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Still time to vote for favorite scarecrow at Lakes Park

By Staff | Oct 29, 2021

Harns Marsh Elementary School created the "Wild Things" scarecrow, a VIP winner.

Halloweeners have just today and Saturday to vote on their favorite scarecrow at Lakes Regional Park.

The Fall Festival featuring the 14th annual Scarecrows in the Park kicked off on Friday, Oct. 15, and runs through Oct. 30.

While the VIP Awards Winner have been selected, visitors can still vote for the “People’s Choice” scarecrow winners from 6 to 9 p.m. today and from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 30.

A Lehigh Acres business and school were chosen as Scarecrows in the Park VIP Award winners, which this year has a theme of favorite book characters.

The winners include Lehigh Regional Medical Center’s “Waldo” scarecrow and Harns Marsh Elementary School, sponsored by Doma Title Insurance, for their “Wild Things” scarecrow. The O’Hern Family was also among the VIP winners for their character “Medusa.”

The judges for the VIP award winners were Lee County Commissioner Frank Mann, Lee County Parks & Recreation Director Jesse Lavender and ABC7-TV Reporter Rachel Anderson.

“They came through and they picked what they thought were the top three. First, second and third place,” Barbara Manzo, with the Lakes Park Enrichment Foundation, said, adding that the community votes for “People’s Choice.” “The people make a big difference because what happens when three adults go through, they look at things differently than a child will. Every day we count the votes and then total all the votes and we will announce the winners.”

There are 21 scarecrows this year depicting a particular storybook. Nearly 4,000 votes were cast the first weekend the Fall Festival opened at Lakes Regional Park.

There are two categories – businesses and families. Manzo said sometimes a business will pay the business fee, but do not have the time to make the scarecrow, so a school receives an allowance of $50 to purchase materials to construct the scarecrow.

“We have some businesses that build their own like Lehigh Medical. Their first time ever and staff did it and they got first place VIP,” Manzo said.

For families, she said is a great way for them to create something together. This year, Boy Scout and Girl Scout troops also participated.

“Everybody loves it and people love to come through and see what other people have done,” Manzo said.

This year the scarecrows were moved to the Children’s Garden at Lakes Park.

“For us at the Lakes Park Foundation, the Children’s Garden was one of our major projects that we raised funds for and placed in the park. It’s nice to be able to showcase that, so people understand we raise our funds and look what you have as a result of it,” Manzo said.

The annual Scarecrows in the Park competition began after a board member traveled north and saw something similar in a garden setting. The idea was brought before the board and they were able to get sponsors right from the beginning.

“It started kind of small and built from there,” she said. “The county puts on what is called the Fall Festival in Lakes Park. There are several partners involved in the Fall Festival.”

The Southwest Florida Train Museum has been involved since the beginning offering train rides on the Halloween Express for visitors with lights and Halloween decorations. The Lakes Park vendor Wheelhouse will have bounce houses, a hayride, pumpkin patch, as well as Halloween decorations.

“You can buy all sizes and varieties of pumpkins,” Manzo said, adding that there will also be food trucks.

The foundation takes care of the scarecrow exhibits. Last year with COVID, instead of canceling the event, they scaled way back with an individual scarecrow competition, rather than the 8×10 booth display.

Lakes Regional Park is at 7330 Gladiolus Drive, Fort Myers.