The Cherry Hill Public Library unveiled this year’s scarecrow contestants for its biannual scarecrow contest, created in 2020 as a way to engage the community in the fall.
Throughout September, interested residents could register for the contest and were provided with hay, pantyhose, burlap sacks, twine, newspaper and wood stakes. From there, participants used their own creativity to build and decorate scarecrows.
“We had talked about it the year before (in 2019), and it didn’t work out,” said Meredith Meyer, fundraising coordinator for the library. “But with COVID, and people wanting to do things but not be on top of each other and indoors, it was a good opportunity to gather people outside.
“Even though they built them (scarecrows) at home, people still hung out and brought their families and took their time to install them,” she added. “It was a gathering that people were looking for at the time.”
When the scarecrows were installed in 2020, librarians were impressed with both how many people wanted to participate and the thought and creativity that went into making both traditional and scarecrows and more creative ones, like an owl or the fictional skeleton Jack Skellington.
“It blew us away how many were interested that year, and it was impressive,” Meyer said. “ … It was overwhelming how many there were … People stopped for five to 10 minutes to appreciate them.”
This year, 20 scarecrows were installed around the front of the library and will remain up through Oct. 31.
“Last time, we had only a two- to three-day voting window; this time, we wanted to make it longer and give people an opportunity to come and see it,” Meyer explained.
Voting will take place from now until Oct. 24, both in person and on the library’s website at chplnj.org. Prizes will be awarded to the top three entries with the most votes. Following the contest, the scarecrows can be taken home, or they will be disposed of.
The library’s first fall festival took place in the front of the library and featured games, crafts and activities for kids from noon to 2 p.m. following the scarecrow installation.
To see this year’s scarecrow contest, visit the Cherry Hill Public Library or vote online at https://bit.ly/3BMMeJ9.
