Armstrong’s community has been getting creative this fall.
As part of the month-long, 18th annual Harvest Pumpkin Festival, the Scarecrows on the Street decorating contest has fueled a competitive streak with many of the local businesses and organizations.
The challenge was thrown down to hand-make a one-of-a-kind scarecrow display for the event. Each display would include a tote to place food bank donations.
Anyone can vote for the people’s choice favourite display, as long as they deposit a non-perishable food item in the tote.
This is the first year the event has benefited a charity and food bank, and office manager Brenda Firth is delighted with the results.
“We got 586 pounds of food that came in from the Scarecrows on the Street,” Firth said. “We’re thrilled to get that much food in.”
The donations will be given to various Armstrong and Spallumcheen residents who need a helping hand.
“We have a number of food bank users who are experiencing serious health issues, going through cancer treatments, seniors on low income, people who have lost their jobs, people on disability,” Firth said.
Patti Noonan, executive director at the Armstrong Spallumcheen Chamber of Commerce and Visitor Centre, says the competition has had more entries than any other year.
“We had 24 businesses who designed scarecrows,” Noonan said.
From a prisoner scarecrow in handcuffs made by the RCMP to a multi-scarecrow display by the Okanagan Boys and Girls Club, there were plenty of sights to enjoy.
However, the grand winner was the Armstrong Regional Co-op team, who created a light-hearted display that featured two scarecrow replicas of former staff that used to work at the co-op.
Those who missed the event but would still like to make a donation can contact the Armstrong Food Bank through the Okanagan Boys and Girls Club at 3459 Pleasant Valley Road.