This is Weston’s BIG YEAR, as it celebrates its 300th anniversary. Next fall there will be a special series of events in October, including a parade and activities on the Town Green on the 5th. One of those activities will be Scarecrow making, hosted by the Community League Garden Club, with the goal of having 300 Scarecrows decorate the town. Last fall at least one tour bus, driving through Weston, stopped and let its passengers out to photograph Scarecrows. And, the year Weston didn’t have them, people from Boston and elsewhere stopped by the Library to ask where they were. Apparently, they have become an October icon.
All Weston businesses and organizations are urged to participate. Here’s what you need to know if you want to make yours now:
1. Gather stuff: old clothes, old uniforms, old Halloween or dance costumes, masks, scarves, hats, crowns, belts, capes, pants or tights for legs, and embellishments like jewelry, tools, computers, brooms, balls, books, flags, lawn furniture, chairs, desks, signs, anything that will work with your theme.
2. Also have available a small pillow or plastic bag for head, duct tape, old coat hangers, heavy string/twine, old newspapers and/or bubble wrap, large garbage bag for storing extras, staple gun, hammer and nails.
3. Get a 4’, 5’ or 6’ tall wood stake to support the body of each scarecrow, or a shorter stake if your scarecrow(s) will be sitting down. (Ogilvie’s carries stakes that are perfect for this. Ask Barry to show you what you’ll need.
4. Attach a cross piece (a stick, tree branch, coat hanger, etc.) to the stake using tape, string, or nails, about shoulder high to support shirts, jackets, capes, etc.
5. Slide clothing onto stake and cross piece. Using staple gun, staple back of clothing to wood cross piece or to stake directly. Stuff old newspapers wadded up and/or bubble wrap into shirts and pants, or wait until the fall to stuff straw into clothes (or do both). Ogilvie’s may have straw for this purpose, and Land’s Sake will have some available for us to distribute at the end of September.
6. For head: Stuff a small plastic bag or old pillow case with old newspapers wadded up, or bubble wrap. Pull the stuffed bag over stake. Tape it tightly to the stake. If you wait until fall, you also could use straw or a pumpkin for the head. Decorate “face” with eyes, nose, mouth, etc., or use a Halloween mask for facial features. Tape hat, crown, or scarf to head, if desired.
7. Decorate your Scarecrow with all the other stuff you have collected.
8. Please let us know you are making one/some, via email, to Pat.Gowdy@verizon.net. This will help us keep count of how many we have, and who is making them. Once you are given the location for planting yours, at the beginning of October “plant” your Scarecrows solidly in the ground using a mallet. Many poorly planted scarecrows fall over from wind and/or rain, so solidly planting them is a must.
9. Remember that goal: 300 for Weston300!
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