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| Dan Pickel, Program Coordinator at St. Anne's Institute with their prize-winning scarecrow, Olaf. |
Last year's crop of scarecrows included entries from The Orlo School, Honest Weight Food Co-op, Level Up Studios, Mercury Screen Printing, Fantastic Sam's, Berkshire Bank, New York State Independent Living Council, The Albany Free School, and HATAS. The public cast votes for their favorite, and the contest was a dead-heat, with voters weighing in up to the last moments.
In the end, the grand prize went to St. Anne Institute for their paper-mache enhanced Olaf, the charismatic snowman from Disney movie, Frozen. More pictures of the contestants can be found on our Facebook page here.
The scarecrows will be on display at Albany's Westgate Plaza, Hannaford Plaza, to help herald autumn and decorate the district. This year’s contest will take place October 9-26, 2015. Entry forms and contest fee of $20.00 are due by Friday October 2, 2015. The entry fee is waived for not-for-profits.
Scarecrows must be decorated by October 9, so they can be installed at the west end. Voting will close October 26, and winners will be announced shortly afterwards. Winners will receive a $300 cash prize.
Visit the contest website at www.scarecrowsontheavenue.com to learn more about the contest and submit an entry form.
St. Anne Institute also won the previous year's contest, with their Despicable Me send-up, featuring adorable pumpkin minions. So what's the secret of their continued success?
"We have a huge network of dedicated people here at St. Anne's so the key to winning is to tap into that network," says Dan Pickel, Program Coordinator for St. Anne's Institute. "When I walk around the building during Scarecrow season, people always tell me that they voted for our scarecrow. I then say, 'That's great, thank you so much! Did you vote today?' If the answer is 'no,' I will then bully them into voting again that day, while reminding them that they need to vote every subsequent day until the contest is over," Pickel joked.
"Then I'll call them the next day to make sure they voted again," he added. "It's a pretty brutal process for them."
Pickel said his team will be entering another scarecrow this year, but they haven't made a decision about what it's going to be yet. He noted they have had success with Disney-themed entries in the past, but says that will not necessarily be their theme this year. He is hoping they can score another victory.
"I've had a couple of very creative staff join our team since last year so I'm sure they will help our cause to three-peat," Pickel says. "Whether we win or lose, my team is just excited about creating something together and competing in the contest."
Can anyone beat this stellar scarecrow construction crew?
We will find out!
The scarecrows will be on display at Albany's Westgate Plaza, Hannaford Plaza, to help herald autumn and decorate the district. This year’s contest will take place October 9-26, 2015. Entry forms and contest fee of $20.00 are due by Friday October 2, 2015. The entry fee is waived for not-for-profits.
Scarecrows must be decorated by October 9, so they can be installed at the west end. Voting will close October 26, and winners will be announced shortly afterwards. Winners will receive a $300 cash prize.
Visit the contest website at www.scarecrowsontheavenue.com to learn more about the contest and submit an entry form.
