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CBID's Team 10 scarecrows taking care of business at this year's
"Scarecrows on the Avenue" contest. (We're not entered in the contest,
but feel free to admire us here.)
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Scarecrows are up, and this year's crop is the best yet!
The "Scarecrows on the Avenue" contest, hosted by the Central Avenue Business Improvement District, is under way, and this year's event yielded a record-number of registrations and installations. All told, we have 21 scarecrows installed on the fences at the west end, brightening up the district even as winter gathers.
This year's scarecrows are more detailed than in past years; several businesses built multiple scarecrows--whole families of scarecrows in some cases--and they also brought extra props to help make their scarecrow really stand out.
To get in on the action, the Central Avenue BID created a scarecrow duo. We modeled our scarecrows on "Team 10," the staff members whose efforts keep the district looking pretty. The scarecrows are wearing the bright orange Central BID shirts with sunglasses, and watering flowers.
St. Anne Institute, who won the contest last year with their comical Despicable Me tribute, was back again with another Disney tribute, this time from the movie Frozen. Their scarecrow, modeled after Olaf the snowman was constructed from boxes and an exercise ball, confessed Dan Pickel, coordinator for the agency's ERC program, and it looks every bit like the real thing.
Another contest veteran, Orlo School for Hair Design and Cosmetology, constructed a Bride of Frankenstein, with to die-for hair (or would it be "to dye-for"?). In the previous year, they constructed a scene from the sold-out show, Wicked.
The contest also welcomed several new contestants, including Honest Weight Food Co-op, with a love scene from the orchard, Fantastic Sam's, with a scarecrow family boasting great pipecleaner hairdos, Level Up Studios, with a Minecraft homage, ArtPartners/Tsehaya & Company, with a beautiful scarved dancer, and Capital CarShare's sharecrow, with a specially-designed T-shirt.
The scarecrows are set up at Hannaford Plaza at 900 Central Avenue in Albany. The plaza is part of Central Avenue's busy shopping district, which sees close to 50,000 cars a day. Participants of the event include ArtPartners/Tsehaya & Company, Inc., The Orlo School of Hair Design and Cosmetology, Homeless and Travelers Aid Society, Level Up Studios, Fantastic Sams, Mercury Screen Printing, Capital CarShare, H&R Block, Honest Weight Food Co-op, St. Anne Institute, The Albany Free School, Berkshire Bank, and the New York State Independent Living Council.
Make sure you go and check out the scarecrows then go online and vote for your favorite at www.scarecrowsontheavenue.com.
