Scarecrow Contest Starts

The hallmarks of Halloween are back on the lawn at Newtown Middle School where three dozen displays will stand for two weekends waiting to be judged at the annual eighth grade Scarecrow Contest.

Saturday was the first public viewing day of the competition.

This year's scarecrows includes characters, such as Tweety Bird from Looney Tunes, Yoda from Star Wars and Dobby from Harry Potter; iconic displays, such as the "AmeriCAN Flag" made out of recycled soda cans; ironic twists of familiar sights, such as "The Unhappy Meal;" and innovative designs, such as the recycled can tree and Ralph, the crayon dragon.

Sophie Kennen, 13, and Clare Boyle, 12, were two of the creators of the mermaid, which they constructed by unfurling wire hangers and reshaping it along with newspapers, cloth and duct tape to develop the mermaid's form.

"It was actually our second idea," Sophie said. "We were going to make flying pigs."

In the spirit of reuse, the group used the pig form they had begun to build to be the rock on which the mermaid sat, Sophie said.

The display also featured cut-out aluminum from used cans to simulate the scales on the mermaid's fins.

"It was sort of a learning process," Sophie said. "We would have liked it to be more stable."

The two others who worked on the mermaid was Rachel Williams and Haley Williams – no relation to each other.

Another of the scarecrow makers was Sarah Spillane, 13, who along with Cam Morris, Sinead Flanagan and Heather Liscinsky, created the "AmeriCAN Flag." Cam was the one who came up with the idea of the flag in tribute to the tenth year anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Sarah said.

They spent hours spray painting and attaching 400 cans to form the flag, she said. The look and patriotic angle on the flag probably made it a good candidate to win, Sarah said.

"I think they're pretty good," she said of the group's chances.

The competition is among one of the most highly anticipated rites of passage for Newtown eighth graders, some of whom start planning their creations the moment they start the year and into which they pour dozens of hours over six weeks. Students all work in teams.

Ballots to vote for a favorite scarecrow cost $1 and will continue this weekend and next on the lawn of the middle school. Ballots also can be dropped off during the week at the middle school and The Newtown Bee offices. Proceeds go to benefit charities.