck — a wink toward Bee Publisher R. Scudder Smith’s longstanding habit of regularly wearing the neckwear — and a personalized facemask over his mouth and nose, Buzz looked ready to sell copies of special Newtown Bee Halloween Editions from his news pouch.

This entry also included a pair of QR codes. Depending on which post visitors scanned, they were taken to the online home page of The Newtown Bee or its sister paper, Antiques & The Arts Weekly.

Those responsible for creating Buzz were Bee Publishing Company employees Scott Baggett, Jill Baimel, Nancy Crevier, Eliza Hallabeck, Susan Leniart, Lynn Remson, and Jeff Williams.

People’s Choice

As with the other two winning scarecrows, it was a group effort for the People’s Choice winner.

A pair of scarecrows set up to look like a male and female dancing together, this award winner was the result of work by residents and staff of Church Hill Village.

Laura Pulsifer, executive director of the senior living community, told The Newtown Bee Friday afternoon that staff members Tim Bailey, Susan DiBella, Jillian Jarrin, Clay Smith, and Susan Zanard were all part of the scarecrow design and construction team. Residents of CHV’s memory care assisted Village driver Doug Terhune with getting the scarecrows affixed to its lamp post in Fairfield Hills. The scarecrows were on a post just west of Newtown Municipal Center.

The design, said Pulsifer, who was also part of the scarecrow team, was based on the 2019 Labor Day Parade float by the community, which had a couple dancing the full length of the parade route.

“Our dancing couple theme shows the playful energy of vibrant senior living,” Pulsifer said. “Our residents and associates working together are great active senior living ambassadors.

“The other entries were all so amazing and artistic that we were honored just to be featured with them, and thrilled to have been chosen,” she added.

When the call from Parks & Rec was made to Church Hill Village, Pulsifer also shared, “We were so happy we put the phone on speaker!”

More To Come

Reggiano said a prize will also be awarded to the Health Department team that crafted “Gru.” Based on the character from the Despicable Me series, Gru was the first scarecrow to be put in place for this year’s contest.

Additional prizes will be announced next week, Reggiano said. Thanks to donations from local sponsors, second place winners will receive prizes, she said.

Most scarecrows should remain on view through the weekend. According to the contest rules, they are due to be removed by their owners by sunset Sunday, November 1.

The contest will return in 2021, Reggiano said on Friday.

“Absolutely, yes!” she commented. “I hope to have every single lamp post covered. That’s my goal for next year.”