In Meaford, with the arrival of the month of September comes the invasion of scarecrows as the organizers of the Scarecrow Invasion & Family festival decorate the community in advance of the big event, which arrives this year on Friday, October 3.
As I write this column on Tuesday morning, a team of volunteers is preparing to start decorating the downtown area with corn stalks, and the scarecrow displays won’t be far behind.
Over the course of the next few weeks, this community will be transformed into a scarecrow haven, and it will most certainly begin to look and feel like autumn, even before the leaves begin to turn colour.
For the past several months dozens of volunteers have been busy building the hundreds of scarecrows that will soon adorn this community after dozens more volunteers haul them from the harbour to the downtown and beyond to hang them on lamp posts, or to create fun displays that will bring smiles to residents and visitors alike.
While the event itself takes place on October 3, the Scarecrow Invasion will be front and centre in this community throughout the month of September as scarecrow displays begin to appear throughout the municipality, and the display contest gets underway.
Last week the Scarecrow Invasion organizers announced this year’s scarecrow display contest. Residents and business owners are encouraged to create their own scarecrow displays, and to enter them in in the scarecrow display contest. There are three categories – indoor, outdoor, and window displays. The deadline to enter the display contest is September 18, so it’s time to get busy building your display if you hope to be part of the competition. Judging will take place from September 20 – 25, with the winners to be announced on October 8. You can enter the display contest online by visiting scarecrowinvasion.ca/business-display.
Another popular competition held by the Scarecrow Invasion organizers each year is the Apple Pie contest. Those wishing to enter the apple pie competition can enter in one of three categories – traditional apple pie, young baker (ages 8-12), and young baker novelty (best decorated pie). The apple pies must be 9 inch, double crust, with no nuts, raisins, or other fruits. Contestants can drop off their pies at Christ Church Anglican, 34 Boucher St. E. from 11 a.m. – 1 p.m. on October 3, where a team of judges will be sampling the entries and determining the winners. The top three pies in each category will win prizes provided by local businesses. Full details can be found by visiting https://www.scarecrowinvasion.ca/apple-pie-contest.
The Scarecrow Invasion is an event that is unique to the Municipality of Meaford, and it is an event that has endured the test of time, having brought smiles to many faces each September and October for more than a quarter century.
The event has grown over those more than 25 years into what we know it to be today, and it now includes a parade, a festival at the Harbour Pavilion, along with fun events like a good ole apple pie contest.
The first Meaford Scarecrow Invasion and Family Festival was held in 1996 when a local businessman, George Potopnyk, was looking for ways to boost tourist shopping in the downtown area. The second year of the event featured a parade featuring youngsters dressed as scarecrows. By the third year of the Scarecrow Invasion, once Labour Day arrived, the community was adorned with scarecrows at every turn. All these years later, the Scarecrow Invasion & Family Festival has become a highly anticipated event in this community.
It is an event that not only brings the community together, it creates a festive autumn atmosphere in this municipality that draws tourists to this community each year.
Autumn has always been my favourite time of year, and after I moved to the Municipality of Meaford 20 years ago, thanks to the Scarecrow Invasion it became an even more special time of year for me and my then young sons.
I moved to Meaford in September of 2005, and the community was adorned with hundreds of scarecrows – it felt like quite a warm welcome. I found the event to be fascinating and fun, and it had a ‘small town feel’ that was certainly a refreshing change from the much larger urban centre from which I had come.
Each year since, I have looked forward to the Scarecrow Invasion, and my sons, now both hardworking adults, love visiting Meaford in September and October each year to see the displays. It is an event that appeals to young and old.
The Scarecrow Invasion is not just beloved by the residents of this fine community. Each year folks from across the province plan a weekend drive to Meaford in the autumn in order to take in the scarecrow displays. Many a visitor has snapped a photo of the family beside a clan of scarecrows, and their positive experiences in this municipality, from our friendly business owners to our clean parks and beautiful waterfront, bring those visitors back to Meaford year after year. It is an event that engages and entertains the community while at the same time helps bring tourists to this community to enjoy the displays and spend their dollars at our shops and restaurants.
A large number of volunteers make the Scarecrow Invasion & Family Festival festival possible, and their many hours of hard work are certainly appreciated by those who eagerly await the arrival of Scarecrow season each year.
This week the invasion begins, and it will culminate with the family festival on October 3, just ten days before Thanksgiving, so get out and explore the creative and colourful displays. And if you have an opportunity, thank one (or more) of those volunteers who each year give their time to help create a fun event that brings joy to many.
