Scarecrows Coming to Hartwell in October

Once again, the scarecrows are coming to Hartwell and now is the time to learn how to have them in front of your business or home.

Hartwell Downtown Development Authority is sponsoring their annual Scarecrow Bash competition in October and this weekend, those wanting to learn more about how to make the best scarecrow can attend scarecrow school.

Speaking last Sunday on Community forum, Hartwell DDA Executive Director Henley Cleary said the scarecrows have become an annual fall tradition in Hartwell.

“When we started this it was just to see if we could get people interested in celebrating the fall season,” Cleary said. “We thought we would scatter them around the courthouse as a way to get people to come downtown. The first year we had 135 scarecrows. We’ve now built up to over 300 scarecrows.”

Cleary said people are coming to the scarecrow school now from Lavonia, Royston and surrounding areas and are putting up scarecrows in their communities.

Cleary said the scarecrow displays scattered about Hartwell have also helped to draw tourism and traffic to the downtown area.

“I’ve talked to merchants and they say it has truly helped for the month of October,” she said. “We have people coming from Anderson and Greenville. People are coming up from Atlanta who normally don’t come up after the summer season. They come downtown to shop and eat.”

Anyone can attend the scarecrow class at the Arts Center in downtown Hartwell.  There, Cleary said you will learn how take a basic wooden spine and turn it into a beatiful scarecrow display.

“The ‘professors’ have wooden spines you can purchase if you want to,” she said. “We have a basic one for $10 and the  more complex one for $20. They will show you the best way to stuff the scarecrow so it remains waterproof, just lots of ideas.”

Cleary said it is fun to watch the creativity start.

Throughout the month of October, people will be able to vote for their favorite scarecrow display.  The winner will be chosen at the end of October during the annual Halloween Monster Mash and Scarecrow Bash on October 31st.

For more information on the scarecrow class, you can contact Cleary at the DDA office at 706-376-0188.