Scarecrow festival

There were about 100 people but no crows present as the Peachland Scarecrow Festival held its judging event and entertainment Saturday at Heritage Park.

This year’s festival attracted nearly 50 scarecrow entries of all sizes and shapes, from Amelia Earhart to the Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz.

Along with the announcement of the winning scarecrow entries, Saturday’s event included music and dancing, a chance to win a prize for guessing the weight of a huge 34.4-kilogram pumpkin and pumpkin decorating for the kids.

The winner of the best historical display was the Peachland Variety Singers, who set up a conductor and four person choir outside the 50 Plus Centre. The Variety Singers have been in Peachland for 43 years.

Making the small choir and conductor didnít take long once they got all the material together, said Vera Taylor of the Variety Singers.

The singing scarecrows were Àlled with detail, right down to their nail polish. “It was fun to be part of it all,” said Taylor. The Schoolhouse Group, who created a Canada Outdoors display complete with a canoeist and animals, took second.

Third place went to the Beach Avenue Cafe who researched the history of lifeguarding in Peachland’s Swim Bay and created a lifeguard scarecrow.

The Most Hilarious scarecrow was the love crow, who loves the birds instead of scaring them, which is on display at Heritage Park.

The best business scarecrow is from Ace Hardware. Owner Tim Stubbert put Ned the professional leaf painter up in a tree outside of his business.

“Ned doesn’t like the leaves yellow, so he paints them green,” Stubbert explained.

The best organization or individual scarecrow is Dorothy, Scarecrow, Tin Man and the Cowardly Lion from the Wizard of Oz set up at 5636 Beach Ave.

After the judging event was over, families strolled along the Peachland downtown checking out some of the entries. The aim of the festival is to draw visitors to Peachland. The scarecrows will remain in place until Sunday.

Nixen Paterson, 3, looks way up at the Peachland lifeguard scarecrow outside the Beach Cafe.

Abigayle Hudson, 9, and her sister Faith, 6, show off their pumpkin creations. Abigayle was trying for a Kawaii or cute look while Faith was trying to make her pumpkin look like her grandmother.

Vera Taylor of the Peachland Variety Singers pins the Best Historical Display ribbon onto the Variety Singers' scarecrow display outside the 50 Plus Centre.

Lily Porter, 5, from Langley, blends in among the decorated pumpkins with her pumpkin face paint.

Mike and Karen Jervis of Peachland and their grandchildren Charley and Jaxon Jervis from Whistler check out the scarecrows outside the Gasthaus restaurant.

Peachland Ambassador Avery Takenaka hams it up with the Peachland Love Crow, winner of the Most Hilarious Scarecrow.

Stella Jury, 15 months, happily played in the garden at the festival.