Photo by Lester Smith
Winning this photographer’s award for most provocative scarecrow in the Scare-It-Up-Suffield event on September 14 was Cupid’s Undie Run, named for the Boston fundraiser event of that name, when participants in their underwear run in February to raise money for fighting neurofibromytosis. Amy Reay and Becky Varholek are shown installing their scarecrow, garbed for that run. Their team was a top fundraiser in this year’s event.
In a collaborative effort of four Town agencies, and with great autumn weather unlike last year, the second annual Scare-It-Up-Suffield event took place Saturday afternoon, October 14, at the Suffield Senior Center. That agency was joined by the Kent Memorial Library, Parks & Rec, and Suffield Youth Services as sponsors. The most prominent feature was the scarecrow contest, but a big bunch of happy kids – mostly well costumed – thoroughly enjoyed the goings-on in the Center’s dining room.
Included were face painting, a Halloween selfie studio, small pumpkin decorating, balloon twisting, and a thoroughly icky experience where you put your hand through a hole in several boxes to feel creepy things labeled as brain tissue, eyeballs, and the like. But that didn’t keep folks from enjoying the goodies and the lemonade table.
The dining room’s side door was wide open for visiting the scarecrows on the front lawn. There were 17 exhibits, all quite impressive, entered in several categories. Two WVIT TV reporters did the judging. Five of the entries came from Town departments; these were judged separately the day before.
Winners were declared in seven categories: Most Creative: Return to Oz, by Liz Sagan of the Suffield Police; Funnies: Broom or Zoom, by the Senior Center and the Mini-Bus; Prettiest: Lahoma of Suffield, by Tara Matthews of the Tax Department; Youths 12 and Under: Izzy, by Olivia Ballard; Teens: Hermione Granger and the Evil Librarian, by Wendy Mitzel’s Library Teen Council; Most Creative Name: Chrysanthemummy, by Ellie Binns of Planning & Zoning; People’s Choice: Ms. Water Wonder, by Addison Holmes of Girl Scout Troop 10971.