Voting for this year’s Newtown Middle School Eighth Grade Scarecrow Contest entries will be open this Saturday and Sunday, October 20 and 21.

The event is an annual fundraiser for local charities. Residents are encouraged to vote for their favorite scarecrow with a donation of $1 per vote. Residents can vote as many times as they want, as long as they also donate the corresponding amount.

Since the program began in 1996, eighth grade students have been tasked with working in groups to create a larger-than-life scarecrow that can withstand Mother Nature. Scarecrows are sited on the front lawn of the Queen Street school.

Students can work alone, but they are encouraged to work in groups. Students in Art Enrichment classes are charged with completing a scarecrow as part of a class project, and other eighth grade students can participate, too.

Money raised from votes goes to the charities of the top three winning groups’ choosing. The 2017 Eighth Grade Scarecrow Contest raised $1,935 for local charities.

Voting will be open to the public October 20 and 21. Ballots will be available at the school between 9 am and 5 pm both days, and a copy of the ballot is printed in the October 18 print edition of The Newtown Bee to cut out and submit with the corresponding $1 donation. Online readers can also print this story to cut out the ballot. Votes can be made during voting hours at the school or dropped off in The Newtown Bee’s letter slot in the front door of its 5 Church Hill Road office, with the envelopes marked “NMS Scarecrows,” by the end of Sunday, October 21.

Just under 30 groups of students signed up to create scarecrows this year. The top three winning scarecrows from the contest will be announced, following the results being collected, both at the school and in The Newtown Bee.