SALISBURY — Looking to embrace the Halloween spirit all month long, Town Common will once again be taken over by scarecrows of all shapes, sizes and themes as families and businesses compete for personalized prizes.
“It is always super fun. It is a great community builder. It’s just really a great way to show your spooky spirit and community spirit and all that good stuff,” Scarecrows on the Town Common organizer Jenn Roketenetz said.
As they have done each October since 2020, scarecrows will begin to fill the Town Common this week and will remain up until Nov. 1.
“Community members, businesses, organizations, families, anybody that wants to show their stuff on the comment is welcome to join. It’s free. I do ask for a suggested donation of $10 and that money goes directly toward the prize,” Roketenetz said.
Last year’s winner was a Triton Regional cheerleader scarecrow with the appropriate name Triton Cheer.
Throughout the month, scarecrows will be posted on the Parks and Recreation Facebook page, with the one receiving the most likes by the end of the month being declared the winner. She said the prize is catered to the winner.
“So if we have a youth group that wins, we might buy a gift certificate to Swell Willey’s or something like that,” Roketenetz said, referring to the ice cream/sweet shop near Salisbury Beach.
She said there is no hard deadline for folks to enter a scarecrow.
“I do like people to have them done by maybe the 10th or the 11th so we can start the contest and so they can have some significant time,” Roketenetz said.
Asked about highlights from prior years, she listed examples, including a “Minions”-inspired design from the Boys & Girls Club, a collection of scarecrows based on the movie “Monsters, Inc.,” and a Darth Vader scarecrow from Selectman Michael Colburn.
Colburn said he will enter once again this year with his twin daughters set to be the brains behind the creation.
“My twins haven’t said what we are doing yet so this week we’ll work on it and put it out,” Colburn said.
He said he is always blown away by what others end up making.
“I look forward to seeing the creativity of people and what they come up with, and I think it’s a great way to build community and bring people together,” Colburn said.
Salisbury Lions Club President A.J. Pappas said his wife and fellow Lions Club members Lynn Welch and Jessica Lane recently worked with the club’s children to finish their entry, which will be based on the movie “Inside Out.”
“It looks awesome. They finished yesterday and they’re going to be setting it up as soon,” Pappas said.
He credited Roketenetz for growing the event each year.
“Thanks to Jenn having all these cool things to do, I think people are really trying to outdo themselves every year,” Pappas said.
Folks are asked to register either by reaching out to Roketentz at the Parks and Rec. office or using the link on the Facebook event page.